I feel the MK4 is meh...
I have two MK3S+ printers, one with MMU3, and an MK4 for about two months. I've owned or still own ~15 other printer models over the years. I purchased the fully assembled MK4 after assembling my MK3 printers.
I have a lot of little issues, it's like death by a thousand papercuts.
- My steel sheet bubbled after the first print with Prusament PETG, and recommended settings.
- I tried several times to chat with Support to see if they would replace it, but the queue was always between 45 minutes and 1:30 hours... I just don't have time to sit in front of a tab waiting for replies for that long. I just ate the loss rather than dealing with that.
- The printer is way louder than advertised, especially using input shaper. It's quieter overall than MK3S+ but it is really loud on Z-access moves like inititial homing.
- Printer loses Z-Axis height in between prints, roughly 75% of the time. It tries to find Z and then often gives up about 50mm above the print bed. Requiring resets after hitting print. So I can't start printing and walk away, but I try to remember to just reset it everytime.
- I've had two USB Flash drives go corrupt while in the Prusa MK4, after doing multiple prints. Requiring me to do a full format to get them working again. This is the Prusa Flash Drive and a SanDisk Pro.
- Too many collisions with bed objects, I think due to acceleration jerk. While the first layer reliability is higher than the MK3S+, I think the overall print reliability is about the same.
- It's sitting on a concrete block on a solid surface.
- It's lost it's WiFi configuration 2 times now (not near times of USB corruption), yesterday it happened after uploading three objects from PrusaSlicer to PrusaConnect. The first object made it to the machine, then it just completely lost the wifi configuration. I had to reconfigure, which is not an easy process (why no WPS?)...
- PrusaLink that is installed on the MK4 lacks any real features, it's a useless interface in my opinion.
- PrusaLink Password prompting mechanisms mean no password manager's support it, you can't change the randomly generated string to something memorable but secure.
- The printer screen GUI re-arrangement is underpowered and gimmicky.
On the good sides
- Input Shaper speeds are great
- Quality of the prints are noticeably better.
- It's pretty quiet compared to the Mk3S+ if Input Shaper is off.
The most exciting feature that got me to buy the MK4 to me was Prusa Link, until I tried it. The lack of USB Camera Support is unfortunate. Prusa Connect often gets stuck transferring files onto the printer, and those files often can't be deleted from the queue and then I'm back to printing on USB until Prusa Connect clears it's current state which just takes a random amount of time (few minutes to a few hours).
Overall, I've been rather disappointed in the MK4 purchase, as well as it's remote printing capabilities and Prusa Link and Prusa Connect. There are a lot of minor bugs and issues that make the user experience less than ideal. The quality improvements and the speed with input shaper are really the only things this printer has going for it. I let my brand loyalty make the purchase decision, but now I feel like I should have purchased an X1.
I see similar complaints on some of these issues, I don't think it's just me, I am hoping all of this will get better with firmware releases. Buying the MK4 ultimately made me lose my trust with the brand Prusa.
-Stoker
RE: I feel the MK4 is meh...
I'm a former MK3(upgraded to 3S) user. I've built my MK4 as an upgrade from MK3S.
The steel sheet did bubble (it's the original one from MK3), but in my case those bubbles self-fixed themselves and disappeared within one day.
No lost Z axis between prints, no need to reset on my system, no lost wifi cfg, no corrupted flash drive (although I don't understand why they could not embed a 64MB memory chip in it...requiring the USB stick to pop-up like that makes me visually think that my printer is always in a sort of repair procedure).
Why exactly did you say the most exciting feature that made you buy it was Prusa Link? That was also available on MK3S, I would assume you would have tried it already there...I mean I use it for firmware flash and sending files to printer directly, but again, it was there on MK3S (minus firmware flash).
Another thing that is different is the noise. It's just louder than my MK3S, even with concrete pad+rubber pads. Turning on Silent mode did not seem to make it more silent than my MK3S with Silent Mode On. That in fact is my biggest disappointment, because I am no longer able to do nightly prints because of the noise (I am very sensitive to noise, and my printer is in a closet with door that I'm closing, but I can hear my MK4, while I couldn't hear my MK3S :((( )
RE:
I have been printing with mine for about 4 months. Assembled the kit my self.
I don't have any z-axis and collition problems, but my USB drive got corrupted. In addition I had a failure on the hotend thermistor (new on the way free of charge).
I have only tried it with the input shaper, and it is quite loud compared to my old MK3S. But to be fair, it's almost twice as fast.
I love the auto adjustments compared to the MK3 leaving Z-axis adjustments in the past.
I also have an order of MMU3 going.
But to be fair, I'm a little jelous of my buddies X1. The price tag with the MMU comes in at around the same, and he got cool features like build in camera. Its also faster (we have printet the same objects, me with a .6 nozzle and him with a .4 and still faster).
I'm on the fence selling my MK4 and getting the XL, just because of brand loyalty and I feel I must support open source when I can.
RE: I feel the MK4 is meh...
- Printer loses Z-Axis height in between prints, roughly 75% of the time. It tries to find Z and then often gives up about 50mm above the print bed. Requiring resets after hitting print. So I can't start printing and walk away, but I try to remember to just reset it everytime.
I have the exact same issue. Problem is that firmware seems to constantly lose current z-pos and the probing with the load-sensor is limited to about 50mm downwards when starting a print. The only workaround is to reset the printer and manually push down the z-axis. This makes printing a large amount of prints a PITA.
- I've had two USB Flash drives go corrupt while in the Prusa MK4, after doing multiple prints. Requiring me to do a full format to get them working again. This is the Prusa Flash Drive and a SanDisk Pro.
I can confirm this also. Uploading new files seem to corrupt the file system every 10 files or so. No to speak of constant upload issues when you are not in the main menu of the firmware. The whole software stack is sketchy as hell and not up to snuff for reliable service.
- It's lost it's WiFi configuration 2 times now (not near times of USB corruption), yesterday it happened after uploading three objects from PrusaSlicer to PrusaConnect. The first object made it to the machine, then it just completely lost the wifi configuration. I had to reconfigure, which is not an easy process (why no WPS?)...
This happened to me twice so far over the last 2 months (with the most recent firmware of course).
- PrusaLink that is installed on the MK4 lacks any real features, it's a useless interface in my opinion.
- PrusaLink Password prompting mechanisms mean no password manager's support it, you can't change the randomly generated string to something memorable but secure.
Chrome will not save passwords for non-SSL sites as of about a year ago I believe, that's what we are running into. That said not supporting https:// these days is really an embarrassment. This makes this printer essentially useless in government/company settings. SSL w/ custom certs are mandatory at my company for any device on the internal network in 2024. It's mandatory in US government settings as of this year also.
- The printer screen GUI re-arrangement is underpowered and gimmicky.
The lagginess of the screen is much worse than the simple text driven LCD on the MK3. The choice of driving a TFT screen over a single channel SPI is baffling to me. Yes I understand you ran out of pins on the STM32, but that's an entirely different much more serious design issue.
What I don't understand is the choice of the STM32F407VGT6 on the xBuddy. You left yourself less than zero room for growth. I would have not picked this 5 years ago, let alone now. ST had better and cheaper chips in volume 5 years ago. Also, go BGA for more I/O. It's the 2020s now, manufacturing reject rates are <1%. But the the choice of the ESP32 transferring large files over UART takes the cake for sure.
The complexity of firmware is now and was already long ago at a point where running an embedded Linux system is pretty much the only way to go for the non-real-time stuff. For stability, security, performance and developer productivity. Move away from C++ for UI, file system and network stuff so you don't have such a buggy firmware.
RE: I feel the MK4 is meh...
I moved from a MK3S+ to the MK4 and felt it was a huge improvement. Everything I sent to print to the MK4 just worked (just used as a hobby). I was finally confident enough to just hit the print button and walk away, not having to watch the first few layers or repeatedly come back and keep an eye on things. I grew to trust the MK4 much more then I ever have with any other printer.
Have sold it now as I got a good offer from someone who urgently needed one (mine was a kit and I managed to profit on it after building!), but if I needed another I'd buy a MK4 in a heartbeat.
RE: I feel the MK4 is meh...
I really feel the same about the death with 1000 papercuts https://forum.prusa3d.com/forum/postid/709457/
RE: I feel the MK4 is meh...
The MK4 is my first 3D printer and I built it from the kit (big thanks to iftibashir's video series) and love this printer. It just works for me each and every time. Granted I'm new to 3D printing so don't know what I don't know but I'm super happy with my decision to go with the MK4.
RE: I feel the MK4 is meh...
I'm having buyers remorse already and only bought it today. I had an MK2 and MK3, but while waiting for the XL, I moved on to Bambu X1C and P1S. Those Bambu printers are great. They just work great. But was thinking a MK4 might be fine because my MK2 is getting old. I had no misconception that the Bambu printers are better and better for the money, but I thought building the MK4 might be fun, and hoping after a year they could get the thing working good. Sounds like that isn't true. Today when I ordered the MK4 kit, I saw they discounted shipping by $20 JUST for the kit. I tried adding an extra nozzle and the shipping went up $20, because its SO HEAVY but I'm sure it will have a pack of candy I can't even eat. I'm not sure PRUSA is even trying anymore. Sad.
RE: I feel the MK4 is meh...
You may already realize this, but special offers are just that, not a promise to adapt to the specific needs of each of the thousands of customers they sell various combinations of printers and accessories to.
Buyers remorse over the negation of an unexpected promotional offer that goes away because you operate outside of the stated offer is, in my opinion, more of a statement of customer maturity than it is about how "hard" Prusa is trying. 😂
Nobody is forcing any of us to buy from one company or another, and you may have time to cancel, which might be the right option for you.
-J
RE: I feel the MK4 is meh...
We shall see. We shall see. It arrives tomorrow, and I'm sure it will live up to want I expect. The sad part is Prusa was certainly a leader in the early years, and certainly all people here have supported the company, but many 3D printing companies have lost their way, and many today are gone. It would be a shame for PRUSA to go that route also. Hopefully they are working on something wiz-bang behind the scenes because you know their competitors are.
RE: I feel the MK4 is meh...
I understand why they get grief as compared to BL with their dated "looking" Mk4 bed slinger with a higher price tag, but I actually feel like these complaints are largely unfounded. Most of the complaints are a made on dollar/feature grounds, not on an ultimate "the product is failing" grounds as is the case with many of the cheaper printers offered by competitors that flair in popularity and then fade away because their parent company is on to the next product and quickly moving away from supporting their old one. Prusa seems to have worked hard to respect and support their past products with upgrade path while continuing to support occasional newer releases. This is a very different company ethos, and one that I believe keeps customers coming back despite the humble appearance of these workhorse printers. I've also heard complaints that touch on a general lack of innovation from Prusa. For the past year, they have had the single most advanced (with regard to actual printing, not just fluff features) consumer level printer on the market with the XL. Yes the launch was rough and there was lots of frustration as users tried to figure out the far more complicated process of operating a tool changer, but I think a level head is called for here. The XL, at least for the time being, is one of a kind so it seems a little silly to moan about innovation when there are thousands of those machines out there being used for cutting edge material combination projects with minimal waste as compared to the alternatives.
You ultimately may not enjoy the Mk4 as much as other customers, but to project your opinion onto the countless happy Prusa customers is a little narrow-minded.
I'm a fairly new user and have had a wholly great experience with my Mk4, as has a co-worker who prints far more than I do, and has added an enclosure and other upgrades to his. I hope you ultimately feel like your money is well spent, and if not, I hope you can be mature enough to sell it off, purchase what you desire, and learn to accept that many thousands of Prusa owners can still be happy with their printers no matter how your own experience goes.
-J