Curious about what folks consider to be essential on-hand spare parts for the Zero.
I just got a complete hot-end assembly and a three silicone socks delivered. I’ve dealt with PETG blobs before, and consider that to be a common issue that I want to have parts on hand for. I’ve got a fair number of nozzles on had as well, since I ordered a full set of hardened steel nozzles when I bought the printer.
I keep a few metres of bowden tube and some spare runout sensors. Lot’s of build plates 
On my other printers fans are the parts I’ve most often needed to replace. And of the fans I’d say the hot end fan is the most crucial.
I considered ordering “essential” spares but have decided to wait for now as I have other printers and I’d only be mildly inconvenienced by a possibly long wait for a part. I expect by waiting I will find more options when I need to order something.
I don’t count my build plate obsession as “spares” 
I do have quite a bit of PTFE tubing.
Haven’t considered a spare runout sensor, not sure how big a deal it is, since it will operate just fine without one. If I get another, it will probably be the BTT smart filament sensor that also detects filament movement. I’ve had experience with non-runout feed failures.
I’ve never had to replace a fan before…. seems like a pretty cheap thing to keep on hand though.
The thermistor (PT1000 actually) and the ceramic heater are “consumable”. I’d stock the “extruder kit” to save having to rob parts from my complete hotend.
I did a fully assembled hotend as my spare, it’s got the heater, sleeve, thermistor, etc already assembled. I wanted the hotend itself also, since I’ve seen folks crash nozzles and damage them before. I figure if any single part fails, I’ll swap the whole thing, then take my time fixing the previous one.
Hello,
Based on what you’ve said, it would be easier to buy another printer as a spare.
In a way, I already have that, since I have two other printers. But being able to do a hotend swap in just a few minutes is a pretty cheap and convenient way to keep the zero running if there’s problems.
It was a joke.
But if you want to have all the spare parts, since you don’t know what will break down, it will cost you a lot of money.
Understood, but there’s also a fairly short list of parts that are
Hotend assemblies definitely fit that definition. Easily broken, but relatively inexpensive to keep spares for. Just one “blob of death” will justify having a spare assembly.
If you only print low-priority things, and can wait indefinitely if something goes wrong, then yeah, no need to keep spares on hand. But if you print higher priority things, and have deadlines of less than 6 weeks, then it really, really pays to have common spares on hand.
My calculation is more that there is very little of what I print that I can only do on the Zero. I use the Zero a lot because it is a little faster or more efficient for much of what I print but it would hardly be a crisis if I could not use it at all for a few weeks. It is my only printer that goes to 350 C extruder and 120 C bed but I have only done a couple prints at temps exceeding the 300 C and 100 C that I can do on my other printers and I didn’t need to do those merely just exploration at this point. The Zero is currently my first choice for printing ASA, nylon and PC but those account for a small percent of what I print. Mostly I use PLA, PETG and TPU and for those I can use any of my printers.
I bought a spare tool head so I could quickly swap it no matter what part in that complex and maintenance prone assembly failed. In retrospect, I probably should have just bought the kit with the more likely maintenance items.
Or the entire hot end for a quick swap.
It would also be a good idea to have silicone socks and silicone nozzle wiper pads.
I may be switching to the Bondtech INDX when it ships, hopefully in November, partly for the multi filament capability but also for the shorter melt zone with inductive heating that should be better for TPU. I print a lot of TPU and while I love the Zero, it doesn’t print TPU as well as previous bed slingers, but it prints everything else better.
It’s good to have a spare build plate. Somehow, I have four. Maybe I have Msheldon’s Disease?
Since filing the plastic tab off the front of the frame that contains the heated print bed, I can use inexpensive aftermarket Ender 2 PEI build plates with the single lift tab in the middle, which is much more convenient on a small build plate than the Sovol’s two tabs on the front.