Prusa Mini Clone from China  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@crawlerin

Mine came 100% assembled outside of needing to add the heater and thermistor.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@crawlerin

That is not entirely true.  My MK3S clone is not PTFE lined.  I carefully research it to ensure I got the one from TriangleLabs to ensure it was not.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@charles-h13

Trianglelab is different company from Fysetc though. I was talking about Fysetc.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@crawlerin

I know.  I am talking about two different machines also.  Triangle Labs does not make minis.   I was using that to explain how I researched to find one that did not go all the way through.  You said that all Mk3S clones go all the way through.  D-Force and Triangle Labs certainly do not.  

I just contacted FYSETC to ask if my kit has the heartbreak replaced or if they all come this way now.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

Haha no, I was talking about Fysetc specifically, that their clones use PTFE-lined hotend both MK3S and MINI (and whatever else they make). Sorry for misunderstanding.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@crawlerin

No issue.  I would just replace the heartbreak.  

I have been printing for over a week.  The only complaint I have is that I had a little difficult dialing it on the first day for a first layer.  I scratched the bed a little.  It was my mistake.  I tried to print a temp tower sliced for the MK3S.  Don't do that again.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@zoltan

I do not.  I will be writing a complete review for this forum and on my own personal website.  I will tell you that I am impressed with the printer but I do think it is overpriced.  If I were going to order one at full price, I would wait until the Original Mini from Prusa is available in a more timely availability from the Prusa.  I think price will plummet.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@crawlerin

I got an answer from the seller.  My printer was returned and they broke the heartbreak.  They replaced the heartbreak so you might be right.  My purchase was from a 3rd party vendor.    

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

I looked on the FYSETC: 

https://www.fysetc.com/products/1pcs-radiator-kit-clone-prusa-mini-hotend-set-heatsink-for-prusa-mini?variant=36889764659349

The heartbreak is different than the one on mine.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

I am done testing and reviewing my clone.  I would strong recommend against being a clone from China.  The kit was challenging to build and the quality was suspect.  I got lucky and most have not.  I will not be posting anymore on my clone.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@charles-h13

Thanks for the interesting and informative feedback series.
I just hope that one day we will not walk around as clones 😋 

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

Thanks Charles.

This also confirms my decision to go with a genuine Prusa rather than a clone or a cheaper competitor.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@charles-h13 Your experience with a cheap(ish) clone pretty much mirrors mine.

• I ordered an Artillery Sidewinder X1 at the start of the pandemic for PPE printing.
• It worked well enough for 15 days, at which time the bed thermistor cable failed. This cable is run along with AC bed power in a suspect sleeve that is subject to high stress and bending with very poor cable relief.
• After being assured a replacement would rushed at the end of a multi-day email exchange, I decided to patch in a repair. Just as well as the replacement part took 60 days to arrive. I wound up doing extensive work internally to add strain relief and print a set of cable chains to protect the cabling. I was able to print at more-or-less the same level as on day one.
• Various other parts within the extruder began to experience problems, and the PTFE-lined heartbreak limited filament options. I wound up replacing the cover/heatsink, extruder gears, heartbreak, heat block and nozzle. I also had to go through the joy of finding and recompiling my firmware to extend the temperature range.
• I also wound up on a quest to find reasonable cooling and wound up replacing the part cooling fan with a larger 5015.

While I quite like the Sidewinder, I will in no way recommend it to a newcomer. The bed cabling can harm or kill somebody, whether due to shock or fire hazard. The PTFE-lined heatbreak is a shortcut that only benefits the manufacturer. There were lots of issues with over-tightened screws, excessive hot glue application on the boards and connectors, and a variety of other QC issues.

That said, my prior experience with my Prusa Mk3 prepared me well and knowing what and how things should work was of tremendous help. I am way past enjoying twiddling and assembling kits, but I am able to recognize the problems and identify fixes. It's a reasonable SECOND printer. For all that, now that I have this thing working, I really do like it. I'm getting good and surprisingly detailed results with it. It is quiet enough and has great production volume. It's a shame these companies won't spend a bit more on good QC, parts and support. The printer designs are decent and competitive once assembled and tuned correctly.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

I am starting a blog for my reviews.   I will write this up a little more professionally.  

Clone Mini Review

The bottom line from start to finish is that I would never think twice about a clone if Prusa offered a kit version.  I would never suggest it to my club if Prusa offered a kit.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

Posted by: @charles-h13

I am starting a blog for my reviews.   I will write this up a little more professionally.  

Clone Mini Review

The bottom line from start to finish is that I would never think twice about a clone if Prusa offered a kit version.  I would never suggest it to my club if Prusa offered a kit.  

Nice writeup @charles-h13. Waiting for more 😉

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

Oh and did I mention aluminium profiles are of different type than those with original MINI? Then your printed parts won't fit with standard T-slot nuts. These are from China, while original uses such with slot. As I said previously, seems like they sourced hodge-podge of random parts taken from BOM, regardless if they fit together or not.

And missing 2 M5 screws. What comes good of it is that I have built supplies of proper screws, nuts and spare parts now, because I had to order those. Just assembling it takes me very long right now, I am in no hurry and do it whenever I am not occupied by something else.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@crawlerin

Odd.  Either they shipped me more or I got a bunch of important parts left over.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@charles-h13

There's quite an excess of other screws and nuts in the kit, just missing 2 M5s 😀 it's solved now, we have stashes and stashes of various screws at work which we don't use because we standardized on M6 for mounting equipment to racks.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@crawlerin

I really wish Prusa would offer the Mini in Kit Form.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

There was no missing screws in my kit @crawlerin.