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I have the new LOTMAXX SC-10 3D printer. It appears to have a lot of similarity’s to the Creality CR20. Let’s take a quick read on who Senma is. LOTMAXX is a 3D printer brand owned by Senma 3D, which is inspired by 3D printing technology inventor Chuck Hull, FDM 3D printing technology inventor Scott Crump and DLP 3D Print technology inventor Larry Hornbeck, Lotmaxx means “Lots of Ideas, Maximum Creation” to focus only on printing and serve 3D printing practitioners’ inspiration and creativities all over the world”. To create “a realizable world of creativity” is always LOTMAXX’s pursuit.
Senma 3D adheres to the core production management and operation concept of “Quality Production”. From the production of materials, product assembly, testing to the packaging and shipping of products, Senma 3D strictly controls every process and every detail in the production procedures to ensure the high quality of products. Senma 3D owns the production area, which covers 5,000 square meters, and it has over 20 production lines with a monthly production capacity of more than tens of thousands of units.
Senma 3D has IOS9001, IOS14001 and OHSAS18001 certifications, and all its products have CE, FCC and RoHS certifications.
SC-10 First Impressions
Firstly, the extruder is metal, making it a lot more sturdy to take all the filament changes. It comes with run out detection meaning that it will bleep to let you know if your coming to the end of the filament and that it will need to be changed. Although the LOTMAXX SC-10 is advertised as 235x235x280 it has a bigger build surface which is even printed on the bed.
The actual size of the bed is 250×250, not an enormous difference but a difference in the right way. As a company LOTMAXX is fairly new in the 3D printing industry but have came out swinging. They seem to have a nice range which comprises LCD and FDM 3D printer categories, the newest being the SC-10 shark.
What’s In LOTMAXX SC-10 3D Printer Box
The packaging is, as expected, a standard box with what seems to be the industry standard protective foam. The foam has been cut nicely to protect the components in transit. There are 3 key items in the packaging, the printer itself is in two sections but linked by the electrics. There is a box containing the fixtures and tools and a mini PLA filament spool. A delicate touch for a beginner, allowing them to get printing straight out of the box.
Also included in the box along with the 3D printer:
| 200g roll of white PLA filament | 4 different sizes of spanner | A good quality pair of side cutters |
| 2 spare nozzles | Spare Bowden tube | Bowden connector |
| Acupuncture needle | 16gb SD card | Power lead (I received a EU lead) |
| Instruction booklet and guarantee card | SD card reader | USB cable |
| Screwdriver | Nice selection of Allen keys | Scrapper (looks identical to Creality’s) |
LOTMAXX SC-10 3D Printer Assembly
At first glance I was fairly excited to see a large instruction guide, it made me think I was going to receive a lot of insight and information on the 3D printer. However, considering how simple the assembly is, it’s understandable it has only 2 sides. The instructions come in multiple languages which is also reflected on the printer’s LCD touch screen which also supports 7 languages. The absence of a scroll knob on the screen isn’t missed as the screen is responsive.
To assemble the LOTMAXX SC-10 3D printer, you have to place 4 Allen key bolts. 2 on the left and 2 on the right through the base into the Z extrusions and there are 2 bolts for the filament holder. Plug all the stepper connections into their correct ports. Make sure the switch on the power supply is switched to your relevant voltage (110v or 240v) plug in the power lead and switch on. One thing to note is mine came with a EU power lead, so I needed a UK lead.
LOTMAXX SC-10 Hardware
The internals are nicely spaced and laid out, and the wiring is securely fastened. One thing I would change would be to have all the stepper drivers as TMC 2208s as the only actual noise from the LOTMAXX SC-10 is from the fans and the steppers using the A4988s. That being said, it really isn’t the noisiest machine. The hardware itself seems well produced, cleanly installed with all connections securely fastened.
Opening the LOTMAXX SC-10 revealed the following:
| Power supply: 24v 350w | Filament detection | Power out resume |
| Motherboard: lm-002 | LCD touch screen | |
| Stepper drivers extruder and z axis 2x 84988 x and y axis 2x 2208 | 32-bit processor |
3D Model Test Prints
For the first run, I decided to 3D print the provided g-code on the supplied 16gb SD card. The print went fairly well considering I did no adjusting and only used everything that comes in the box including the supplied white PLA filament. It ran well for straight out of the box, but I noticed some ringing which needed addressing. I hadn’t attempted to adjust a thing as I wanted to see how it ran with minimal adjustments. The filament seems to have a pleasant flow and a superb finish to it. I was half expecting the filament to be of a low quality, but I must admit it seems quite the opposite.
Megalodon Benchy
I wanted to see how the LOTMAXX 3D printed without using the supplied 3D model, starting from a non tweaked profile. After opening cure and going to add printer I found the LOTMAXX sc-10 pre-listed which I choose. I printed a benchy from thingiverse which I used on my CREALITY Ender 3 when I first set it up. To try and overcome the ringing, I adjusted the eccentric nuts on the hot end carriage and on both of the Z carriages. And run the benchy to see if I had solved the issue.
Considering I used a stock cura profile, the 3D printer seemed to perform well. By adjusting the eccentric nuts I had solved most of the ringing and the print came out better than I had expected. I had kept my stock out of the box ender 3 benchy. So here is a picture you can compare for yourselves of the quality of each. The ender 3 is the black and the LOTMAXX SC-10 was the white. My opinion is the LOTMAXX is smoother but has some retraction to dial in, but nothing too drastic.
XYZ Calibration Cube
Next up I printed a XYZ calibration cube from Thingiverse this is the cube I often use credit to Ben Teggemann (Ben’sHacks) who has many delicate designs. I adjusted the retraction in the Cura slicer settings, but nothing else. The surface finish on the print is very nice and smooth, with no defects to speak of. Measuring with callipers and all sides are within .04 of each other if not spot on the expected 20.0mm.
Low-poly Rose Twist Vase
Feeling fairly confident with the results the LOTMAXX had done on the cube, I tried a vase from Pinshape designed by riskable. I sliced in cura with the basic profile with spiralised selected. Due to the cube going smoothly using the rainbow filament from Ankun that can be purchased on Amazon I used it on the vase. The vase as you can see came out great, and by this point my confidence in the LOTMAXX SC-10 was growing more and more. Being on a high I thought it was time for a true torture test which was the first of a few failed 3D prints.
Failed 3D prints
I thought I may have made a bad slice, so I decided to slice again and rerun to see if the fail was my error. Unfortunately, my second attempt was identical, the second fail meant it was time to investigate. Due to having other machines with similar hot end setups, I started my investigations there. Removing the Bowden tubing from the hot end, I recognised the issue straight away.
Basically, the issue is caused by the pneumatic coupler not gripping the Bowden tube tight enough, causing the tube to back out the coupler just enough to course a pocket. The problem this creates is it allows a build up of filament that gradually restricts the flow that starts of minor and over time gets more saviour. With this in mind, I cleared out the hot end and headed to thingivers to a hot end fix I’ve used before. After installing the fix, I’m ready to try another print.
Stress test
Having completed the hot end fix, I decided to dive straight into the stress test using the supplied LOTMAXX filament. And the LOTMAXX is back on track. The stress test came out fairly well considering I have run this 3D printer straight out of a box with no real calibration. As expected, there is a small amount of stringing. The genuine surprise is how well the bridging came out. No real sagging. On the whole everything printed as it should with a nice overall result.
Technical Specifications Comparison Table
LOTMAXX SC-10
| Print speed | 180mm/s normal print speed 30-60mm/s |
| Moulding technology | FDM |
| Nozzle diameter | standard 0.4mm can be changed to 0.3 and 0.2 |
| Nozzle temperature | 260°c |
| Hot bed temperature | 100°c |
| Build volume | 235mm x 235mm x 280mm (actual bed size 250mm x 250mm) |
| Overall printer size | 432mm x 467mm x 490mm |
| Printer weight | 7.8kg |
| Documents supported | STL, Obj, amf |
| Slicing software | Lotmaxx, Cura, Rapetier-host, Simplyfy 3D |
LOTMAXX SC-10 Shark
| Print speed | 200mm/s normal print speed 45-90mm/s |
| Moulding technology | FDM |
| Nozzle diameter | standard 0.4mm can be changed to 0.3 and 0.2 |
| Nozzle temperature | 260°c |
| Bed temperature | 100°c |
| Build volume | 235mm x 235mm x 265mm |
| Overall printer size | 443mm x 466mm x 488mm |
| Printer weight | 7.4kg |
| Documents supported | STL, Obj, amf |
| Slicing software | Lotmaxx, Cura, Rapetier-host, Simplyfy 3D |
Where to buy
Currently, the LOTMAXX SC-10 can be found on aliexpress for around $259, and I also found it for as little as £198.98 with a quick internet search. This makes this puts this machine in a competitive price range and makes it a genuine contender.
LOTMAXX SC-10 Conclusion
I have had fun with the LOTMAXX SC-10. In my opinion yes, it looks very basic at first glance also at the same time similar to other 3D printers that are out there. For me I like the old school retro look of the display, which seems to flow nicely through the settings. It is responsive and reacts to command promptly. Straight from box within 25-45 minutes (depending on experience) and your 3D printing. There was not a lot to adjust to tune the prints to a fairly moral standard. It’s fairly quiet, the noisiest things are the fans and the noise of the stepper retraction (minimal sound).
My biggest gripe is that the little bits look a little rushed and not cleaned. As an example where the parts are preassembled then drilled and tapped holes have not been deburred. Overall, would I say this was a good 3D printer for its price tag? For me I like the retro clean look and the screen functions are nice and smooth and the overall quality is good. It comprises a strong, sturdy design, with just some minor tweaks the print quality is very good. I would be happy to recommend this machine to anyone looking at joining the 3D printing hobby or even someone wanting to get printing quickly out of the box.
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I have had fun with the LOTMAXX SC-10. In my opinion yes, it looks very basic at first glance also at the same time similar to other 3D printers that are out there. For me I like the old school retro look of the display, which seems to flow nicely through the settings. It is responsive and reacts to command promptly. Straight from box within 25-45 minutes (depending on experience) and your 3D printing. There was not a lot to adjust to tune the prints to a fairly moral standard. It's fairly quiet, the noisiest things are the fans and the noise of the stepper retraction (minimal sound).
Jeff Janning
What firmware does it use