Reveal the inner thoughts of your Elegoo Neptune 4 Plus with a new front panel

You can see the control board lights attempting to peek through the cabinet of your Elegoo Neptune 4 Plus and tell you something. Covering up that light show seems a shame so a new reimagined front panel was in order.  While I'm not sure what each of the light patterns means, you may recognize when a print is pending,  when the bed is heating, active printing, and more. There seems to be a heartbeat too.

Made use of the spare space in the front of the cabinet to add a secret tool drawer. Have seen more than 1 review make comment that the Neptune Plus was laking a simple drawer to knock this excellent printer down a peg. 

Took inspiration from all the 45 degree angle aesthetics and occasional round bit here and there to create the look. Hope you find it an improvement over the original. 

Print everything without supports. You may want to turn on ironing all surfaces for the panel and drawer face. The panel itself has 2 arches on the underside with a small set of threads to make printing easier. Feel free to trim those out our just break through them when installing. If using the drawer versus the false drawer plate, print 2 of the screw spacers too. Added water tight files “… wt” in case your slicer complains about the originals.

You will print more than 1 lens as getting the look you want will take a few tries. For the most transparent, print just 1 bottom shell layer and 2 walls with no cooling fans. Set the zero higher (0.5) so there is minimal to no squish of the first layer. Make that first layer tall (0.4) and and wide (0.48) and hot (max or more of the filament label). Slow is also important, like 50% speed. Even a tiny amount of fan will frost the print, which is an effect you may like. Setting the line width even wider gives a glittery look. Did my lens with Duramic 3D Transparent PETG and the panels in the Burnt Titanium PETG with the stock 0.4 noz.

Remove the bottom of the base cabinet and you will find the existing front panel has 2 screws on the back inside that need to be removed in addition to the front 4. More on these 2 later. Also remove the hex standoff near the bracket holding the screws to make room for the drawer. The new panel encapsulates the front edge of the bottom panel doing the job of that standoff. Also make sure the wiring is clear for the drawer (see pic), you may need to tighten up the tie wrap to route the wires out of the way.

When installing the new panel (with the chosen lens) would suggest just using 1 of the 2 screws on the back of the panel, and use the hole closest to the lens. There is a partial bore for that second screw but it is not needed and will poke through the front side when installed. The second screw can be used for the drawer face attachment. Pop the lens in from the back side of the panel making sure the front face sits flush and the wide catch on the bottom of the lens sits flat in the groove.

Install the drawer onto the drawer face with the remaining screw from the original front panel. If you have no need for the drawer then cover it with the false drawer front model instead. If using the drawer install the screw spacers on the front after the completed drawer is in to align.