Unboxing the Assembled I3MK3S
A couple of days ago, I received my I3MK3S Assembled, about two weeks in advance on what I expected. 😀
This post is not a review of the product, but to warn Prusa about a potential issue buyers of the Assembled version could have.
When I unboxed the printer, the printer was assembled and apparently ready to use. I took the manual, to read what were the preliminary steps to do.
So I started to follow the instructions:
Chap. 6 - First Steps
- 6.3 Setup before printing
- 6.3.1 Calibration flow and wizard - ASSEMBLED
The second box of the flow chart was just: "Remove Shipping Helpers" 6.1, so I jumped to:
Chap. 6.1 Printer unpacking and proper handling
I found only few sentences:
"When unpacking the fully assembled version, remove the top foam from the box and gently lift the printer up. Parts of the printer are secured by
more foam which needs to be removed. Some parts are additionally secured with the white zip-ties, cut those off too.
That ends the instructions. There are no images of the zip-ties, neither a mention of how much they are. 😕
So I looked at the printer and I cut one front white zip that secured the X-axe, the other was broken during the transportation.
Then I look around the printer and I saw one almost invisible just over the display going under the bed, and I also cut that.
Then I could not see any other, but I decided to triple check all again before turning on the printer. I moved manually the bed and noticed that it was too strong and blocked to be just an effect of motor friction. So I raise the printer trying to look under, and surprise surprise, there was another zip tie completely invisible that was blocking the bed movement; I quickly removed also that, and looked around to see if there was another one.... Since I could not find any other zip, I powered it on.
The printer started, and I performed the Z-Alignment, and started to print the PRUSA logo following the manual.
All was perfect 😀 I should say that the overall result was worth the money I spent. I get a perfect aligned printer and I was able to use it in minutes.
However I would suggest PRUSA to improve the manual, on the unboxing ASSEMBLED section, mentioning that "There are 4 zip-ties, two on front holding the X-Axes, one just over the display that blocks the Y-axe, and another under the bed, not visible that secure the bed."
This could avoid that a distract user start to print with a zip-tie under the bed, risking to damage the printer, even if I think the motor drivers would detect such situation and would give an alarm to the user (may be.... 😎 PRUSA, did you tried in practice this extreme situation to see what firmware does ? 
)