Are you happy with your MK3?  

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Also, this is what I meant by the quasi-banding I see in your print (not the same as mine):

Those lines are every _mm. It's a temp tower of sorts that has 0.0_mm larger/smaller alternating.... To identify settings changes.

It's part of the STL file... I'll find it again, a post a link here. It's fantastic... And old.
I will get home in a few more hours.

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Also, this is what I meant by the quasi-banding I see in your print (not the same as mine):

Those lines are every _mm. It's a temp tower of sorts that has 0.0_mm larger/smaller alternating.... To identify settings changes.

It's part of the STL file... I'll find it again, a post a link here. It's fantastic... And old.
I will get home in a few more hours.

Ah, ok. I thought that might be the case given how consistently apart from one another they were.

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Ah, ok. I thought that might be the case given how consistently apart from one another they were.

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/multi-angle-test-tower-for-calibrating-jerk

Here it is.
Perfect for tuning speed, and jerk. (And testing the dreaded shadowing)

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/multi-angle-test-tower-for-calibrating-jerk

Here it is.
Perfect for tuning speed, and jerk. (And testing the dreaded shadowing)

Sweet. Thanks man. 🙂

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

No... Nothing more needs to be said

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Yes I am very happy with the printer though like others I noticed that things that I sliced had minor over extrusion issues on exterior walls. I dropped my extrusion multiplier and re sliced and all was well with the world again. So far there have been no major issues but I want to put a disclaimer on that by adding that I have not attempted to print in any other material besides PLA at this point.

The printer is capable and hopefully Prusa will improve the design more over time making it require less tinkering to produce top notch results.

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Nope, the extrusion has been very consistent with my machine, AFTER I dialed in the live Z calibration correctly
The design of the head required me to use a magnifying glass to observe the filament as it was being laid down to do that.

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

For some reason I never seems to be able to vote in these polls. They just don't work for some reason.

My vote would be yes, I am happy with it, with little issues. However, I have only had it for two days now, so I expect to improve on it as I get it dialed in. I found the built in Live Z adjust to be difficult. It was hard to see as it was extruding making it difficult to dial in. I found a thread in one of the other sub forums with a different calibration print which seemed to work quite well.

https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/prusa-i3-kit-building-calibrating-first-print-main-f6/life-adjust-z-my-way-t2981.html

I think I am now experiencing a little over extrusion, but I need more time to play.

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

I've been happy with my pre-assembled MK3. A few minor issues, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. It's my second printer (my first was a Monoprice Maker Select V2--a rebadged Wanhao Duplicator i3 V2.1--with a bunch of mods).

I haven't run into any extrusion inconsistency with most of my filament. My cheapest roll seems to underextrude a bit, but I suspect that's probably a result of the filament itself being inconsistent. I'm looking over some of the prints that I have on my desk and even the largest ones are smooth and consistent. Most of these prints were done with 3.1.0-RC4; I upgraded to the 3.1.3 somewhat recently, so I haven't had too much time to compare the results from the two.

I have some ringing in the X axis (seems to be a common complaint to varying degrees), but the belt status indicator on that axis is a bit higher than I'd like (it was around 290 when I got the printer, but it's sitting at around 300 now). At some point I need to pull the X-axis assembly apart and tighten things up a bit, as I think it loosened up to the point where it's just going to keep getting worse. I had some minor ringing on the Y-axis as well when I print at full speed, but that's with the spool holder attached to the gantry. I don't currently have enough room behind the printer to use an external spool holder, unfortunately, so I'm going to have to live with the wobble for now.

Live Z definitely needs adjusted on pre-assembled printers (and, if I recall correctly, the manual does indeed say so). This is probably something that the firmware should enforce. I admit that I just sort of excitedly started my first couple of prints while I was going through the manual, so I didn't see that right away. 😛 The first layer out of the box was passable, but further tweaking the Z gap made a noticeable difference in quality.

I find that the stock PLA settings run a bit too hot, giving prints rough underhangs and subpar bridging. I believe I lowered the hotend temperature to around 205°C for Prusa PLA (I'll have to double-check that when I get home--it's been a while since I adjusted that) and it improved my results pretty dramatically. One perfect example of the settings being straight up wrong is with the Generic PLA setting, which lists Hatchbox PLA as a specific "works with" example. It has the nozzle temperature set to 215°C, which is way too hot for that filament. I find that it prints best at around 195°C.

I had some issues with adhesion initially, but that's largely because I was spoiled by FakeTak. I've since discovered the wonders of glue sticks and my life improved dramatically. 🙂

I had an issue with the firmware that was initially installed on it (3.1.0-RC4). I made the mistake of using OctoPrint and the printer went into a coma right when it was lowering the nozzle and it crashed the hot nozzle into the PEI sheet. I caught it fairly quickly, but there was still a bit of damage to the area where the prime line is extruded. Not a huge deal (that side of the sheet is still very much usable) but PR could have done a better job testing that release of the firmware. If that happened while the nozzle was moving up/down from a Z hop while unattended it would have likely been far worse. I ended up switching to a FlashAir solution at that point and, having using it for a while, I find that I actually prefer that approach.

I'm running 3.1.3 now and am eagerly awaiting the return of linear advance. I've been considering using one of the third-party builds that reenable it...maybe I'll do that after my current print finishes.

The only major issue that really brought the printer down is something that could happen to any printer--one of the Y-axis linear bearings seized and gouged the rail. Upsetting, but it happens.

I'm concerned about the power supply (especially seeing as I'm in the US, and many of the failures seem to happen on 110V), but I haven't had any issues with it yet. I have a Mean Well 350W PSU on hand, though, just in case.

As for usage time and such, I'm sitting at around 14-15 days of print time (probably going to be at least ~18 days by this weekend), primarily printing various blends of PLA. I'm planning on printing some parts with PETG fairly soon, so we'll see how the PSU holds up to that...

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Yes, I don't know if I got lucky with my machine, but in about 3 months of use, I've had virtually 0 problems.
Filament sensor gave some false trips with esun black petg. That's it.
Other than that, it's quiet, it's reliable, and the print quality is top notch. I've thrown at anything from cheap PLA to polycarbonate, nylon, xt-cf20.. I print with it daily and I only had a small handful of failed prints mostly due to poor model/wrong slicer settings.
Very happy with it. The mk3 is by far the most reliable of my 6 printers.

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

No.

The printer is functional, but the print quality is not where it should be.

Too many unforced errors which remain uncorrected.

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

no, i'm not. maybe comparing with other printers in this range is ok, but i'm really sorry for selling my mk2 to buy mk3 .... the spring sheet is great though

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Yes.
I love to nerd out on the measuring, tweaking, testing. About 20hrs of prints on it so far and I'm actually creating useful items (still in PLA) for other family craft projects that look great.
Some topics I took to heart:

I got the Kit and knew full well this was a hobby-level unit and would have its own learning curve. I expected no more and have not been disappointed.
Goobs of thanks to all on the forum here who have posted questions and answers. I would of been lost w/o you!

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Are you happy with your MK3?

. . .

I have a MK3 on order but after reading the forums I'm starting to get cold feet.

I'm in pretty much the same situation, I have a MK3 on order - and am also somewhat concerned by the numerous reports of quality issues - as well as the lack of input on this issue from Prusa, even if was simply a "we are aware of the issue and are looking into it" response.

One thing I thought would be great, at least for pre-assemebed printers . . . . and this would only be for those slightly concerned customers who request it . . . . . would be if Prusa were to print out a standard test cube on your MK3 (specifically the MK3 destined for you) - a high-res picture is then taken of the cube and emailed to the customer - and the customer could give the OK to complete the purchase . . . .

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Poll so far . . . .

Yes, I love my printer 🙂 ! = 25 people

No, I'm not happy 😕 = 12 people

Maybe (when it's working !) ❓ = 3 people

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Good news, the inconsistent extrusion issue causing really poor print surface quality on the MK2.5/3 compared to the MK2/2s seems to be due to firmware. I’ve been running tests with some who has all mk2 and mk3 variants running tests to confirm whether the issue is due to software, hardware or some combination of both. So far our tests seems to point to it being a firmware issue alone rather than hardware such as the new Einsy Rambo on the mk3. I will create a new thread covering what we’ve found tomorrow. A renewed sense of hope that the mk2.5/3 poor print quality is redeemable.

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Good news, the inconsistent extrusion issue causing really poor print surface quality on the MK2.5/3 compared to the MK2/2s seems to be due to firmware . . . .

Sounds very interesting ! Thanks for taking the time to investigate this, looking forward to reading your findings !

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Yes
I've been printing useful things from day one and the print quality is better than the Matterhacker Replicators I was used to. The PEI sheets are a big step up from blue tape and rafts.

I am experienced in buying leading edge products from small startups in amateur astronomy and amateur radio. It's no surprise to me that there are numerous firmware releases and mods for the first year until the product delivers its full promise.

I'm running 3.1.3 with Brigandier's Linear Advance mod. I drive my MK3 from Octopi on a Raspberry Pi B through a USB cable and monitor with a Pi V2 camera attached to the bed. I added 6 Sorbothane feet and PSU cooling fans to mine. I've used Brigandgier's bed level map Octopi plug in to better level the bed.

Two things annoy me. The first is the lack not only of the PEI coated sheets but availability of even PEI sticker sheets. That is just poor customer support. I also think Prusa went cheap on the power supply and specified a marginal unit and further compounded the problem by covering cooling slots with the holder design.

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

.........
Two things annoy me. The first is the lack not only of the PEI coated sheets but availability of even PEI sticker sheets. That is just poor customer support. .....

I agree about the PEI sheet availability, I get the powder coated sheet not being available but wanted a spare sheet so badly I'm going to order a buildtak setup this week. Though my sheet is still in excellent shape I view it as a consumable and don't want to mess around with replacing the PEI only, though I may order a spring steel sheet from Buildtak and spare PEI from Prusa... I've been waiting to hear others experience with buildtak but only see youtube reviews and I don't watch youtube reviews...

My feeling is that Prusa kind of fell down on this release Jo might be a good guy and all but I feel he released this unit far too early and offers far too little communication with regard to issues and what's being done to resolve them. My printer arrived far later than was stated by chat the day I placed the order and is about 90% of where I would want it to be happy with it and would have gladly paid more for higher quality components. When I started looking at 3D printers I had a $3500 budget so I still have $$ in the kitty. I'm starting to explore other DIY setups, mainly corexy rigs but at this point I'm not sure I'd gain much, if anything, by going to a corexy style printer.

Re: Are you happy with your MK3?

Yes

This is my first printer, I have nothing to compare with about noise, quality and stuff. I wanted a good machine to start 3D printing under 800€.
So I've read a lot of blog/forum/website about Prusa and I felt really exited about Pursa printers.

I knew 3D printing was hard. I mean it's not a "plug'n'play" machine with a single button and you can make any random model found on Internet. I knew this was a lot of time finding the perfect settings, asking for mechanical, robotic and software knowledge. After all, we have to earn to be called a maker 😛

I have to say I tought it was going easier with a printer as the MK3. My home is became a XYZ cube and Benchy Boat factory since I have it, but again, I paid for that.