MINI first impressions
Few people already obtained their MINIs. Would it be possible to share your experience with unboxing, assembly, and prints? From what I saw, it looks pretty useable. There are few bugs, but that's kind of expected, from functional point of view there does not seem to be major showstopper. The assembly and setup looks really streamlined, I have few colleagues who are interested because the price is down to home appliance now, but have never done anything 3D printing. I think they'd handle it.
User Phr0ze was kind enough to live stream unbox, assembly and first prints. Few other things were tested as well. What we have seen so far:
- It's very quiet
- Nozzle allows to go to 290, bed to 110 degrees
- It pre-heats in 2 steps - first it heats or cools nozzle to 170 degrees, does MBL, then to working temperature
- It does print flexibles
- Cantilever arm seems pretty sturdy, it does not move or wobble
- No XYZ calibration in menu - is it not needed, is pre-calibrated, or will be added later?
- During initial calibration, it failed to load filament, but then allowed only one more attempt before jumping to main screen
- Crash detection and power panic not working yet (this is known from announcement blog post, it will be added later)
- It does request IP address and has Prusa Connect web interface over http, but is currently very barebones (just displaying temperatures and inactive future elements). Not unexpected.
- Reads data from USB, pauses print when USB is yanked out, but does not recover properly when re-inserted
- When print paused, it parked to upper right corner, but when paused print was stopped, it brought the nozzle back to last position on print for some reason
Question - what is the source of image displayed for prints? Does slicer put image data into gcode when exporting it? Or does it get generated on the fly? Becuase the USB contained only gcode files and firmware.
(I made this thread not to spam waiting thread where people mostly post shipping progress now.)
RE: MINI first impressions
There we go, video about calibration and first print is now up.
RE: MINI first impressions
[...] Question - what is the source of image displayed for prints? Does slicer put image data into gcode when exporting it? Or does it get generated on the fly? Becuase the USB contained only gcode files and firmware.
Looking at gcode generated with the latest PrusaSlicer 2.1.1+ I see that a thumbnails = config option has been added but is blank. I suspect image generation will be added to an upcoming slicer version. Might this be related to the toolpath export function that was being discussed recently?
RE: MINI first impressions
I'm doing the first print on mine at the moment.
The assembly was straight forward, the included instruction book covered everything without the need to go online and check for any updates to the manual.
The build quality is very nice, it's sturdy, very quiet and the steel sheet build surface is a nice upgrade from my MK2.
Overall, so far so good 👍🏻
Let me know if you want any other info or pics or anything
RE: MINI first impressions
Could you tell something about the temperatures? Idk if I'm the only one who is a bit surprised about a "cable filled, passive cooled cable box" 🙄
Got also tmc drivers in my other printers, but with active cooling and cable management 😶
It’s better to give than to receive. Especially advice.
RE: MINI first impressions
@padigree
I'll check how hot the cable box gets and report back
RE: MINI first impressions
I guess it will not take long firt one making a "besr upgrade" to this one. I mean, look at it. Its simple. Change the front and back plate to 3030 extrusion, done.
Dont tgink its neccesary, but hey, people go crazy out there about bear upgrade
RE: MINI first impressions
Can some good soul print "stringing towers" test, as asked in another thread? It's first Prusa bowden printer, it may be good to see how it handles it.
Or for that matter, one of torture STLs for bridging, overhangs, print accuracy etc. Are esteps calibrated, or able to be calibrated?
Can it connect via USB to a computer? What about Octoprint? Can PrusaControl or Pronterface communicate with it?
RE: MINI first impressions
Did I miss it, or is there indeed no option for different sheet configurations (yet)?
RE: MINI first impressions
@crawlerin
I asked Chat support about that and the upshot was that USB was just for thunb drive. But as they seem to have the start of a web client (Ethernet) I suspect it is/will be possible to attach Octoprint via network, assuming Octoprint supports that.
RE: MINI first impressions
Can some good soul print "stringing towers" test, as asked in another thread? It's first Prusa bowden printer, it may be good to see how it handles it.
Would be very interested in seeing those as well.
Or for that matter, one of torture STLs for bridging, overhangs, print accuracy etc. Are esteps calibrated, or able to be calibrated?
That's a good idea. A side-by-side of the Micro torture test compared to one done on the Mk3 with identical settings (as much as possible) would answer a lot of questions.
Can it connect via USB to a computer? What about Octoprint? Can PrusaControl or Pronterface communicate with it?
Also very interested in Octoprint support for USB printing.
RE: MINI first impressions
There's a bit of a "torture test" here: http://www.kisslicertalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4747
The preview is stored by the slicer in the G-code file as PNG compressed image, saved in base64 ascii encoding.
As for the temps before MBL, that is down to the slicer and can easily be changed if required.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
RE: MINI first impressions
There's a bit of a "torture test" here: http://www.kisslicertalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4747
The preview is stored by the slicer in the G-code file as PNG compressed image, saved in base64 ascii encoding.
Great example! I'm posting a link to that post over to one of the "doubters" threads on Reddit. Somebody's freaking out that a 180x180x180 cube is showing a z-seam and ghosting and implying that represents the Mini print quality.
PJR - OK to post your pic separately so folks don't have to create accounts on the KISSlicer forums?
RE: MINI first impressions
PJR - OK to post your pic separately so folks don't have to create accounts on the KISSlicer forums?
Yeah, no problem, it would be great if you could also include the retract count and link to the model.
I don't think users need an account to view the forum though. In any event, I will be making my profiles available shortly, along with a load more print pics.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
RE: MINI first impressions
I added that info, thanks PJR. Here's the thread over on reddit.
RE: MINI first impressions
It does require an account.
RE: MINI first impressions
@padigree
Mk2 and Mk3 control box are far worse than the mini. Prusa seems to know how to handle it.
RE: MINI first impressions
@weak
I don’t think its in the firmware yet but really its a rather new feature for the Mk3 too. We printed for over a year on different sheets without that feature. Nbd
RE: MINI first impressions
@crawlerin
No stringing seen on pla yet. Here is a test I did for you. Not even a slight wisp.
RE: MINI first impressions
Eiffel Tower: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:268757
Sliced with KISSlicer.
25 hour print in 4 sections, layer height of 0.15mm.
108,446 total retracts (average 1.2 per second) of 3.2mm during the print.
I just find it very difficult to post images here 🙁
I will also try to fix the KISSlicerTalk site.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…