The A3S and A5 3D printers, are a pair of “Prusa i3 style” printers, that come mostly preassembled in two halves that can be easily put together in under 15 minutes. These models are almost identical, except for the size of the print volume they can print in, and the rating of their power supplies. The A5 has an internal power supply, while the A3S with the smaller frame has an external power supply. These printers have a folded sheet metal frame, and use LCD and motherboard components from MakerBase (MKS).
This printer is also resold by Hictop under the model 3DP-25.
These printers have TWO motherboards - there is a main motherboard (it is an MKS Gen L) which runs the printer, and a second motherboard attached to the LCD (an MKS 2.8" LCD module) which handles the LCD touch screen interface. They are completely separate devices, and the only communication between the two occurs by an internal serial port. The LCD motherboard sends basic gcode commands to the main motherboard, and then listens for the replies.
The LCD motherboard is responsible for several features:
There are two USB ports on the A5: a female USB type A port, and a female USB type B port. The USB type A port is for USB sticks or “thumbdrives”, and is connected to the LCD module. The USB type B port is for a USB cable, and is connected to the main motherboard.
Please Note: When printing via USB cable from a computer, you won't be able to use the filament run-out detection, or power-outage protection features!
There is NO WIFI included on these printers. Some early models were apparently provided with the wifi module, but this is NOT normally included with these printers. The printer was originally advertised as coming with wifi - this is incorrect.
There are several video reviews on youtube for the A3S and A5:
JGAurora is known for slightly changing their printers over time without informing customers. So far there have been MANY changes to the A5 and A3S printers:
If you ask nicely, in some cases JGAurora has been known to provide replacement upgrade parts, either for free, or for a discounted price. They do not have a clear policy on this however, which can be disappointing for those early customers.
Amazon is strongly recommended - they have the best customer service, the most careful delivery service and the best return policy. However, the cheapest store is typically GearBest or Banggood, and by paying with PayPal you still have some recourse if things go wrong.
Smaller Sellers (tend to be more expensive, especially with shipping)
Buying from the links above helps to support the wiki and forum, and keep it ad-free. Thank you!
There are many sellers of the JGAurora printers online. Everybody wants to pay the lowest price, but not all sellers are equal! For example, the JGAurora A5 printer is a large printer, but the packaging is not very thick, so a large number of customers have received printers with some kind of shipping damage.
The best option is to purchase your printer from Amazon - Amazon will take excellent care of you if something goes wrong, and they are more careful with their parcels. The price is slightly higher, but you need to decide how much peace-of-mind is worth to you.
Buying from Chinese reseller stores like Gearbest and Banggood are likely going to be the cheapest options for you. There is also the option to buy your printer direct from JGAurora via Aliexpress. However, if you are buying your printer from China you should EXPECT there to be something wrong with your printer when it arrives. If nothing is broken, great !! But if there is, do not be surprised - workers in china are not careful with parcels at all!
If you still choose to order your printer from china, please take some of the following precautions: