[Closed] We want to help you, you have to tell us ...  

We want to help you, you have to tell us ...

All the ways to get help from various prusa resources.

Greetings all;

Regardless if you are starting out, or have been printing for sometime now, you can come across a situation where you have not yet dealt with and you need help. This little article will help those who are new to 3d printing or for those who are new to seeking help for a problem, and hopefully this guide will offer some help with making it all a smooth process.

Knowlegebase

help.prusa3d.com

This is Prusa's repository for the guides and articles that Prusa created to help resolve a lot of commonly asked questions and issues, created in collaboration between the content and support department. Often times if you contacted support, they can provide the same sort of information that is located there as it can be considered the main source of information. Guides are written in a similar style of our assembly instructions with steps to follow and high quality images that can be zoomed in. This might suite some people as they can work at their own pace and if need be, they can contact support with any questions in the steps.

Prusa Forum

No link needed since you are already here 🙂

One part of the community is helping others with issues. Community members are not prusa staff, while there is a lot of useful information in the forum and our members have a wealth of information combined, it is all community based support. What that means, is that it is not an official means of support, so it should be kept in mine, that it is a "use at your own risk" type of situation. Now, that does not mean I am saying anything negative.

Our forum is a wealth of information, renovation and ideas and is a gathering of printing enthusiasts and professionals in 3d printing / manufacturing. We will cover on some tips when asking for help in the forums a bit later in this article.

Contacting Prusa support directly.

There are 2 main ways to reach support,

• chat
• email

Chat Support;

The ever elusive means to contact chat support, but here is the secret. If you go to shop.prusa3d.com and on the bottom right of the window is a chat now button, click on that and fill out the brief information there so the tech can quickly find your information and can assist you better. Chat is always the fastest means of communication with the support department. Please keep in mind, while it is staffed 24/7 there can be times that there is a delay with response times taking a chat or times between replying back and forth. Tips on how to have a successful support chat session will be covered more below.

Email;

[email protected]

This option is for those who do not have the amount of time available needed for a live support chat, or have a lot of information to share with the tech. Normal turn around time for a response can be 24-48 hours via email support as emails are assigned to a individual tech and with time differences and work shifts, it can take time, but one advantage is that you are working with one tech, and the previous communication / files are saved in the email chain history.

Now some tips for streamlining getting your issue identified and resolved as quickly as possible;

Chat;

• Keep it short and sweet (K.I.S.S). You could have everything ready ahead of time and if the tech asks for material, like photos or videos showing the issue you have, or if there is a good deal of text to describe your information, you could have it typed out a head to copy and paste.
• Give the tech time to go over the chat, read up on any previous case history or chat communication. At times, support agents have several chats or cases open at once and they have to cycle through them.
• If you have examples or references to a forum post(s), articles, streams / videos that are long, it might be good to send via email so that the tech has the proper time to go over all the material properly.

Text support (forums and emailing support);

• "Stay on target". If you are having multiple issues and submitting in a single post / email, try and keep them organized so details are not scattered and could possibly missed.
• Provide as much relevant information up front so there isn't wasted time trying to get needed information, this can include;
  • Your printer model.
  • Any changes from the original design / modifications.
  • Slicing program used (if applicable)
  • filament type and manufacture.
  • the settings you are using.
  • If possible, attach a .3mf file (in a .zip file) as this includes all your settings for your print job and can help techs identify any setting issue, or even attempt to print the same file to see if its a problem in the printer or the file.
  • if any recent changes, maintenance, or "upgrades" done to the machine.
  • if any steps have been done on your part to try and fix the situation.
  • photos or videos showing the problem you are having if you need help with it, we have a guide here.
• TRY to refrain from "person X has the same exact problem as me" mindset. There are a lot of different factors or even environments that could contribute to issues.
• If something is recommended, even if you think you have done it before, please try and do the step to make sure nothing was missed.

With these various paths and tips, hopefully if you have an issue, it will be resolved as quickly as possible. Regardless of whichever path you choose to take, the other person who is assisting you is a fellow 3d printing enthusiast and can understand and relate to what you are going through 🙂

As always

Happy Printing.

Written and updated by Zoltan and Shane.