Come on prusa, shape up  

Re: Come on prusa, shape up

I think everyone agrees the mmu v1 is terrible so i can't help much there.

BUT, if you'd actually like to troubleshoot the other issues then posting a rant on the community boards in the wrong forum less than 24 hours after your first post probably isn't the best way to go about it.

The jams should be easy to troubleshoot if you'll say what you've already tried, but sorry I'm not a slic3r guru.

Re: Come on prusa, shape up

Good morning Scott.

I read your post, which is in the Prusa Mk3 section of the forum,

the post seems to condemn Prusa, for selling a completely useless product in the form of the Multiple Material unit version1 but don't say what problems you are currently suffering.

your post complains that Prusa have stopped producing the MMUv1 and are now developing the MMUv2, without giving you any benefit of being an existing customer, from what I can see on the eshop page, the MMUv1 to MMUv2 upgrade cost is £130 cheaper, than outright purchase of the MMUv2

your post continues to complain about an undisclosed fault in Slic3r, that Prusa are not responding to, but doesn't ask for any sort of help.

Your post then continues to complain that your Mk2 printer continually jams, but again gives no details of what is happening, nor do you ask for help..

and in the background here, my MMUv1 Based on the Prusa i3 Mk2 hardware, is successfully printing three different coasters in four different colours without any intervention, other than reducing the standard 4mm retraction to 3mm and selecting 0.95 extrusion multiplier, in slic3r v1.41.2+win64 (the same version of Slic3r that you appear to be using)

I am using 4 different manufacturers PLA filament, three of which are from un named suppliers at the lower end of the price ranges probably Chinese origin, elsewhere on the forum, and on the greater internet, people are extolling the virtues of the prusa i3 Mk2, and even saying it prints better than the Prusa i3 Mk3 (this is probably one of the worst filament sets, for the MMUv1) the print completed successfully.

from what I can see, your only other post was two days ago, where you complain that if you slice a model in PLA, then change the filament to PETG and slice again, then return to PLA, and slice again, that the temperatures in Slic3r stay at the PLA settings.

to try this out,
having just sliced and printed a model in PLA,
I re sliced my latest model in PETG, and then,
re sliced it in PLA
to see if I could recreate your issue.

and the results were:
1, Original print set as PLA, print temperatures were as expected for PLA in Gcode,(see below)

; Start G-Code sequence START
T2
M104 S215 ; set extruder temp
M140 S60 ; set bed temp
M190 S60 ; wait for bed temp
M109 S215 ; wait for extruder temp
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; use relative distances for extrusion
G28 W

2, file set to PETG and re sliced
As below, Temperatures now show as PETG temperatures in Gcode (See Below)

; Start G-Code sequence START
T2
M104 S230 ; set extruder temp
M140 S85 ; set bed temp
M190 S85 ; wait for bed temp
M109 S230 ; wait for extruder temp
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; use relative distances for extrusion
G28 W

3, same model, filament selections changed back to PLA
Temperatures now show as appropriate for PLA (see below)

; Start G-Code sequence START
T2
M104 S215 ; set extruder temp
M140 S60 ; set bed temp
M190 S60 ; wait for bed temp
M109 S215 ; wait for extruder temp
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; use relative distances for extrusion
G28 W

however I did notice that on the Slic3r filament tab, the information shown when I was slicing for PETG, was...

to move forward I changed the filament type to ABS and re sliced the model,
this time the Gcode showed

; Start G-Code sequence START
T2
M104 S255 ; set extruder temp
M140 S100 ; set bed temp
M190 S100 ; wait for bed temp
M109 S255 ; wait for extruder temp
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; use relative distances for extrusion
G28 W

which is entirely appropriate for ABS
I attach the following composite image showing, what I could see on the 'Plater' page, and below,
what I could see on the filament page, after I generated Gcode showing correct ABS temperatures.

I am no expert. but it looks like there is a problem with slic3r, not updating the filament information page, after a filament type has been changed, but that the Slic3r actually uses the correct filament temperatures anyway!

I will raise this as an issue with Prusa in a couple of minutes,

in the mean time, can we help you with your MMUv1 issues and your Mk2 issues?

ideally a description of what is happening and some pictures would be useful,

regards Joan

Re: Come on prusa, shape up

Joan, nice reply!

Re: Come on prusa, shape up

I does my Best!! !

🙂

Joan

Re: Come on prusa, shape up

You are a STAR Joan. clear run down that points him to the correct forum section for his problems. I wonder if he is just venting his frustration for not getting an immediate reply to his email to Prusa and that can be very upsetting if that is how you get your support. Perhaps the cover letter that is on the top of every packed Prusa kit could mention the approximate response times for the ways of asking for help. Also saying the chat support is favored and the need to be logged in to your account at a sales page and enter the order number of your kit on the request check in: in other words how to get best use out of chat support and a bit about how it works with the techs working on several chats at once and the need to be patient about that

Phone support leave a number for callback expect response callback in 3 to 4 days (you don't want to be on hold for an hour to a number in Prague 😕 )

email support provide all details in a clear formatted way and do a good proof read before you hit send. expect a quick "msg received" response that provides the expected response time to your question allowing for routing to the needed engineering department, translation if required, consultation with other departments within Prusa, and translation back to your language. 2 to 3 weeks.

Chat support 20 min to one hour based on load (automatically updated by the chat software)

Informal support from other users points to the forum sections for their kit.

(and chat will be upgraded to an AI system i expect over the next few years... (I once had someone that I at first was an AI bot but turned out to be a new hire trainee with better english skills than knowledge of the Prusa products 😳 )

just a thought joan the next time you are in contact with the support folks at Prusa when improvements are discussed

Re: Come on prusa, shape up

Joan, thank you for that incredibly detailed and thoughtful reply. You ARE a star. I am humbled by the amount of time you spent on it. As was surmised, a lot of that post came from shear frustration.

Also thanks to randolph.l for pointing me in the right direction for support. I did not even realize there were other options for prusa support. When I searched the web, this was the only place I found. (this is probably my fault as well.)

I don't have a lot of time that I get to spend on my 3d printing and I am forced to spend the majority of that time dealing with filament jams and other hardware issues. When, on top of that, the software had issues and there was no support readily available it sent me over the top and I had to vent.

It turns out that my software problem was a misunderstanding on my part. I primarily use Simplify3d and don't particularly like slic3r so this was the first time I had used it for multi-material printing. I just had to understand how they differ.

It still leaves me with a machine which jams 2 out of 3 times, but I did manage to finally complete a multi color print of my own design. I've included a link to a photo if you are interested.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8oagavcNE7zaFd9z8

Thanks again,
Scott

Re: Come on prusa, shape up

One further update: My original post STILL has no responses which lend weight to my decision to post this discussion here on the MK3 board. No vitriol intended, just sayin.

Re: Come on prusa, shape up

Thank you, Joan, for your early and thoroughgoing reply here.

One further update: My original post STILL has no responses which lend weight to my decision to post this discussion here on the MK3 board. No vitriol intended, just sayin.

I have just responded, please accept our apology for the delay, most of us are on their Christmas vacation and those who are not, are focussing on chats and emails. Rest assured your message has been passed upstream.
Congratulations on your multicolor print, it looks very nice. 🙂
Regarding the printing issues, thank you for sending us their description yesterday, I confirm we have received your email and my colleague will check it with you.

Re: Come on prusa, shape up

...how to get best use out of chat support and a bit about how it works with the techs working on several chats at once and the need to be patient about that...

Hi Randolph, just a quick response to you as well. I hear you, but the thing is, it's quite difficult to estimate the response time. It may be longer for example after Jo publishes a new article or when a new product is announced/released.

When it comes to chats, you're correct, we're available there 24/7, holidays included, and based on the data I see in the chat app, the average first response time is under 3 minutes. It is true though that further responses may also take couple minutes as the operator almost always has multiple conversations going on simultaneously (typically at least 3, can be even 7, my personal record is 14, I'm sure Shane has even more).

As for the emails, as far as I know, the app we are using does not have a feature that would just automatically send "msg received" auto response, let alone include a response time estimation. Our goal is to respond to every single email in under 3 days, more complicated stuff that needs some consultation or for example in case we want to test the issue in the office to give you the best and the most complete answer, it may sometimes take longer.

Don't be too hyped up for the AI, the bots that are available now work fine for buying cinema tickets, but when it comes to more complex tasks, like say a thermistor issue, it will take at least a decade before the technology is there, imho. For these cases, however, we have HelpDocs, where everybody can instantly find explanations and guides and tutorials.