Goodbye fariwell and peace out  

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

How much do you want for it?

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

How much do you want for it?

Nothing because I will not sell someone something I know doesn't work I can't do that to another humanbean. maybe in a year or so if the bugs are ever worked out I will give it another shot

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Fair enough, but you could sell it on a "I can't get the bloody thing to work" basis. Then save your dough for the next model. 😉

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

P.S. in closing I find it odd that all the reviewers got the PEI powder coated build plates, and in most cases extra build plates but us little people can’t even buy one, if I was JOEL I bet I would have had a different experience all together.

I wish you all luck if you will excuse me I am going to go drink some Single Malt and wait for my new printer.

Grab a cold Malt before you start reading this, you'll need it. I'm not going to tell you "you will get it fixed someday". I WAS a maintenance engineer by trade. I pulled the ENTIRE extruder assembly off, and have put a new one on designed by JLTX.

In the process of printing new parts tonight, I just had a VERY important part fail, my fault, cheap filament, that basically killed my printer... (whooooooopsssies)

Luckily I had a duplicate. (actually I have 3 of everything. Working as a maintenance engineer, I've learned. Zip ties, a good set of wrenches. (My 9 allen wrenches cost me almost 100$)

While replacing that part, I noticed my "zip tie cooling solution had failed on me, and was no longer working., so with REALLY bad cooling, I printed a SUPER ugly cooling duct to put on. (no zip ties! it fit on with screws!!!) as I am printing another extra nozzle, and next will be to re-print the orignal part that failed.. again.

I don't blame Prusa for this at all.

I will say three things.

1. I met with Josef, and Michael Prusa. I in fact got Michael to sign my printer. I am one of less than a DOZEN printers signed, by the lesser known brother! 🙂 It was funny, Michael was signing it, and Jo came up and was like "What ya doin?"(to Michael) and Michael just had this super cheezy grin on his face. Jo looks at me and gives this "wtf" look.
I had a good discussion with Michael with quite a bit of details on their inner-workings. I am EXTREMELY impressed with the company. (I wanted Michael to sign it, as I enjoy my convo with him... and Prusa is Prusa!

2. There's more people than just Youtubers that have Textured Print sheets. I know. I do get upset about the lack of avaliability of the spring-steel PEI sheet stuff though. You brining up youtubers is a GREAT example of a MAJOR failure of the 3D printing community... Onto part 3.

3. These youtubers KNOW what they are doing. Most of these Youtubers have either been doing this for YEARS, or have the mind of an "engineer" also known as..."the knack". The issue with this is, they make it seem SUPER easy... and it is... for anyone who has the knack. Even Jo has made comments LIKE HERE And his closing remark is EXACTLY what I've been saying since the day I started using my first printer.
Palatable for normal people
These youtubers make it sound like ANYONE can use them. IT's not nearly that simple. Yes, Joe-Normal, might get a 6500$ Makerbot. But I know for a fact, I can get better prints off my 150$ Monoprice mini, because I have "the knack". The Youtubers do not realistically explain the TIME it takes to dial in a printer.

Some youtube channels, will talk about how they printed 50-100 test prints to get the printer dialed in. The thing is, they KNOW what they are doing, they have printed THOUSANDS of test prints over the years. For Joe-Normal to get same "experience" would take 300-500 test prints... and EACH PRINT takes 1-2 hours... meaning only 4-6 a DAY... Youtube guy, has NO job. He plays with printers ALL day. And still takes 2-3 weeks to ACTUALLY get them to print perfect. If you can only print 1-2 test prints a day, AND you don't have the experience, or worse yet, you don't have "the knack", it could be a YEAR to get your printer dialed in to perfection.

Me? It took me 2 months with my mk3 to hit the quality wall.... Until now! JLTX's new 3.5:1 system, has allowed me to break through the wall, and I'm pushing forward... now I just need a 10:1...

PS: I am VERY upset at the fact they will NOT sell, the PEI-sticker-spring-steel sheets, or even just a "kit" with the Spring Steel Sheet, and 2 stickers... I treat my Smooth sheet like gold... Don't ask about my other one. Once they go for sale, It's going on a frame on the wall, and I will get both Jo, and Michael to sign it next year at MRRF2019... Unless I meet them at ERRF2018.

I think that their "out of stock" inventory, looks VERY unprofessional on the company...

Ok, Grab a cold Malt... Pat yourself on the back, and know that you did everything YOU could do to get your printer working.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Good luck with the Lulzbot. The second part I ever paid for 3D printed was on a Luzbot Taz 6. It passed, but was trashed as soon as I got my Prusa Mk2. 1/2 the price, much better prints. I now have the MK2 and the MK3. The Mk3 has been my Go To printer. I got things dialed in pretty early (don't know if having the MK2 and playing with it for 9 months helped). It has been incredibly reliable for me. I've had my MK2 go down several times due to failed prints on the PEI stickered bed not sticking over time. Part of the reason they don't stick over time is because I've been using spatulas on it to get flat prints off every time. The flex sheet with the sticker on mine still looks new (and I print with PLA/PETG/FLEX and Nylon).

Yes, it does absolutely suck that you can't buy a sheet... but don't you want to tinker? Isn't that what this hobby/business is all about? Go to Home Depot/Lowes/Whatever hardware store in your area is, pick up a cheap piece of sheet metal like https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-12-in-x-24-in-26-Gauge-Zinc-Plated-Sheet-Metal-801537/204225706 and grab a PEI/BuildTak/Whatever you want sheet and slap it on there. BuildTak already has a kit available if you want to spend way more money https://www.buildtak.com/product/flexplate/

FYI, the Prusa crew has been at conventions this past couple of weeks. I expect things to pick up again when they get home. They were here in Miami this weekend (I'm nearby, worked though and couldn't make it).

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Input is always valid, this is not my first printer, this is my 5th I have been able to dial in and get fair/good prints on all of them this one never got the chance it didn't even turn out one print I would want to show my friends, I went through nearly the whole roll of included filament printing tests, and calibrations sheets and benchy, is was the "MOON" off thingaverse that did it in. the moon was going to be my first real print.

I do not feel the MK3 is ready for prime time
Supply chains are not in order, no Cura settings, the suggested slicer is Beta, the support staff are lacking in knowledge on the product, and the team seems to be focusing more on selling then on fixing, just in the first three pages of this forum should prove I am not alone in that mindset.
I didn't purchase a kit because I wanted a higher end and stable printer, My Tevo was a kit, it turned out more prints the first month then this one has, my MonoPrice Plus needed to be releveled every 3 to 4 prints but printed a ton of stuff currently on my desk at work. my Wanhao v2 is enclosed for ABS just finished switching everything to iGUS, swapped the board, installed an AC heat bead with Mosfet and creating my Own Marlin config so I can use the Titan Aero

I admit I do not have years of 3d printer knowledge but I do not consider myself a Novice, you would think I would be able to get a non-kit higher end printer to work, using three different firmware and the suggested slicer.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Good luck with the Lulzbot. The second part I ever paid for 3D printed was on a Luzbot Taz 6. It passed, but was trashed as soon as I got my Prusa Mk2. 1/2 the price, much better prints. I now have the MK2 and the MK3. The Mk3 has been my Go To printer. I got things dialed in pretty early (don't know if having the MK2 and playing with it for 9 months helped). It has been incredibly reliable for me. I've had my MK2 go down several times due to failed prints on the PEI stickered bed not sticking over time. Part of the reason they don't stick over time is because I've been using spatulas on it to get flat prints off every time. The flex sheet with the sticker on mine still looks new.

Hey, don't be knocking the Lulzbot machines. When I was at MRRF, I saw a lulzbot with 2.85mm filament, printing with a 0.25mm nozzle at 0.1mm layers... Blew the doors off what most youtubers call "high quality". They are production MONSTERS. Great machines! If I could afford one, I would be all over that.

Also, hate to break it to OP, but Lulzbot, is gonna have MOST of the same issues as the mk3. If you couldn't get the mk3 dialed in to even print, the chances of getting the lulz bot printing COMPARABLE quality to a decently tuned mk3 is slim to none.

Lulzbot is *EASIER* to use overall, due to the fact it SHIPS with a 0.5mm nozzle, and DEFALTS to 0.4mm layer heights... You know.... 8x higher than what say, I print at.
Their default first layer is I think 0.45mm, which will ALWAYS stick... but good luck on it not looking like a 0.45mm layer.

I would *LOVE* to acquire me a lulzbot, but there's NO way that's ever gonna happen unless someone donates me one. (PS: I would not even care if it was used)

Lulzbot, and Prusa are *VERY* similar in their CONCEPT... VERY... VERY VERY VERY... VERY... Similar.

They are just VERY different in their "application".
Prusa is more aimed at fine detail models, and jewelry.
Lulzbot is aimed at large scale production in a factory environment.

Why would you want a Lulzbot at home? The answer is, you shouldn't. They are NOT optimal for the home user.
Why would you want a Prusa in a factory? The answer is, you shouldn't. They are NOT optimal for the factory user.

Is this to say either machine is inferior to the other? Both Yes and No, are proper answers.

(OP posted after I wrote the above, the below is after reading it)

I hope you enjoy throwing your money around. You seem to just throw money at problems rather than fix them. You could have bought 2 mk3's for what you had in your one. You still could not fix your problem. Honestly looking at your mk3 thread, it's a head scratcher as to how you did some of the stuff you did. I've had my printer for almost 2 months now, I have put at LEAST 3kg of filament through it. (I print small stuff, so it don't eat that much filament) I have printed PC, ABS, ASA, PLA, and PETG-CF. Both my Textured Powder coated PEI sheet, AND my PEI sticker sheet, look like the day I got them.

PS: When I first got my printer, I couldn't get ANYTHING to stick to the PEI sheet... That's called the learning curve. Something people who just throw money at problems to fix, would never understand.
PS2: I'm done with this. I can't stand people who flaunt their money around, and ask for free help. I will not offer you help.
PS3: I think I know what's wrong with your mk3, I meant to post it a few weeks back, but I assumed you fixed it given the thread died.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Yes, it does absolutely suck that you can't buy a sheet... but don't you want to tinker? Isn't that what this hobby/business is all about?
I can't answer for anyone but me, but my answer to his is: "No, absolutely not. NO way!" This hobby is about PRINTING, mainly about designing 3D models and (perhaps) tinkering with designs, or for some it might simply be "print out cute designs found online".

Being able to tinker with the printer is a welcome bonus.
Being required to tinker with it is simply wrong and shouldn't be painted as a bonus when it's the opposite.

[edit] For comparison: I gather the new E3D multi-head printer is currently intended for tinkerers who want to build a printer themselves and simply need a sturdy frame/mechanic. Buying that and expecting to be able to print immediately (or even instantly after adding the electronics) would be foolish. But the Mk3 is a complete printer that should be ready to go once you've unpacked it.[/edit]

You seem to just throw money at problems rather than fix them. You could have bought 2 mk3's for what you had in your one. You still could not fix your problem.
Throwing good money after bad is a time-honored tradition.

I agree that the OP seems to be rather quick to spend money, but maybe he simply left out a few details of what else he tried?

If he knew in advance how much money he'd spend uselessly, I'm sure he'd not have done so.
Of course, if he were able to know things in advance, it would be far more profitable to focus on next weeks lottery...

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

I can't answer for anyone but me, but my answer to his is: "No, absolutely not. NO way!" This hobby is about PRINTING, mainly about designing 3D models and (perhaps) tinkering with designs, or for some it might simply be "print out cute designs found online".
This message will surely start a rant, but here we go... You simply shouldn't have chosen an RepRap printer, there are other tinker-free (or at least marketed as) alternatives. The issue here is that Prusa became the victim of their own success- the MK3 attracted a lot of new folk into the hobby due to all the functionality at that price, but it's still an RepRap printer. And all first-time users not only expect, but demand it to be plug and play just because they paid more than an chinese i3 clone. Well hobby-grade 3d printing is not plug-and-play, because it requires a lot of understanding from user. Its very simple to destroy your whole printer by having a slightly wrong print setting or forgetting to clean your print surface.

*well an [insert brand and model] is truly tinker-free* yes, because it costs 2-4x as much, so the vendor has more play to cover the service and other expenses AND because often they use chipped filament rolls with pre-set print settings, eliminating as much as possible user errors that way. Yes, they'll also charge you 1.5-2x the price for that filament.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Being able to tinker with the printer is a welcome bonus.
Being required to tinker with it is simply wrong and shouldn't be painted as a bonus when it's the opposite.

Equally it is a little naive to think you won't need to tinker at some point. These are complex machines, a combo of mechanical, electronic and software engineering. They (consumer 3d printers) are not plug and play, and have, for the most part, never been advertised as such.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Being able to tinker with the printer is a welcome bonus.
Being required to tinker with it is simply wrong and shouldn't be painted as a bonus when it's the opposite.

Equally it is a little naive to think you won't need to tinker at some point. These are complex machines, a combo of mechanical, electronic and software engineering. They (consumer 3d printers) are not plug and play, and have, for the most part, never been advertised as such.

I blame the youtubers who make them easy. I always watched them and thought "damn, their prints look terrible, and they have been doing this for YEARS". They are the reason I didn't buy me a printer until 6 months ago. (That, and I wanted the "next" Prusa, which I have wanted since the end of 2016) I have very small spending budgets and I don't commit to big spends easily. I wanted to see how the company could handle "time" and I wanted their next "major" update.

Did you notice the contradiction I made earlier?

Youtubers make it look easy. They make it look like ANYONE can do it. This actually DETRACTED from me getting a printer. I love the idea of a printer ANYONE can use, but if I can't make it print perfect, what's the point? I assumed it was always "Buy a printer, and you get what you get."

Then I saw some videos last summer, about how FREAKING HARD it is to get a printer to work right, and I was 100% set on getting a printer ASAP... but at this point, I was thinking. "I'm not TOUCHING a printer, until Prusa announces their new printer!"

Well, lo-and-behold, they announced their Mk3. First thing I do, is order a Monoprice Mini. Why? Cause it was the cheapest printer that "worked out of the box"... and hindsight... the term "worked" is a bit of an iffy statement. I was DEVESTATED by the little piece of trash. I lost ALL faith in 3d printing. I was DONE before I started. That's when I turned on *EVERY* option in Cura. My eyes lit up like a 6 year old christmas morning. The next month, I spent getting the printer to work. It was both MUCH more complex than I had expected, but at the same time, it was much easier... It was that learning curve... There's nothing to these machines. They are VERY simple, when you break them down into "tasks".
I ordered my Mk3, Expecting a Makerbot. I honestly have been disapointed in my Mk3. But to most of everyone's amusement... it is *NOT* for the reasons people complain. It's a problem I could have known, before I even bought the printer... assuming I knew it was a problem.

Depending on HOW you see these youtubers, is how you perceive them.

1. They make printing look as simple as "hit print". (It is. You could grab ANY spool of PLA I own, and get good results with any of my STL files. Better than some youtubers can get!) But I spent WEEKS getting my profile this dialed in. Not everying I've done, works for others. They don't talk about this.
2. Their prints look like crap. Knowing that it is basically their JOB to master 3D printing, and their prints look that bad... Must be virtually impossible to get "DECENT" prints.

I made 2 mistakes from watching youtube.
1. I expected them to be competent. lol. They are not.
2. I had my expectations WAAAAAY too low.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

These are complex machines . . . .

There's nothing to these machines. They are VERY simple, when you break them down into "tasks".
I ordered my Mk3, Expecting a Makerbot. I honestly have been disapointed in my Mk3. But to most of everyone's amusement... it is *NOT* for the reasons people complain. It's a problem I could have known, before I even bought the printer... assuming I knew it was a problem.

So, if you knew the problem was a problem then you would have known it was a problem . . . . mmmmm . . . . mysterious ! 🙂

Are you able to share with other forum users what this problem is ?

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

My Final review

This was not a kit, I did not build it Prusa did.

I can certainly see why, after all that, you'd choose to give up on the Prusa ! Good luck with the Lulzbot.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Hi Joseph,
I'm sorry for the troubles you've encountered. I've forwarded this thread to our support team. What is the current state of your MK3? I'm sure we can find a way to make it work 😉

We had a small batch of the PEI coated sheets, which were sent to the YouTubers for reviews. Unfortunately, the next batch went wrong. There are issues with the uneven coating, see Joseph's article: https://www.prusaprinters.org/original-prusa-i3-mk3-3-months/

Damaged PEI surface can be replaced, I created a how-to guide for it: http://manual.prusa3d.com/Guide/Replacing+the+PEI+sheet+on+the+MK3/702?lang=en

Lengths of the screws are described in the assembly manuals or on each bag:
http://manual.prusa3d.com/Guide/1.+Introduction/506?lang=en#s8122

We also include a bag with spare screws:
http://manual.prusa3d.com/Guide/1.+Introduction/506?lang=en#s8123

Let me know if I can help you get the MK3 to print.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Hi Joseph,
I'm sorry for the troubles you've encountered. I've forwarded this thread to our support team. What is the current state of your MK3? I'm sure we can find a way to make it work 😉

We had a small batch of the PEI coated sheets, which were sent to the YouTubers for reviews. Unfortunately, the next batch went wrong. There are issues with the uneven coating, see Joseph's article: https://www.prusaprinters.org/original-prusa-i3-mk3-3-months/

Damaged PEI surface can be replaced, I created a how-to guide for it: http://manual.prusa3d.com/Guide/Replacing+the+PEI+sheet+on+the+MK3/702?lang=en

Lengths of the screws are described in the assembly manuals or on each bag:
http://manual.prusa3d.com/Guide/1.+Introduction/506?lang=en#s8122

We also include a bag with spare screws:
http://manual.prusa3d.com/Guide/1.+Introduction/506?lang=en#s8123

Let me know if I can help you get the MK3 to print.

Mine was not a kit I didn't get a bag of anything (other then gummy bears), and your instructions only list it as grub screw not the size unless you edited them recently, my printer is in a box in the garage between the power painter I used to redo my deck and some old clothes I can't get rid of yet.

I am not going to waste three hours trying to clean the plate again, because if I do and come back here someone will just say "you put the PEI on wrong/you used the wrong kind of PEI" if a plate is ever for sale I might give it one more try, Your support already knows the whole story I have chatted to them so many times I bet they groan when they see my name and I have tried everything suggested by them and the forums here.

Also, I love how just because I am at a point in my life where the kids our out of the nest and not asking for money, I have some extra and my time has value, I am not throwing money around, I was following suggestions for what might be wrong. besides I paid my dues I earned it.
But I digress…
I guess I am not the only one with out the “knack”
Ruben.w Daniel.a6, MTJC, Caarl.g, George.b2, Giacomo.c, joan.t
David.h61, stuart.b4

This is a short list of people on the first page is only two posts that state issues, that they are not happy or would suggest not upgraded to the Mk3. and this took me 90 seconds to find these names if I put time into it I best the list would be 100's of names

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

i replaced my mk3 with a mk2s kit. so i have 2 mk2s printers now and the mk3 is in the box

the mk3 has issues with the firmware and mechanically i replaced my X parts with the updates and it didn't fix anything.
right now the mk3 has less capability then the mk2s. right now the mk2s can run ninjaflex while the mk3 can not at all as one example.

Prusa built my mk3 and my first mk2s i built my second mk2s. my mk2s machines run the same even though one machine is over a year old with 1000s of hours of prints on it. my mk3 has maybe 40 hours on it and was a disaster.

While i'm sure eventually prusa will figure out all the problems i'm not waiting and i'm not taking the printer apart every week to alpha test new parts in the hope they work.

the mk3 bed is the best part of the machine that is about all i can say positive. all the anti crash and recover features cause more problems then they solve and i had to disable them all. i got layer shifts, filament errors, right off the bat.

i was not willing to even try the mk2.5 as there are issues with that machine, i wanted a multi material upgrade but even that has too many issues.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

I can't answer for anyone but me, but my answer to his is: "No, absolutely not. NO way!" This hobby is about PRINTING, mainly about designing 3D models and (perhaps) tinkering with designs, or for some it might simply be "print out cute designs found online".
This message will surely start a rant, but here we go... You simply shouldn't have chosen an RepRap printer, there are other tinker-free (or at least marketed as) alternatives. The issue here is that Prusa became the victim of their own success- the MK3 attracted a lot of new folk into the hobby due to all the functionality at that price, but it's still an RepRap printer. And all first-time users not only expect, but demand it to be plug and play just because they paid more than an chinese i3 clone. Well hobby-grade 3d printing is not plug-and-play, because it requires a lot of understanding from user. Its very simple to destroy your whole printer by having a slightly wrong print setting or forgetting to clean your print surface.

*well an [insert brand and model] is truly tinker-free* yes, because it costs 2-4x as much, so the vendor has more play to cover the service and other expenses AND because often they use chipped filament rolls with pre-set print settings, eliminating as much as possible user errors that way. Yes, they'll also charge you 1.5-2x the price for that filament.

Okay but here's the issue- it is ADVERTISED as a plug and play, it even says so in the manual for petes sake, which is why so many people are frustrated.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Also, I love how just because I am at a point in my life where the kids our out of the nest and not asking for money, I have some extra and my time has value, I am not throwing money around, I was following suggestions for what might be wrong. besides I paid my dues I earned it.
But I digress…
I guess I am not the only one with out the “knack”
Ruben.w Daniel.a6, MTJC, Caarl.g, George.b2, Giacomo.c, joan.t
David.h61, stuart.b4

This is a short list of people on the first page is only two posts that state issues, that they are not happy or would suggest not upgraded to the Mk3. and this took me 90 seconds to find these names if I put time into it I best the list would be 100's of names

I am not sure why so many jump to defend the MK3. It's honestly just not ready. Can I print? Sure, Can I print without standing over it every two seconds? no. It is not a matter of being a tinkerer or having the knack. There is firmware and mechanical issues that need to be fixed.
The same gcode can print once fine and completely fail a second time.

I have had a few different printers now and still do. I can set my CR10 and do a 40 hour print. I can print over and over again successfully. I cannot do that with the MK3. If I babysit it the entire time and constantly tinker. Then I can get a decent print once, but its not great.

Re: Goodbye fariwell and peace out

Being able to tinker with the printer is a welcome bonus.
Being required to tinker with it is simply wrong and shouldn't be painted as a bonus when it's the opposite.

Equally it is a little naive to think you won't need to tinker at some point. These are complex machines, a combo of mechanical, electronic and software engineering. They (consumer 3d printers) are not plug and play, and have, for the most part, never been advertised as such.

I think the level of tinkering needs to be defined.

For instance, I expect to have to tinker with slicer profiles to customize them to my machine and/or filament. I expect to have to tinker with calibrations or recalibrations now and again, just not before or after every print. I expect to have to tinker with bits and pieces here and there in order to repair any damage that might occur along the way.

What I do NOT expect is to have to tinker with custom firmware just to attempt to get: a) features that were advertised or promised to work, and b) the quality I deserve for the price. I do not expect to have to tinker around with redesigning parts or whole assemblies to get a desired level of quality output. I do not expect to have to tinker around with adding wads of duct tape and bubble gum (figuratively) and other band-aid solutions just to get a desired level of quality.

I think the main theme here though is that the amount of tinkering should not exceed the amount of quality printing you are able to accomplish.

My MK2S has defined my standard level of acceptable quality. It was built from a kit and produces excellent prints. I expect no less from my MK3 but so far I've gotten less. I also realize it's very much in beta still which is why I'm taking a "wait and see" approach.

I think that's where the OP is coming from. He has reached his limit of what he is willing to tinker with.

And I have to very much disagree on the advertising of 3D printers. 3D printer manufacturers make very little light of the amount of tinkering needed and many are advertising a quick concept-to-print turnaround without explaining exactly how much actual work that might involve. This industry wouldn't even be half as big if 3D printer manufacturers stuck to advertising 3D printers as suitable only for qualified individuals.