My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
When I first heard about the release of the MK4, I was genuinely excited and wasted no time in ordering one. My MK3S+ had served me impeccably for two years, so my expectations were high.
However, my enthusiasm quickly turned into frustration when my factory assembled MK4 arrived. It simply refused to boot up most of the time, displaying either a blank black screen or a troublesome red error screen with each attempt. After numerous back-and-forths with Prusa support, which included rigorous checks on cable connections, it was finally acknowledged that the printer needed to be replaced. This left me bewildered, given my previous trouble-free experience with the MK3S+.
Then, my second replacement MK4 arrived, which came factory-assembled, presented an entirely different problem – severe layer shifting during printing and some extrusion issues. Once again, I delved into the troubleshooting process, spending countless hours meticulously examining belt tension and other variables. To my dismay, I was told that the belts were too loose, despite the printer being factory-assembled. However, after using Prusa's Belt Tension App and belt tension gauge, it appeared that if anything, they were slightly over-tightened.
After enduring these perplexing challenges, Prusa eventually agreed to send me yet another replacement printer. However, this time around, there's an additional wrinkle: I don't have the original box, and Prusa won't dispatch a replacement until the faulty unit has been returned. Now, I find myself in the frustrating position of having to source a suitable box and packing materials for the return.
At this juncture, I can't help but wonder if I've just been unlucky. Nevertheless, my candid advice to anyone contemplating the purchase of one of these printers is to think twice. The numerous issues I've encountered have not been worth the time and hassle.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the third time will indeed prove to be the charm, bringing an end to this ongoing nightmare.
How has everyone else's experience been with the MK4 so far, am i really that unlucky?
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
Sorry for your trouble. My factory-assembled Mk4 has been working flawlessly so far, aside from a buzzer that doesn't make a sound.
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
My experience has been positive, although I ordered the kit. My kit did include a broken printed part that Prusa did send me a replacement. I fired it up, updated the firmware to 4.7.2 and it's been printing amazingly well. I just recently updated to the 5.0.0rc firmware to test it out and it's been working really well too.
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
My kit version has been working perfectly well so far [touch wood!]……
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
My kit version was completely trouble free. Absolutely love it. Kit built, if the colors not available from Prusa are any clue.
Above: My newly lit built MK4 on its second print, the rocket engine demo file.
Okay, I suppose I had ONE issue. My USB drive died after a couple weeks. I didn’t bother trying to contact Prusa about that.
It’s really fun watching the print head fly around super fast with input shaping.
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
Hi all,
also my experience was not positive with the assembled MK4, I was undecided between MK4 and Bambu X1C and in the end I ordered the MK4 on 01/06, it arrived on 02/08 and printing an object downloaded from Printables I encountered a problem of contact during printing between the nozzle and the piece in the filling phase.
I am attaching the video.
In chat I spoke with 2 operators and the first claimed that the piece had detached from the plate and therefore created the problem, instead I sent photos of the back which had adhered perfectly.
So at that point he told me to adjust the Z axis with the Live Adjust Z option (option that existed on the mk3 but which on MK4 was removed precisely due to the arrival of the load cell), I held down the knob during the first layer and I turned it up to +0.14 but nothing, same problem and the first layer almost didn't stick obviously.
I contacted them a second time and another operator asked me what product I had used to clean the plate and I "isopropyl alcohol" as you recommended, he told me to place a ruler on the plate to see if there were any uneven areas, a that point seeing that they couldn't find solutions on 21/8 I wrote an email to [email protected] explaining the problem and the answers from the chat, asking for the printer to be replaced since they assembled it and I paid the cost of the 'assembly just to have no problems.
On 23/8 no response, I solicited with a second email, to date 06/09 no response from anyone. I was confident that I would get at least one answer but evidently they are not interested in solving problems, and this is not my opinion but simply events prove it.
They sell from just one country to the whole world and I chose them because they have an international reputation, but maybe I was wrong, the quality of the product is not properly verified before shipping and the absence of after-sales support makes me understand that I was wrong to choose Prusa, I am inquiring with a law firm in my country how to get an answer from them and I believe we have found the solution, because it is not normal to buy a defective product and not get answers from the manufacturer, what do you think?
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
I got me a kit some time ago and the printer worked perfect with no issues right after finishing the assembly.
Well, meanwhile I had some serious layershifts and more and more bashing when the machine homes.
I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the firmware is much to picky regarding how smooth the axis are moving.
I must admit having used some different bearings (without balls) which make the axies move a bit harder. But they are still much better than my MK3S+ who do their job with no problems at all.
So I would hope that the final 5.0 firmware will be a bit more tolerant.
May be the printer has to be so picky due to IS, but there at least should be a chance to change this behaviour when not using IS.
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
Hi I noticed a funny thing after upgrading my firmware to the 5.0 Alpha, my X carriage failed during the diagonstic but when I changed back to 4.7.. I did not get the error? has anyone else seen this?
apart from that my MK4 is working well and printing as expected
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
I must admit having used some different bearings (without balls) which make the axies move a bit harder.
Why would you do that?
Grid infill is not a good choice for larger parts, switch to cubic which prints without path intersection.
Are you certain your bed is clean/adhesion is good? It looks to me that there might be slight warping and some lifting at the ends but Icbw.
Cheerio,
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
I've tried gyroid but same problem and my friend with his prusa mk4 grid infill no problem, same file, same firmware and filament so i think is a problem of my mk4. But today the customer support has finally reply and asked me .3mf file for testing.
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
I am guess Prusa is currently dealing with a high volume of warranty returns. They accepted my request to return the product last Friday. I didnt get the packing instructions untill the following Wednesday. I completed the forms and packing photos immediately and emailed them straight back to Prusa. 2 days later no response and still waiting for a return label.
It’s extremely frustrating how slow everything is moving along.
today the customer support has finally reply
Are you not using chat? It's much quicker than email for support.
Cheerio,
RE:
I must admit having used some different bearings (without balls) which make the axies move a bit harder.
Why would you do that?
Because ball bearings very fast get loud and start to rattle.
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
today the customer support has finally reply
Are you not using chat? It's much quicker than email for support.
Cheerio,
I’ve used the support chat multiple times for printer issues. When we concluded that a replacement was necessary, I was informed that the shipping department would send packing instructions via email. Despite daily follow-ups on chat due to not receiving the email, I was advised to wait patiently and that contacting support would not speed up the process. After eventually receiving the packing instructions and promptly sending the requested photos and form, I’m once again waiting for a response. This prolonged process makes me believe Prusa is swamped with warranty claims, leading to lengthy email response times.
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I´m basicly happy too with my new MK4.
In detail I miss some features of the MK3S+ as beeeps when loading / unloading filament. Even from starting a print by selecting a file until the printer really starts printing it takes much more time. The several tasks between selecting and printing are only annoying.... press the knob twice, probing, waiting for heating, cleaning the noozle (why????) and so no. My MK3S+ in that case is much faster. Sure, the MK4 ist quit faster than MK3S+, but I could not really find quality differences. Ok, the MK4 is quiter. in fact, MK4 offers too much playful details. And finaly, when Prusa expand the print range from 250x210x210 to 250x220x210, why they do not expand 210 to 220 too? I could really use the 10mm more. Since I miss them, I have to keep my CR-6SE because it has the 220x220 and I need this size very often.
No question, Prusa stand for high quality. But if Prusa doesn't stop making every printer worse, I won't buy anymore. The MK4 contains too many gadgets for the money for my taste. The beep when loading/unloading the filament is also missing. I can also do without the light bar below the display; instead, a lamp on the nozzle would be practical, so I can discover and remove sticky filament more quickly. Even, why Prusa siwtches from SD to Stick, where´s the real benefit?
Regards
K. Busch - Germany (using MK3S+ / MK4 / CR-6SE (2x))
Printer: CR-6 SE (2x) / MK3S+ (incl. MMU2) / MK4 - Slicer: Prusa / Cura - Design: Catia - Homepage: https://www.gravitrax-forum.de (it´s a ball / marble track)
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I have also had nothing but disappointment from the mk4. Mine came as an upgrade kit which wasnt much of a problem other than the stupid little nylon support filament not fitting it the hole that makes it stand up. Eventually i just cut it down until i could wedge it in sideways while tightening the zip ties to hold it there. Finally wire bundle lifted. Now its put together and passes every self diagnostic except the y test. I have now been back and forth with prusa and waited in line for their support more hours than i ever thought could possibly happen and after nearly 6 weeks it STILL will not pass this test. The tuner will say y is perfect but the x isnt and the x will pass the test but not the y. It never has. Ive basically been watching this piece of crap bash its extruder into its frame over and over for a month. Not 1 print. I hate this machine. Its worth noting ive built 3 mk3s+ now that all work perfectly and i really enjoy them. This mk4 is a completely different story. Even if it were 100 times faster than the mk3s i still would not want it because its a pain in the ass in ways the mk3s will never be.
Oh and my favorite part is my only option is taking it back apart and counting out spare parts for a partial refund or just eating the loss of the cost of the kit and 6 weeks of my time. Thanks prusa 👎
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I´m sorry about your experience, realy. Cause I´m not a realy screwer I prefered the factory assembled version.
I can't imagine that all new features are based on customer requests. With the MK3 it only takes a few minutes until I can finally print, it beeps when the filament is activated, prints good quality and doesn't need 49 probe points or filament stripping mode, which doesn't help anyway. At first I couldn't do anything with the printed Filament Advisor Guide; I had to cut it to size so that it could be installed.
I don't see any real improvements with the slicer in V2.7.0 either. If I had known all of this beforehand, I would have chosen the Bambu X1C, for less money it comes with an enclosure, larger installation space and an expandable 4-fold color module.
Why the MK4 has the same installation space as the MK3 will probably always remain a mystery. Unfortunately I misread this, otherwise I would never have bought the MK4, even though it prints twice as fast as the MK3 with at least the same quality.
After around 3 years of intensive printing, I only had to replace the thermistor on the MK3S+, which makes me think that the instructions definitely need to be revised. If you don't have skilled hands and a little thought, you're likely to have problems. Oh yes, the new film in the kit was not stickable, so I still had to use the old one.
What concerns me more is the fact, regardless of the model range, how many users have enormous problems with Prusa printers. For me, a forum like this always reflects the (negative) prudence, quality and foresight of a company!!! Especially with the relatively new MK4, the posts here are exploding....
There are currently a lot of bonuses about who buys an MK4, something like that also makes me suspicious. I bought my MK4 2 weeks ago and can no longer enjoy these "extras"....
My next printer won't be a Prusa yet.
Printer: CR-6 SE (2x) / MK3S+ (incl. MMU2) / MK4 - Slicer: Prusa / Cura - Design: Catia - Homepage: https://www.gravitrax-forum.de (it´s a ball / marble track)
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I had the same idea and got an x1c instead of a second mk4. It really was an amazing machine for 4 prints. Then it jammed up on the 5th and support at bambu lab is far worse than prusa. Even worse is i had no clue how to fix it whereas in a mk3s i can easily fix just about anything. I just ended up returning the x1c at a cost of $150 deducted from refund. They said there was nothing wrong with the $1600 machine that didnt work the first week. Im staying with my 3 mk3s and the 1 mk4 that still sits there doing nothing. I wish you the best of luck.
RE: My Experience with the MK4 (not so good)
Buying a Bambu X1C is a long way off, is future, pure speculation.
I'm happy with my two Prusa MK3 and ML4 so far. And if Prusa massively increases the installation space in the next model, similar to the X1C, I could definitely imagine staying loyal to Prusa.
Prusa should finally leave out annoying features due to dubious "customer requests" and concentrate on the essentials of a printer...
In one of the last emails, Prusa told me that I had used the printer and that it was therefore already unpacked and used. Half would also be missing from the box, then the outer packaging would be criticized and the return would not have been carried out correctly (stickers, etc.). I would therefore be granted a deduction.
I thought they were trying to rip me off and sent support a bitter email threatening to get a lawyer, etc. I was then credited with the full purchase price minus shipping and bought the MK4 for an additional charge. Apparently Prusa would have moved heaven and earth to ensure that my MK4 was delivered promptly, but I still had to wait 2.5 weeks.
Even my 2 Creality CR-6 SE are doing their work. Their support is really fast and competent. And do I need parts to order, I go to 3dprima.com 🙂
Printer: CR-6 SE (2x) / MK3S+ (incl. MMU2) / MK4 - Slicer: Prusa / Cura - Design: Catia - Homepage: https://www.gravitrax-forum.de (it´s a ball / marble track)