Issues Questions  

Re: Issues Questions

Bryan

With regard to the first part of your query, yes the majority of printed parts are ABS. That is not an issue with regard to the extruder because everything has been properly designed and by using a excellent extruder with cooling fan, the "hot" parts in contact with the ABS printed parts are quite cold.

With regard to customer support, I can only speak about my experience and that has been excellent. Considering that this is a DIY hobby kit, there are plenty of things that can go wrong, especially with new users with no previous experience. Therefore there are bound to be one or two issues, but when you consider how many "original" printers there are out there, there really are exceedingly few complaints.

Peter

Re: Issues Questions

Bryan, before you make your order, ask customer support whether spare PEI sheet is still part of the MK2 kit or not. If not, add one to MK2 order. You may have to talk to customer support about it because spare PEI sheets are not officialy "in stock", they're put on stock on demand.
PEI sheet (the surface of heatbed) is the most vulnerable part of the printer. It is still very durable, but not indestructible. I'd prefer to call it "consumable". The time will come and you will want to replace it, then you will be happy to have a spare one. Its price is nothing compared to whole kit.

Re: Issues Questions

Thanks very much David for that tip. Sounds like a good idea!

Re: Issues Questions

I have two of the mk2 and erectorbot commercial large printer. Customer support is as good if not better than the $50,000 erectorbot. I had a cooling fan go bad after about 60 days and they replaced it no questions ask. I have printed Nylon with the PRUSA and it does a very good job, as long as it is dried. The PEI bed liner can be purchase here in the states. Check out another thread for the company that has it. I don't think you will have a problem with messing up the bed with the new software.
Print quality is as good as with our 50K machine.

Re: Issues Questions

Thanks for your input Jay, definitely making me feel much more confident about this purchase.
I'm not broke, but I'm not just rolling in the money either - so I don't take parting with almost $800 lightly. 🙂
Thanks.

Re: Issues Questions

Customer support I have found to be great. I've printed ColourFab XT at 245°C with no problems...

I would recommend a Prusa i3 MK2 to anyone!

Re: Issues Questions

@3Delight
That's good to hear!

Re: Issues Questions

Bryan, before you make your order, ask customer support whether spare PEI sheet is still part of the MK2 kit or not.

FYI - my kit was shipped Thursday, and arrived here in the US yesterday. I did receive a spare PEI sheet with my kit.

John

Re: Issues Questions

Good to know!
Thanks John.

Re: Issues Questions

The Prusa i3 MK2 was my first 3D printer that I was able to afford and get my hands on. I had ordered a Fabrikator Mini before this one, but the MK2 arrived 2 months ago for me, and the Fabrikator Mini arrived 2 days ago. The MK2 was not very workable for me with the 3.0.3 firmware (which it came with). When firmware 3.0.6 came out, printing has become much easier.

That said, I'm saving up $2700 for a Cubicon Single as my next 3D printer since it advertises to be a heated enclosure with carbon and HEPA filtering and capable of doing both flexibles and ABS. I'll be using the Cubicon primarily for ABS.

I've done a fair amount of research watching the Youtube channels of Makers Muse (Angus), 3D Printing Nerd (Joel Telling), and Chuck Hellebuyck's Electronic Products. Thomas Sanlanderer recently did a very long stream on this printer and assembled the kit as well. Joel Telling recently unboxed the prebuilt printer (which is what I ordered and received).

Re: Issues Questions

Thanks for sharing all the details AYOURK. Now I noticed you said you are saving to get the Cubicon to do flex and ABS, I thought the MK2 is advertised to be capable of doing flex and ABS? Have you tried and had any issues trying to do those on the MK2? Or for that matter, is there any polymer you have had difficulty with on the MK2?
With the research I've done and the quality of the parts on the MK2(and the fact it is already the top of my price range right now) it seems that for the price there really isn't a better one out there.
Of course it does seem that once you pass abvoe the $1500 - $2000 mark there are quite a few really good quality options.
Thanks.

Re: Issues Questions

Hi Brian,

This 3D printer is just a wonderful toy. Compare to a standard i3 architecture like the mk1 or any clone, the bigger bed, auto-calibration of the bed and the PEI are really features that make a real difference. In lesser way, the E3D v6 full is nice to allow additional filament type.

You should not consider the mk2 as a mainstream product but as a tool, and as such you need to learn how to use it properly and how to do a proper maintenance. Buying a kit is a good way to learn how it works.

There were some reports (well 2 that I can remember) of issues with overheated, but without further investigation it's hard to understand how it can happen without a fan issue.

PR can do errors, but they learn from it and react to improve things: improving firmware, adding a spare PEI in the package, refining the printed parts parameters (first one were perfectible) ...

And in top of that, the community here is very active and glad to help, and this is irreplaceable !

Re: Issues Questions

I thought the MK2 is advertised to be capable of doing flex and ABS?

I'm not ayourk, but yes, the MK2 can do flex and ABS. If you watch the videos from Prusa Research, they have a room full of machines printing parts for the MK2. Most of those parts are ABS. Some who print exclusively in ABS really prefer an enclosed printer as ABS is susceptible to problems due to drafts. I don't intend to do ABS, as I print in the living area of my home, and my family would not accept the smell of burning plastic. PLA, PETG, and some of the newer, high performance PLA offer great substitutes for many of the qualities of ABS.

With the research I've done and the quality of the parts on the MK2(and the fact it is already the top of my price range right now) it seems that for the price there really isn't a better one out there.

A few things to think about:

- Consumer 3D printing is still very much in its infancy
- 3D printers are available in prices ranging from under USD$100 to thousands of dollars
- Differentiators include:
-- Features (heated bed, multiple extruders, layer cooling, enclosures, etc.)
-- Component quality ( power supplies and cables, hot-ends, bearings, frame parts)
-- Availability of replacement parts
-- Availability of support (either vendor or community)

My first printer (purchased 9 months ago) was a Chinese Delta printer kit based on the Rostock design. It cost about US$430. I really like to watch the Delta printers in action. I mean - it's a "freakin' Robot" in your house! 🙂 Unfortunately, the parts were imprecisely measured, and Delta printers need to be very carefully built and calibrated to get good prints. Mine is actually printing fine, but it took a lot of calibrating. Also, the thin, small gauge wires and cheap knock-off main board have issues, and I do not trust the printer to run if I'm not in the room. There is a small, but helpful support group, but getting support from the vendor or manufacturer is not easy.

I decided I wanted a more reliable printer. One with good quality parts and a good support system (users and vendors). There are -a lot- of very positive You Tube videos and web sites talking about the MK1, and every better reviews for the MK2. For me, it comes back to that room full of printers at Prusa Research. After watching too many hours of Thomas Sanlanderer's videos ( ) for too many of the 16 hours he was recording, I was sold! The fact that Josef Prusa was in the chat much of the day was really impressive to me too.

Realize that in one year, the market will likely be different too. I felt for the increase over what I paid for my Delta, I am getting more reliability, better quality, as well as the "features" of a larger print bed, better surface, better auto-leveling, better hot-end, etc.

I'm still in the honeymoon period, as I'm just building my printer. I'm hoping to be a very satisfied customer!

Good Luck!

John

Re: Issues Questions

Thanks very much for the comments John! I placed my order for the MK2 Kit last night!
I agree with your statements, one of the reasons I decided to go for it is the user community and also the fact that it seems to be easily upgradable for the future.
I probably won't be doing much ABS but I would like to try and do some flex soon. As I stated in the original post I currently have a Monoprice Select Mini that I have gotten very comfortable tinkering with. I have used a couple of the High Temp PLA's and had good success so I really don't see much of a need for ABS right now.
The main reason I want the MK2 is to have something with a bigger build volume and hopefully faster print speeds. I will say the Mini is a really good printer for $200 but the build volume is only 120x120x120.

Re: Issues Questions

Bryan

I dipped my toe into flex (TPU) recently; didn't have much of a clue and only printed a single model (the octopus).

My filament supplied sent me a few metres to try out with no specs, so I had a good guess at what settings to use and I ended up with a pretty decent print, considering it was a first attempt. The key, I think is to print very slowly.

The only problem I had was removing the part from the bed, but I have since learned that a small amount of talcum powder on the bed before printing works wonders...

Peter

Re: Issues Questions

Good to know!
Thanks Peter!

Re: Issues Questions

Thank you guys for the kind words.

We shipped few more review printers this week, so the final list is:

- Thomas Sanladerer
- Joel Telling
- RichRap
- MakersMuse
- ILikeToMakeStuff
- Matt Stultz (MAKE) - very early MK2

I hope there will be no more 13 hour live streams, I will have to watch and remind people to use manuals 😀

Re: Issues Questions

Throwing my 2 cents in here. I own 2 MK2's (upgraded from MK1).
Love them.
I print Nylon 680 @ up to 270 Celsius constantly; along with ABS, Flex, ASA (awesome stuff) and wood.
Well worth the $800.
Customer service was excellent when needed. Had a defective motor on the 2nd printer (then a MK1); replaced and in my hands in 2 days. No complaints.

I have a friend that bought a Chinese clone awhile back and has nothing but issues. He now admits he should have purchased an Original Prusa.
Save yourself the headaches, buy the kit, build and enjoy problem free printing.