MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled
 
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MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled  

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Oompyor
(@oompyor)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE:

fabnavigator
"..one side of the gear..", ah that helped me out, its a slope around the whole perimeter of the circle, I was looking at the actual teeth and seeing if some of them where different. I can already imagine ways to highlight the image that would make it clear what you need to be looking for

Rainer
I would believe the majority of people putting it togehter is unaware of what a chamfer is hehe.Thanks for the encouraging words

iftibashir
I have actually used your video all along the way thus far, it has been useful so thank you for that

 

I'm unfortunatley considering to return/sell it. Selling it will potentially save me from having to ship it and could cover some of the assembly cost, so i will have to see. Support also told me it can be shipped back half-assembled so thats nice to know.The A1 has an incredible lead time, so the A1 mini will suffice in the meantime. I can get two A1s and one A1 mini for the price of a finished MK4... Even if one of them breaks I'm still ahead, I don't have time for Prusa...

Posted : 14/02/2024 12:05 pm
Chris Hill
(@chris-hill)
Estimable Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

 

Posted by: @oompyor

Support also told me it can be shipped back half-assembled so thats nice to know.

I think Prusa need kudos for this, in addition to what someone else mentioned - the warranty on self-assembled kits.  It shows a genuine commitment to the DIY community.

Posted : 14/02/2024 12:15 pm
Oregun and Brian liked
Rainer
(@rainer-2)
Reputable Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

Rainer
I would believe the majority of people putting it togehter is unaware of what a chamfer is hehe.Thanks for the encouraging words

I thought I could awaken your ambition 😉 

Have you ever looked on the Prusa map to see if someone nearby could help you?

Do you know that the Babulab A1 has been recalled due to a fire hazard?

Posted : 14/02/2024 2:43 pm
Brian liked
Oompyor
(@oompyor)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

Oh, I forgot about the map, but I'm not sure I will feel comfortable asking someone to finish the build hehe.

Yes I'm aware the A1 was recalled, I would also believe that that is not the only fault they will find with the printer, I assume it will have some issues popping up along the way. Yet still, I could own two of them for less, and their slow half assed support could be dealt with this way, unlikely that both will be out of operation at the same time

Posted : 14/02/2024 3:05 pm
Zappes
(@zappes)
Reputable Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

Just imagine how many Ender clones you could buy with that money!

My models on Printables
Posted : 14/02/2024 3:36 pm
dschwartz
(@dschwartz)
Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

My first printer was a Mini plus a few months ago. Bought the Mk4 kit in December and it arrived and I assembled a few weeks back. Assembly was straightforward using the online guide. I ignored the instructions to eat the Gummy Bears as I am saving the bag as they are the real version from EU and hard to find in the US. 

I really don't think they could have made things any simpler...

Posted : 14/02/2024 3:39 pm
Oregun liked
Oompyor
(@oompyor)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

Haaa, I will never own an Ender again, worthless lottery machines

Posted : 14/02/2024 3:44 pm
fabnavigator
(@fabnavigator)
Estimable Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

@oompyor, Have you reviewed the routine maintenance on the Bambu Labs? If I recall it didn't look as simple as on the Prusa.

Posted : 14/02/2024 4:15 pm
Oompyor
(@oompyor)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

No, I haven't really looked much into either of A1 machines, I must certainly do that if I put in an order. The Prusa MK4, I haven't checked the maintenance on that either. I assume some lubrication, maybe cleaning out the gear extruder, cleaning the bed with soap and potentially making sure some screws are tight every now and then?

Posted : 14/02/2024 4:27 pm
fabnavigator
(@fabnavigator)
Estimable Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

I wouldn't say that bed cleaning is part of the periodic routine maintenance. I wipe down the smooth rods with alcohol and add a little lube. You can check the screws. It's probably more important early on when they are still compressing the plastic some. I've never had to do anything with the gearbox on the MK3S. Not sure if I will have to on the MK4.

Posted : 14/02/2024 4:40 pm
Oompyor
(@oompyor)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

Yeah, the bed isn't really maintenance agree. On the mini you would have to open the gear extruder to clean out some filament parts every now and then, but not bothersome at all really

Posted : 14/02/2024 4:55 pm
fabnavigator
(@fabnavigator)
Estimable Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

Compared to: https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/a1/maintenance/basic-maintenance

Posted : 14/02/2024 5:34 pm
Oompyor
(@oompyor)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

That's quite a few things to keep track of 

Posted : 14/02/2024 9:05 pm
fabnavigator
(@fabnavigator)
Estimable Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

I would venture a guess that most people won't bother with all of that, and that their printers will not run as well after some period of time. My MK3S ran as well after three years as it did when I first built it.

Posted : 14/02/2024 11:18 pm
Zappes
(@zappes)
Reputable Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

I would go so far as calling this an ass-saving move by the manufacturer. If you can't be bothered doing it all and something bad happens, the vendor can always shift the blame to the customer. Just like having a car and not logging your vendor-suggested maintenance checks.

My models on Printables
Posted : 15/02/2024 7:57 am
ronnie12342003
(@ronnie12342003)
Estimable Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

pmsl 

Posted by: @ronnie12342003

Post deleted  by moderator due to personal attacks and unacceptable  language 
Joan Tabb

 

Posted : 15/02/2024 4:55 pm
Oompyor
(@oompyor)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE:

Probably some truth to that regarding the A1

I finished the MK4 build... Printed the spatula, I would say it looks pretty flawless but I will have to do a complete flat print on the bed to check more. Does anyone have the link for that model?

The belt tensioning "app" is annoying in that it can lead you down a path of trying to get it right when the app doesn't even work right. It would probably be hard to make it work right on all the different microphones around but it just makes you waste more time... I spent 1.5 hour path of trying to tension the belt properly, and I never managed. I tried using Prusas own "app" video as well to listen to the sound the belt made when strung, and tension to get the same sound, but the sound it makes it much higher in pitch than my belt when my belt is way too tight, so I couldn't use that either, so I have no idea if the belt is okey or not at the level I have now, and frankly I already spent too much time trying to get it correct so I will just let it be... There where other things I would like to critique along the way, but I can't be bothered as of now

In total I probably spent 15-16 hours on the build, just in case someone else considering buying it and read wonder if you want to get the kit. I'd say a resounding no, unless your 12-16 years old and you make less than that pr hour working. 3D printed parts is a gimmick of the past, Prusa really needs to just get normal parts that fit better if they are going to continue with the kits, I would think its actually harder to engineer a printer that uses 3D printed parts rather than just standard manufacturing. But I actually have some dire predictions for Prusa as Chinese manufacturers automatize the production of 3D printers Prusa can absolutely not compete anymore, for the future they need a conveyerbelt / automated build or go bust, just my two cents

Posted : 15/02/2024 8:31 pm
fabnavigator
(@fabnavigator)
Estimable Member
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

Congratulations! I'm glad you persevered.

I also had a hard time with the belt tensioning. I added a comment to the step, but there are so many comments you might not have seen it. I ended up using a generic android belt tensioning app that just gave you the sound frequency. You want 85Hz for the X-axis and 95Hz for the Y-axis. After I got close to those frequencies using the generic tensioning app, I was able to get good results with the Prusa app.

Posted : 15/02/2024 9:02 pm
Oompyor
(@oompyor)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: MK4 kit, really frustrating assembly wish I was recommended fully assembled

Hehe, thank you

I will have a better look at the manual comment a bit later, hopefully the belt tension is okey for a little while. Gonna see if it manages to print some other stuff

Posted : 15/02/2024 9:55 pm
Lynn
 Lynn
(@lynn)
Estimable Member
RE:

I have a middle opinion, First of all I've assemble four 3d printers over the years, 3 Prusa printers and a voron. I've also assembled several MMU units, plus dozens of modifications. I agree with the sentiment that Prusa provides well designed parts,  excepting maybe the MMU's, but I also have to agree with @oompyor that some of the plastic parts provided in the Prusa kits, at least the ones I received, were not what I would call of acceptable quality.  Especially the X-axis rail ends,.  I put together 3 of these and every one of them were sent to me with globs of plastic protruding into the channels (holes) where the rails are inserted. In one kit (my first one) these holes in left side part had oversized holes, and the matching holes on the right side were so undersized that taping the rod into the hole, spit the part down the middle. I remember very clearly how mad I got at the time. I've had similar experiences with the MMU kits.

I'm sure that Prusa assumes the builder will clean up the models before assembly, but when I purchased my first one, I expected the provided parts to be perfect. They were not.  I think the most recent assembly manual mentions part cleanup, but I don't recall reading that in the earlier ones. I've had to reprint several  parts over the years because the ones I received from Prusa were not going to work.  I guess my thoughts are that if I'm spending just under $1000 on a kit, the parts in that kit should be perfect, or at least usable. I get the feeling the parts don't really get an inspection before dumping them in the part bags. 

My experience with the MK4 upgrade kit was completely different than @oompyor. I believe because I printed all the parts.

But how can I complain. I got to take a pile of screws, you know, a butt-ton of them and made a printer.  Cool. 

Other than that, I agree with  @fuchsr.    

This post was modified 11 months ago by Lynn
Posted : 15/02/2024 10:00 pm
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