Must do: Hardware upgrades, why?!?
Hi guys,
I'm having some hard time to decide which printer is the right one, and no less important hardware upgrades needed.
For what is worth it, I have an Ender3-V2 with few upgrades in place.
So:
- MK3S+ isn't cheap, around AUD1.5-2k but the support and quality is supposed to make for it
- Extruder: It will work out ot the box but it has design flaw. Users install BMG instead
- the stock cooling doesn't have the best efficiency either. If you need a lot of bridging, things seem to be disappointing. I believe there's upgrades to be printed
- The screen is limited
- Firmware: Hardware upgrades require gcode changes which cannot be applied via firmware, only via slicer or "printing" the gcode. This restriction seems so wrong taking into consideration the money you spent on it.
Those are the main problems I see and shouldn't be there due to its price. These are operational issues/flaws which will affect the printer.
Again, it will work out of the box but you you wanna more advanced models, is where you start having problems.
Is there anything else I should do to have a good experience with no headaches?
Is Prusa working on those issues to make it worth the money you spent on it???
Thank you
Upgrades are optional but nice to have
I have had an MK2 for 4 years and a MK3 for 2 years. I agree with everything you said except the Bondtech upgrade - Bondtech supplies a recompiled firmware version that gives all the functionality. These firmware versions are kept up to date. The Bondtech upgrade cooling fan is much better.
The supplied extruder is exceptionally reliable but cannot print very flexible filament like Ninjaflex.
The screen is extremely limited but if you use Repetier or Octoprint you can overcome most of the limitations and gain better control. I use Repetier.
I have never printed ABS, but it prints ASA very well.
The printer is reliable but limited. The company keeps it up to date with hardware improvements and firmware and Prusa Slicer changes at regular intervals.
To answer your question - no you do not need to do any changes or improvements this work horse will just keep going on and on forever.
Ninjaflex
The supplied extruder is exceptionally reliable but cannot print very flexible filament like Ninjaflex.
That is not exactly correct. I have 8 Mk3s and all but 4 have the stock hotend and extruder and all print Ninjaflex reliably. Once you have the right settings you can print it.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
There is always something new
The screen is extremely limited but if you use Repetier or Octoprint you can overcome most of the limitations and gain better control. I use Repetier.
I have never printed ABS, but it prints ASA very well.
Hmm I didn't know Repetier and I actually hate Octoprint. I will have a look at that.
ASA is my next adventure. ABS is somewhat out of date anyways and it smells pretty strong. Good to know the printer does ASA just fine 🙂
there is still hope....
That is not exactly correct. I have 8 Mk3s and all but 4 have the stock hotend and extruder and all print Ninjaflex reliably. Once you have the right settings you can print it.
Hmmm this is a first. When talking about Prusa + TPU all I hear is that Mk3s does a poor job and Mini+ cannot even dream about printing TPU.
As you mentioned, TPU does require tweaking and I am aware of that.
With my Ender, I can print TPU with PLA+ quality as long as:
- No retractions
- 25mm/s print speed. Speed is the enemy of TPU, keep it slow
I enjoyed TPU as much as I do with PLA+
Good to know, there is still hope.
Thanks for that.
Clarify
That is not exactly correct. I have 8 Mk3s and all but 4 have the stock hotend and extruder and all print Ninjaflex reliably. Once you have the right settings you can print it.
Hmmm this is a first. When talking about Prusa + TPU all I hear is that Mk3s does a poor job and Mini+ cannot even dream about printing TPU.
As you mentioned, TPU does require tweaking and I am aware of that.
With my Ender, I can print TPU with PLA+ quality as long as:
- No retractions
- 25mm/s print speed. Speed is the enemy of TPU, keep it slow
I enjoyed TPU as much as I do with PLA+
Good to know, there is still hope.Thanks for that.
I also print TPU on my minis but have to admit the quality is lacking on a couple of them.
--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
Thank you
Hi guys,
First of all, thank you so much for all the help, thank you for sharing your experience.
I believe that right now I have a better understanding of what to expect with Mk3s+, what issues I might have or might not and how to solve them or even prevent them. Also, although crazy expensive, I believe I will have a better experience with it than Mini+
I am tagging this post as "Solved"
Thanks a lot.
Easy printing that
ASA is such an easy material to print. It only seems to come in black or white, but it prints easily.
Maybe a Mini
Personally I would not pay E800 for a kit. Now that delivery times of a Mini are less than a week it looks like an interesting option.
sounds awesome
ASA is such an easy material to print. It only seems to come in black or white, but it prints easily.
Good to know, ABS on the other hand seems a very meany material to print with.
asa
ASA is such an easy material to print. It only seems to come in black or white, but it prints easily.
Good to know, ABS on the other hand seems a very meany material to print with.
Both tend to warp. The key is a good brim and the right Z offset. It often changes from PETG to ABS to ASA.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
Smell
Both tend to warp. The key is a good brim and the right Z offset. It often changes from PETG to ABS to ASA.
I believe the worst thing involving ABS is its smell, ASA unless I am looking into the wrong info hahaha it is somewhat "replacing" ABS.
Let's do it
A quick update on this, I got the MK3S+ instead of the Mini+
It wasn't a cheap game, AUD1.2k and I might need to pay some extra (duty + GST) because the purchase was above the free-fee $1k Australian Dollar. Some extra AUD200. I really hope this printer was worth all this money.
It says 3 days for the order to be ready(tomorrow Aug 26th) plus 3-5 business day delivery to AU.
Due to COVID, I hope to don't be dreaming about getting it by next week/weekend (3-6th Sep)
But until there, time to do some final adjustments on my Ender, I had to pause my 3D printed rack server project because of Z lines missing all over the place. Then get rid of it once the Prusa is 100%, no need to have 2 printers.
Thanks guys.
Hmmm this is a first. When talking about Prusa + TPU all I hear is that Mk3s does a poor job and Mini+ cannot even dream about printing TPU.
There are hundreds of thousands of Prusa printers in the wild. At any time there are a dozen or so users with complaints on here and a similar number on other platforms, sometimes they are the same people.
Many of them have unrealistic expectations, zero clue or they lack the patience and attention to detail required to do a good job.
And here we help a high proportion of the rest to overcome their issues and begin useful printing.
We never hear from the huge majority who we presume are satisfied.
OK, most don't print TPU. I do; setting up is fiddly so I tend to save up a few jobs and print Flex exclusively for a few days at a time then set it aside until I have enough queued up for another batch. This is with a factory spec machine.
The proportion of Prusa users with untractable problems is small, Prusa suport is excellent and there are a few users here who will help if they can.
Please come back if you have problems - but I suggest you leave TPU for a few weeks until you are familiar with the machine.
Cheerio,
Tape over the sound maker
When I got my second MK3S (a + this time), it took me a couple of weeks to figure out that I had made a mod to the first one that I had forgotten about - but the second one made absolutely clear that something was needed. The volume of the sound is WAY TOO LOUD - and in settings you can choose between quieter or single beep. I would love to have both choices because single beep is awesome, but choosing that sets the volume of the printer's signal noise to "bleeding ear" levels. It got so I was stepping back from the printer any time I anticipated a beep - it was quite painfully loud.
So I broke down the other day and took the front panel cover off and put a piece of painters tape about 1cm by 1cm over the hole on the sound button on the circuit board. Blissfully adequate sound level now. I was wondering why this one was so much louder than my first one - when low and below - there's a piece of tape on that one too.
RE: TPU requires time
...but I suggest you leave TPU for a few weeks until you are familiar with the machine.
I am willing to try TPU, PETG, and PLA+ as soon as I receive the printer. Somewhere around 6th Sep.
If my $300 can do it, I expected nothing less from a $1.2k printer. Sure, things will be a little different but the logic is the same.
I actually enjoyed TPU and PETG a lot. With my current Ender printer which uses a bowden tube, I made a miracle that can be checked on this pic from my post on Reddit. They say bowden tube cannot handle TPU well and yet I can print it with 99-100% stringing free.
But to get to that result, I spent a whole night playing around with temperature, retraction settings, you name it.
And yes, I agree, some users expect to load the filament and voila.
My first PETG also sucked with stringing and now is as good as PLA+
I take note of everything, to the small detail were models I design with screw holes, the holes need to be 0.50mm bigger due to the printer whatever it is called or it won fit, temps, etc.
I have the next 2 weeks off, gonna read Prusa Knowledgebase like there is no tomorrow.
The same approach I did when assembling my Ender and had almost zero issues, lovely 🙂
I would do the same
So I broke down the other day and took the front panel cover off and put a piece of painters tape about 1cm by 1cm over the hole on the sound button on the circuit board. Blissfully adequate sound level now. I was wondering why this one was so much louder than my first one - when low and below - there's a piece of tape on that one too.
Don't be surprised if I take the same approach lol
Good to know about this speaker btw.