MM to assemble or no to assemble
Hi All
So i just received my Prusa I3 MK2s tow days ago, i assembled the printer and started printing right away to make sure every thing is in order before i add the MM upgrade(it came along with the printer thank you PR for the surprise.) So this is not my first printer My Question is, what am i going to loose after i do the upgrade, i do understand MM prints will take longer but that is the cost of multi color in one go, any thing else, like will i be able to print single color prints normally, do i have to keep all four colors populated, where are we with PVA as a support material, so many questions in my mind and lastly how long should i wait before putting the MM upgrade on the printer.
Keep on smiling -
Re: MM to assemble or no to assemble
Really as soon as you are happy with the printer and printing with single filament you should go ahead and upgrade.
I don't think there is very much of a "loss" following the upgrade. Prints do take ever so slightly more time due to the additional retraction required and of course, you are limited to using Slic3r at present, but the nice thing is that is you have the filament you want to use already loaded, you simply switch to that extruder which can save some time.
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: MM to assemble or no to assemble
I think the only thing of significance is that the stock MK2S has a direct drive extruder and after the MM upgrade you have a short Bowden. This DOES affect print quality (primarily dealing with stringing) but can be dealt with in the slicer. The multitude of filament and other profiles included with Slic3rPE are very optimized for the single, direct drive extruder. This difference is relatively minor, especially if you know your way around a slicer, but it bears mentioning. The only other consideration is footprint - the stock MK2S is relatively compact, add the filament holders for 4 filaments and it takes up more than 2x the depth front-to-back. There are other arrangements but they all take up more room.
Cheers,
Michael
Re: MM to assemble or no to assemble
I think most people on these forums are going to tell you "As soon as you think you are ready!"
But...
I must play devils advocate.
Honestly, use your printer WITHOUT MMU for at least 60 days before switching.
Mark your calendar 60 days out and don't touch the MM kit until that day.
Your MM kit isn't going anywhere and PRUSA is still working the bugs out of the software for this thing.
I own 2 MK2's. One WITH the MMU and one without. The MMU can be extremely frustrating. Jam, Jam, Jam, Jam, constantly... And then miraculously, one day it will print 2 or 3 complete prints without issue.
Then you'll get the crazy idea of changing filament and WHAM, right back to jamming. Consider yourself warned.