How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?  

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

I mean, if I had a crystal ball to predict how reliable the XL is going to be, I'd be making money hand over fist playing the stock market, not posting here... Not sure what you expect to hear — nobody has had their hands on an XL yet.

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

On the MK3S, assuming that the Z calibration is dialed in, the filament is dry, and the model is reasonably sane, no, it will not need consistent babysitting through the start-up.

I will often preheat and start a print, then come back in a few to several minutes to be sure that nothing tragic has happened, which it seldom does.

LOL, just be sure to also Clean Your Plate And Clean It My Way (tm).  😉

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

I’m with jsw on this. 

I clean my plates religiously. Soap and water is very affordable, as is 5 minutes of my time. No stress over 1st layers.

Most of my printing crises, which are now quite rare, are because i didn’t pay attention to the model orientation in the slicer.

Such that the XL doesn’t need a steel build plate, I could foresee disposable build surfaces - maybe something like parchment paper used for baking.  Peel it off the print, throw it in the trash. Roll out a new sheet, perfectly clean for the next print, no first layer issues. 

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

Just my 2 cents but any technology that squirts plastic from a moving head is never going to be hands off. Never used it but resin printing seems more likely to achieve that, albeit in a very messy way.

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

Posted by: @towlerg

Just my 2 cents but any technology that squirts plastic from a moving head is never going to be hands off. Never used it but resin printing seems more likely to achieve that, albeit in a very messy way.

Yes, resin is hands off. With my SL1S I can't even see if it is printing at all until about 45 minutes in because the the build plate is too low in the tank to see it. And even if something goes awry, there isn't much you can do except re-slice with better supports and try again. 

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

The MK3s is super hands off. As much as and FDM printer can be in my opinion. I am not so sure about new Prusa printer platforms. The Mini seems to work ok from what I have heard but certainly had some teething problems and some design choices that could do with improvements. (I don't own a Mini though, so it is just hearsay from my side) I would expect that the XL won't reach the sky high reliability of an MK3s either, not in its first iteration but your guess is as good as mine on that one. It doesn't exist as a product yet. 

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

PS: I do own a Voron 0.1. It works somewhat satisfactory I would say but the first layer has been a bit of an issue. I guess it might just need recalibration every once in a while. But then the tiny Voron doesn't have a bed levelling sensor. I just started using some dimafix for ABS and since then adhesion is no issue anymore and I have considerably more freedom with the first layer. So I am getting close to a print and forget printer there too, as long do a quick fresh adhesive application before the print. 

I would have thought that the V2.4 would not have those 1st layer issues. 

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

The XL seems to be inherently complex, but has a lot of automated features to make printing more straightforward. My mini prince like a champ, knock on wood, I very rarely have problems. Less than 5%? Definitely dry filament and I think the real three key is the sheets. Prusa Plus I usually just print in PETG or PLA. PCTPE from taulman will lift on the edges. Please

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

I think it's too early in the history of this hobby to print and forget.  You're relying on molten plastic being spread on a sheet of steel and hoping that it never comes loose.  If it comes loose to early you have a blob monster, if it comes loose too late you get a spaghetti monster.

I think for FDM printers the Prusa is as good as it gets, I have both an I3 and a Mini, but I wait for a couple of layers before I'll walk away from a print.  The XL looks awesome, but it's still an FDM printer, as good as it gets things like bed cleanliness will still be a factor.

Cheers

-Bob

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

With my MK3S & Mini, I usually start them & walk away. After proper Z-calibration I have no 1st layer issues. The only thing I come back for are color-changes, spool-changes, or finished prints.

The XL 1st layers should be even more reliable with force-sensing. And now I won't have to come back for color-changes; although I'll probably be fascinated to watch it at first. So my expectation is even more hands-off.

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

Time to get in to the details of tuning your V2, I own a V2.4 (V2.1220) as well and I can start a print and walk away, it's very reliable as is my Prusa MK3S.

Posted by: @simcole

I built and use a Voron 2.4. I’ve had fun with it and it’s fast but I constantly have to babysit it especially it’s first layer. I’m looking to possibly sell it and just buy the XL if I can truly print and walk away. What’s everyone’s thoughts on the reliability here. Speed is nice but I much prefer consistency. 

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

I have 2 Mk3S+ and both are super reliable.  Make sure the first layer is good and then walk away.

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

If you dont mind dealing with a blob of death, then fire and forget....most of the time you will be OK.  Occasionally you will have the blob to deal with.  Unless Prusa comes up with some dangling thermistors, etc., whose sole job is to look for contact with a forming blob of death so as to sense when to cut off the build.....

I would continue to check first layer adhesion, even with how awesome my experience has been with multiple I3 Mk3s+ printers.

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

If you dont mind dealing with a blob of death, then fire and forget....most of the time you will be OK.  Occasionally you will have the blob to deal with.  Unless Prusa comes up with some dangling thermistors, etc., whose sole job is to look for contact with a forming blob of death so as to sense when to cut off the build.....

I would continue to check first layer adhesion, even with how awesome my experience has been with multiple I3 Mk3s+ printers.

RE:

Posted by: @ben-4

If you dont mind dealing with a blob of death, then fire and forget....most of the time you will be OK.  Occasionally you will have the blob to deal with.  Unless Prusa comes up with some dangling thermistors, etc., whose sole job is to look for contact with a forming blob of death so as to sense when to cut off the build.....

I would continue to check first layer adhesion, even with how awesome my experience has been with multiple I3 Mk3s+ printers.

As Prusa has described the 2 force sensors in the XL, one reading external forces on the nozzle & the other sensing internal pressure, catastrophic blobs & clogs should become a thing of the past. The worst that should happen is that the print stops & waits for your intervention.

In the first Prusa Live video after the XL announcement, the engineer in charge of the sensor system described part of how it works. He said that just by looking at the sensor data, he could recreate the g-code for a print. They're working on diagnostics to not only detect crashes, but avoid them.

RE: How hands off are Prusia Printers in general and can we expect same from this XL?

I have 10 Prusa MK3s machines that run 24 x 7 . I can start a print and walk away with no worry at all if they are going to finish . Besides proper maintenance greasing the bearings and nozzle changes they are as reliable as you can get . I have no doubt the 3 XL machines we have on order will be the same with reliability.