My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...
 
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rogerinhawaii
(@rogerinhawaii)
Estimable Member
My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered, but the Enclosure is a KIT even though it says nothing about it being a kit on the order page.

I'm assembling the Enclosure Kit now and come to a point where, Oh My God!!, I have to DISassemble a bunch of my Mk4 and REassemble it for the Enclosure!!

There is NO indication on the website that the enclosure requires assembly (it's a kit!) and that the Mk4 needs major disasssmbly and re-assembly inside the enclosure.

I just want something to put my Mk4 inside of!!

Can I just ignore all this disassembly and re-assembly instructions and just place my Mk4 inside the enclosure, as I had expected?

Is there really a reason to do all that extra disassmbly and re-assembly of my pre-assembled Mk4??

I see that there are OLD comments in the online Enclosure assembly manual by people encountering the same issue but no one from PRUSA has yet responded.

This topic was modified před 10 months by rogerinhawaii
Napsal : 14/02/2024 11:56 pm
fabnavigator
(@fabnavigator)
Estimable Member
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

If it has to do with moving some of the electronics outside of the enclosure to keep them cooler, that would definately be important.

Napsal : 15/02/2024 12:03 am
rogerinhawaii
(@rogerinhawaii)
Estimable Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

Yes, partly. There's a number of other changes as well, like repositioning the spool holder and routing the filament down to the print head.

I'm wondering if I can just remove the back panel of the enclosure so it's totally open to the air and let me leave the power unit and such where they are and NOT make all those related disassemblies/re-assemblies.

It's just really frustrating that there was no indication at all that the Enclosure is a kit and requires all this work on the printer itself. I wouldn't have bough the enclosure if they were up front about it.

Napsal : 15/02/2024 1:09 am
fabnavigator
(@fabnavigator)
Estimable Member
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

I understand your frustration. Maybe customer support can answer your question.

Napsal : 15/02/2024 1:25 am
FoxRun3D
(@foxrun3d)
Famed Member
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

On the first page of the product description it says quite clearly:

The Original Prusa Enclosure is shipped disassembled as a kit.

Having said that, I don't have a Prusa enclosure nor would I buy one. Too expensive and getting a printer in and out for maintenance looks like way too much work. So I understand where you're coming from. 

Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...

Napsal : 15/02/2024 2:17 am
Zappes se líbí
rogerinhawaii
(@rogerinhawaii)
Estimable Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

I don't know what page you're looking at, but the assembled product description I came across was this, which says nothing about  the enclosure being a kit.:

https://www.prusa3d.com/product/original-prusa-mk4-2/

Even the page for the kit version of the Mk4 says nothing about the Enclosure being a kit.

It's described on those two Mk4 product pages, offered as a checkbox option, but never mentions that it's a kit. At the very least, on the assembled Mk4 page it sure ought to mention it, since a person buying an assembled Mk4 is unlikely to also be wanting to put a kit together. Especially considering that it means DIS-assembling a lot of the fully assembled printer they're purchasing and re-assembling it with additional parts.

Napsal : 15/02/2024 2:39 am
rogerinhawaii
(@rogerinhawaii)
Estimable Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

And "Customer Service"? Look at their website. I see no links for customer service, no email address I can write to. Yes, there's an online chat service online chats are notoriously difficult to explain complicated issues and get the help you actually need.

I might end up, out of frustration, using that chat line, but I'd sure prefer being able to write out the full issue and asking a number of questions that would get answered.

Frankly, I wish Customer Service would keep an eye on these community forums and chime in when appropriate to address issues.

I noted previously that the online assembly manual for the Enclosure has a lot of comments by users raising a lot of different issues, including this one about the crazines of having to disassemble a factory-assembled printer in order to make it fit into the Enclosure, issues that were raised months ago and no one from Prusa itself has yet replied to those online assembly manual comments.

/ end rant

Napsal : 15/02/2024 2:47 am
fabnavigator
(@fabnavigator)
Estimable Member
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

At the bottom of this page https://www.prusa3d.com/en/page/ask-us-anything_482/ there is a "Contact Us" form where you enter your name, e-mail, and any question. You will get an e-mail response within a day or two usually.  I've used that. I've also used the 24/7 Live Chat. It usually takes about 30 minutes to get connected. I would rate my chat experiences as good, but not great, It's a little frustrating when it says 1 minute until you are connected and that can mean 10 minutes.

Napsal : 15/02/2024 3:55 am
rogerinhawaii
(@rogerinhawaii)
Estimable Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

Yes, I finally used the chat. Took 45 minutes to get through. Looks like I'll give it a shot with NOT doing anything to the printer and just putting it inside the enclosure and see how it goes. The chat guy understood about the product page not making it clear that the Enclosure is a kit NOR that it requires major disassembly of the printer. So maybe he'll send that up the chain of command. And he basically said I ought to follow all instructions for the Enclosure, but sort of agreed that if I'm only using PLA the heat issue really shouldn't be a problem.

Maybe I'll get a small fan and put it where the opening for the re-positioned power unit is supposed to go, just in case.

Or, maybe I now have a really weird coffee table for in front of my couch.

Napsal : 15/02/2024 4:51 am
Zappes
(@zappes)
Reputable Member
RE:

The slightly inconvenient disassembly really isn't that bad, really. And as far as announcing the nature of the product goes, the product page clearly states that you're buying a kit:

My models on Printables
Napsal : 15/02/2024 8:04 am
Brian se líbí
JP Guitars
(@jp-guitars)
Reputable Member
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

I would say that not fitting as per the instructions would seriously shorten the life of the electronics as they are going to get a lot hotter.

The changes you need to make are easy enough, no harder than Ikea furniture, it is just nuts and bolts and a few clips.

Napsal : 15/02/2024 1:53 pm
rogerinhawaii
(@rogerinhawaii)
Estimable Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

It would be easy enough to just leave off the back panel of the Enclosure, or always keep the doors open during printing.
I have an Mk3 that I built a simple enclosure for out of MDF to help restrict the noise of it and the significant air flow we get here in Hawaii from the trade winds which tended to cool down the hot end and bed way too much. That enclosure has worked just fine for the several years I've had and continue to use the Mk3.

I strongly disagree with your assertion that "The changes you need to make are easy enough, no harder than Ikea furniture, it is just nuts and bolts and a few clips." It's 36 Steps of disconnects, re-rerouting, reconnecting, clipping straps and on and on. Plenty of chance to goof something up. And a lot of time.

When a person buys an assembled device it's pretty clear the person does not expect to then have to do all that. Imagine having a couch delivered and finding you have to assemble the whole thing, by yourself, with 36 steps in the process. 

Napsal : 15/02/2024 6:10 pm
JP Guitars
(@jp-guitars)
Reputable Member
RE: My Prusa MK4 came (mostly) assembled, as ordered but the Enclosure is a KIT and ...

Well I found it easy enough and I don't come from a practical back ground being in IT prior to giving up work. The reason there are so many steps is that everything is described in great detail to make it easy to follow.

Yes you bought a product that was assembled, however you also bought an enclosure kit which was indicated next to the tick box where you selected to included the enclosure. Common sense would indicate that if one is not comfortable with building kits then one would read the instructions for assembly before committing to the purchase of said kit

I strongly disagree with your assertion that "The changes you need to make are easy enough, no harder than Ikea furniture, it is just nuts and bolts and a few clips." It's 36 Steps of disconnects, re-rerouting, reconnecting, clipping straps and on and on. Plenty of chance to goof something up. And a lot of ttime.
 
When a person buys an assembled device it's pretty clear the person does not expect to then have to do all that

 

Napsal : 15/02/2024 6:25 pm
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