Value of upgrade - my thoughts after almost two months
A few thoughts on my MK4S upgrade experience, FWIW
1. The upgrade was fully worth it for the new blower, which looks ugly, and blocks the view of the nozzle, but performs great. I can ignore most Prusaslicer warnings about bridges and angles, and my prints turn out just fine. Sometimes, I ignore them even at the most extreme, and the print might have a slight imperfection, but is always serviceable. Prusa Did what it claimed in that respect.
2. I also think the replacement of the Y-Axis tensioner and holder was a good move. If there was a chance the original parts would start to deform and bring the Y-Axis out of spec, then it would cause unusual print problems that might be hard to diagnose. I believe this because my MK4S replacement parts didn't work right, either from my own failure to do something right, or (see below) because they were defective prints. In any case, I was unable to tension the Y-Axis quite right after I put in my upgraded parts, and this caused all sorts of print failure and strong ghosting on printed letters until I ordered replacements and installed them. After that, appropriate belt settings were achievable, and the printer is printing beautifully again.
3. My fan case was bad as received, and the holes in it did not line up at all. So much so, that trying to fit that case on resulted in stress on the case that slight deformed it. I finally realized something was not right, printed a new case out of PETG from the online files, and it was perfectly aligned with the holes on the metal frame. I was able to prove to Prusa that this print was bad by sending pictures (but I'm sad my word was not taken for this cheap part), and another is on the way. As I said above, if the Y-Axis holder and tensioner were printed on the same Prusa factory printer, it may have also been the reason for the failure of those parts. No way to know however.
4. I cannot comment on the WIFI or NFC upgrades. I did them, but I haven't used the NFC at all, and have not noticed any other differences.
5. The High-Flow Nozzle did not do anything for me that I could see, and I switched back to my .04 Diamondback, which prints more cleanly in my opinion. I never saw significant time savings with the HF nozzle.
All told, I don't regret the upgrade, and would have paid the same just for the increased fan efficiency and ability to print without supports on many prints where it would have been needed before. These are my thoughts and opinions, yours may be different, but I'm happy with the MK4S conversion, and am very happy Prusa has this option for its owners.
Regards.
RE: Value of upgrade - my thoughts after almost two months
I feel about the same. I did not have any issues with the parts I was supplied in my kit.
RE: Value of upgrade - my thoughts after almost two months
I found little advantage to the HF nozzle at 0.2mm height. Where it shines is with the 0.25mm and 0.28mm profiles for appropriate models.
RE:
Loading a previous project and switching to the newer M4KS profile (PrusaSlicer), I found the print is twice as fast and the details appear the same (.15mm).
For me this upgrade is a no-brainer. The performance difference alone is worth it. I also noted I am having less trouble printing large PC Blend (although it still wants to weld to the build plate) and ASA (does not seem to string as bad) parts.
All the parts fit fine. The NPC antennae was a royal pain in the butt to install (took me two hours to finally get it to snap on). The Y Axis upgrade was a pain to install as my MK4 is in the enclosure. Also the new injection molded case for the LCD is meant to be attached to the MK4 frame and not to the exterior of the enclosure.
There are two parts you can print to relocate the LCD lower if you are mounting it outside the enclosure (like I have). I did have a bugger of a time getting the supports out of the holes, after they were printed. PETG was a bad choice, as was PC Blend. Ended up using PLA and drilling out the holes.
RE: Value of upgrade - my thoughts after almost two months
Agree with the OP. Its a good upgrade, other then the HF nozzle, which I feel didn't add much value. I'll be switching back to a standard nozzle when I attach my MMU3.
--> MK4 - MK4S - MINI+ - MMU3 - Accelerometer Guide - BambuLab A1 Combo <--
RE: Value of upgrade - my thoughts after almost two months
The opinions are mixed, I see. The HF capacity of the nozzle apparently comes to show only for higher need of filament than standard, so layer thickness greater than 0.2 mm and probably for nozzles wider than 0.4 mm. The MK4 design apparently was balanced in that respect.
One then wonders why the HF nozzle does not come in a 0.8 mm variant. That's where the bulk is needed.
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An update, specifically about the new MK4S shroud. Recently, I had a failed print, where the print became detached from the bed. In this case, the shroud acted almost exactly like a locomotive "cowcatcher", and rather than a print that came off the bed and got pushed aside, it scooped the print up, cradling it and holding it, as more and more filament was deposited on top. I luckily noticed it, but not before it was a pretty big mess.
Clearing that mess lost me the shroud (parts of which broke off) as well as the "latches" for the shroud on the fan case frame. These parts are light, but delicate, and I have printed several more spares just in case this happens again.
I would not call this a design defect. The assumption has to be that prints complete successfully, but it does add a potential for "scooping" bad prints up which did not exist on the MK4 and which users of the MK4S should be aware of.
RE: Value of upgrade - my thoughts after almost two months
The shroud was a tough fit for me too, though I was able to get it to eventually fit. Plus the screw choice was poor, it only catches a few threads and the next longer screw is too long. Some redesign needed ther
Printing it from PETG and having it fit means nothing imo. The PCCF shrinks more, so they could've both been printed from the exact file and the PETG might fit better because of less shrinkage.
In all reality the cad file should be altered to account for the additional shrinkage on the PCCF and to account for a longer screw.