Prusa Mini Clone from China  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@andrew-pawelski

It is too hard to remove the hotend.  I got it on the 11-11 sale.  The seller was very frank when I asked if why it was so cheap.  They told me they only made 25 and they do not plan to make more.  I will post some pictures.  Price 291 shipped.  I bought it specifically to experiment with so I will be happy when I get it a little better set up.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

There is a big reason why there are three teflon tubes on the original printer. Quick couplings are not sufficient to keep the hose from the pressure created by the filament in the hotend. After a short time, the filament fills the space just above the nozzle and printing becomes impossible. The original setting was done so that the short tube was “trapped” between the hotend and the brass thread. the teflon hose is secured against movement and this is the only way for the printer to work properly. The fan on the hotend is also specific because it makes a much higher air flow than a regular fan. The new firmware 4.3.0 will not work on the Chinese clone just because of the type of fan. All in all, it takes a lot of effort and time to turn a clone into a printer that is close to the original ...

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@nikomi-2

It is pretty close.  I have it running pretty much stock.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@nikomi-2

Not necessarily a lot of effort, more like money to buy parts as close to original as possible or better. And time, waiting for parts to arrive.

Why do you think clones will not work after firmware upgrade? Prusa publishes components and their specifications, anything that conforms to it should work normally. Other thing is whether cloned parts are up to snuff, but that's what this thread is about 😀 it's hit or miss. Buy original if you want a kit to assemble and you avoid these issues.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

Posted by: @crawlerin

Buy original if you want a kit to assemble and you avoid these issues.

That is 100% true.  The clones are definitely hit or miss.  I have two hits but many have not been so lucky. 

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

The most important information is whether the clone package contains Haribo bears.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@kalimero

Nope.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@kalimero

Mine did not either.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

Would the clones be a good motion-system with prusa firmware for specialized setup?

Thinking if it's the hotend/extruder that is lacking.

Putting a e3d or dragon in it's place?

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@mrstoned

Absolutely.  I have been running it for 3-4 months an it works.  The extruder is not bad but it is PTFE lined.  

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

Great. I', waiting fo rmy mini+ first and get it up and running.

But i have plans for getting a clone for directdrivemod and flexprinting. I found a series on youtube/thingiverse that looks interesting.

With ptfe-lined, you could still print with pla/petg and some abs so still works.

Thanks

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@mrstoned

The PTFE is protected by the heatbreak and in principle should not get much warmer than 50 degrees C.. I print with the E3D V6 (PTFE inline) e.g. PEEK (380 degrees C. nozzle temperature). PC and nylon on the Mini at 270 degrees C. is also no problem.
What I have to mention is that I use E3D V6 hotends with titanium heatbreak and nickel-plated copper heating blocks on all printers. The E3D is not the most modern and powerful, but it is stable and reliable.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

I saw i some youtubevideo ptfe-lined was prefferred for printing really flexibles.

Might just be for the jello-variants tho.

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

My fysetc clone is great, I did purchase their bondtech clone as well to improve on the issues from the original extruder config. 

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

The key to a successful 3d print is a stable printing temperature. The PID settings in the original firmware are defined for the original hotend. I tried to connect MINI to PC via micro usb cable and Pronterface. I had no success. In addition to the two MINI clones, I have the original I3MK3S. My idea was to connect both cooler, heater and thermistor to MK3S. I disconnected it all from the board and connected it to the Rambo board. Through Pronterface I did PID tuning and entered the obtained values ​​in the initial gcode in Slicer. The result is a perfect print!

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

I am very happy with my clones.  I am at 3-4 months of use.  No major issues.  One of them had an issue with the PSU at 90 days.  The manufacturer replaced it.  To be honest, I am goign to use that PSU as back up.  I am buying a Prusa PSU as PSU for daily use.   

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@nikomi-2

I was able to successfully connect Pronterface to the Mini after installing this vcp driver:

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

Is there something like that for Mac?

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@nikomi-2

I think that the drivers are only available for Windows OS:

https://techslaundry.com/how-to-download-and-install-stm32-virtual-com-port-driver

Maybe you'll ask here: https://www.st.com/en/development-tools/stsw-stm32102.html

RE: Prusa Mini Clone from China

@karl-herbert

I think you are right - Windoze only.