First Ender 3 I did the usual and printed a ton of ultimately useless mods. #2, 3 and 4 are bone stock other than Bigtree tech Mini E3 V2.0 boards, BL touch on some, not all (As I gained experience I use it less and less) and metal extruder upgrades. I dont bother much with the hotend as I dont do ABS really and hardly touch PETG. Glass bed and I’m set.
I did get an ender extender 400x400 kit, and gotta say that its a decent kit as you know, for me X & Y came in handy for larger buildings (I try to print walls laying flat more than standing up).
I’ve done my LST clips in PLA. I find that they hold just fine, and if you leave em on accidentally the plant can break em and not be cramped / kinked / restrained, but otherwise they hold decently. PETG is certainly gonna be stronger there, and if used in full sun, ie outdoors, might fare better as well…
I think glass downstem in PLA is the way to go… why print that if thats so easily sourced, and actually made for that task…
I can upgrade the 3018 to a 4030, but I gotta play with it first really… I built several of my own printers, starting with Anet A8 as a base, building frames, swapping mainboards Had a three color diamond print head for a bit, but honestly was more trouble than it was worth having the multi colors like that, there’s better options out there. Still have two AM8’s (A8’s, with metal frame conversions, plus mainboard upgrades), the direct drive IS nice for TPU… And a Zonestar cyclops / chimera that I can easily swap out the print head(s) on. Plus a Mars Resin which I might sell, I just dont use it as much as I would have thought (its amazing, but doesnt see much use for what I sell, surprisingly)…