Bad things happen, any hope to salvage ?
Hello,
The home burned (not completely, but quite enough). Here are two photos of what's left of my very well loved MK3S+.
Do you think it could be repaired ? I know a lot will depend on what has been broken or not, if the firefighter's water did too much damage and the like. But, before spending too much time trying to salvage the printer (if at all possible), I'd like to know, from the knowledgeable people here, if *maybe it could* be reborn somehow.
Thanks.
RE: Bad things happen, any hope to salvage ?
First of all, your homeowner's insurance may cover things like this. You may be able to get a new printer out of the damage settlement.
If this were mine, I would do a thorough clean-up of the parts that are remaining, then assess what's missing or damaged beyond salvation and make a decision.
I don't see the Z axis motors and shafts, and it looks like there was some impact damage to the Z motor mounts. If the shafts of the Z motors are bent, you may be SOL.
If the frame and X/Y movements are not bent out of square, you may have a repairable printer, or the basis of a second printer.
The electronics (power supply, Einsy Rambo, front panel board) are probably iffy. However, in my career (I'm retired now) I've seen many electronic devices and circuit boards with water (or related) damage which were considered lost hopes spring back to life with a good clean-up and dry-out.
The worst I ever remember was a keyboard (not a cheap generic keyboard, but a very expensive custom one for an Olympus imaging system) into which Hawaiian Punch was spilled during a Friday office party. Of course, this was not reported until the following Monday, as nobody admitted to doing the spill, and by the time, most of the keys were glued in place by the dried spilled liquid.
We disassembled the unit as much as possible, soaked it in distilled H2O for a few days, gave it a good blow-out and dry-off, some very careful lubrication on some of the keys, and it worked as if nothing happened and remained trouble free for the life of the device.
RE: Bad things happen, any hope to salvage ?
Was this caused by the printer?
Hello,
The home burned (not completely, but quite enough). Here are two photos of what's left of my very well loved MK3S+.
Do you think it could be repaired ? I know a lot will depend on what has been broken or not, if the firefighter's water did too much damage and the like. But, before spending too much time trying to salvage the printer (if at all possible), I'd like to know, from the knowledgeable people here, if *maybe it could* be reborn somehow.
Thanks.
Please help me out by downloading a model it's free and easy but really helps me out https://www.printables.com/@Hello_474427/models
It looks like all the thermoplastic has, understandably, failed in the fire but little has burned so my guess is that most of the metal parts should be OK if cleaned, it didn't get hot enough to detemper the steel or derange magnets and if the frame is still flat you have essentially got a very dirty kit without the plastic parts. You will need to check the insulation on all the wiring and make sure the power supply is safe.
If the power supply is in any way compromised you must replace it.
Which leaves the electronics; Prusa Support may be able to help you test them - first clean with soapy water, follow up with distilled and make sure the boards are thoroughly dry.
If all is good after a clean up you have most of the expensive parts of a Mk3 kit ... ask someone close to you to print the PETG parts and open the on-line manual.
Cheerio,
RE: Bad things happen, any hope to salvage ?
If this were mine, I would do a thorough clean-up of the parts that are remaining, then assess what's missing or damaged beyond salvation and make a decision.
I don't see the Z axis motors and shafts, and it looks like there was some impact damage to the Z motor mounts. If the shafts of the Z motors are bent, you may be SOL.
If the frame and X/Y movements are not bent out of square, you may have a repairable printer, or the basis of a second printer.
The electronics (power supply, Einsy Rambo, front panel board) are probably iffy. However, in my career (I'm retired now) I've seen many electronic devices and circuit boards with water (or related) damage which were considered lost hopes spring back to life with a good clean-up and dry-out.
Thanks for the answer. This gives me a little hope, and some side project for the future.
RE: Bad things happen, any hope to salvage ?
Was this caused by the printer?
Nope, luckily. The fire started in my neighbour-one house, propagated to neighbours-two house then to the roof of my house. I'm just a collateral damage.
RE: Bad things happen, any hope to salvage ?
It looks like all the thermoplastic has, understandably, failed in the fire but little has burned so my guess is that most of the metal parts should be OK if cleaned, it didn't get hot enough to detemper the steel or derange magnets and if the frame is still flat you have essentially got a very dirty kit without the plastic parts. You will need to check the insulation on all the wiring and make sure the power supply is safe.
If the power supply is in any way compromised you must replace it.
Which leaves the electronics; Prusa Support may be able to help you test them - first clean with soapy water, follow up with distilled and make sure the boards are thoroughly dry.
If all is good after a clean up you have most of the expensive parts of a Mk3 kit ... ask someone close to you to print the PETG parts and open the on-line manual.
Cheerio,
Thanks. This will undoubtedly be a side-project of mine somewhere in the future.
RE:
I don't want to make fun of someone else's misfortune, but as I look at the wreckage of the printer, I get the impression that the damage was not caused by the fire, but by the firemen, when the printer was hit by a stream of water with foam. In this case, the hope for recovery is quite high. Debris must be disassembled as soon as possible and electronics and metal parts need to be washed as soon as possible, even in distilled water and then in isopropyl alcohol and dried, because the remains of the extinguishing foam are quite corrosive. The power supply will need to be replaced with a new one for safety reasons. Plastic parts that are damaged can be ordered new, or someone may print them for you, but even so, the hope for repair is relatively good, it just has to be started as soon as possible.
RE: Bad things happen, any hope to salvage ?
It looks like much of it is there, do you have another printer or access to one? If so you can print any parts that are broken or missing. Before applying any power to electronics, if you believe they were hit with water except the display, soak them in 90% isopropyl alcohol to displace the water then put them in your oven at the lowest setting to evaporate the alcohol. Let them cool and give them a day or two to insure that all the moisture is gone. Then, if you're confident with electronics, reconnect the Einsy board to the display and power supply and plug in your stepper motors and see if you can drive them. As for the heated bed, look up troubleshooting on the Prusa site to get the resistance of the bed and the thermistor and read them out, if they read good you may be in luck.
If you find many of the electronics are junk, you might want to consider buying an upgrade kit to a MK3.5, or MK3.9 as those come with new steppers. It's pricey but less expensive than a new printer.
Good luck, keep us posted with your decision.
Cheers
-Bob
Prusa I3 Mk2 kit upgraded to Mk2.5s, Ender3 with many mods, Prusa Mini kit with Bondtech heat break, Prusa I3 Mk3s+ kit
RE: Bad things happen, any hope to salvage ?
time for a 3.9 upgrade?
Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Bad things happen, any hope to salvage ?
Hi,
I don't want to make fun of someone else's misfortune, but as I look at the wreckage of the printer, I get the impression that the damage was not caused by the fire, but by the firemen, when the printer was hit by a stream of water with foam. In this case, the hope for recovery is quite high. Debris must be disassembled as soon as possible and electronics and metal parts need to be washed as soon as possible, even in distilled water and then in isopropyl alcohol and dried, because the remains of the extinguishing foam are quite corrosive. The power supply will need to be replaced with a new one for safety reasons. Plastic parts that are damaged can be ordered new, or someone may print them for you, but even so, the hope for repair is relatively good, it just has to be started as soon as possible.
That is not competely true, as the printer was below a part of the roof that began to collapse. The grey « foam » on the floor and on the printer comes from the roof's insulation. The firefighters moved the printer to clear up room for them to work and just dropped it somewhere on the floor, which may well be what did most of the damage to the printer. I do not blame them, mind you.
RE: Bad things happen, any hope to salvage ?
It looks like much of it is there, do you have another printer or access to one? If so you can print any parts that are broken or missing. Before applying any power to electronics, if you believe they were hit with water except the display, soak them in 90% isopropyl alcohol to displace the water then put them in your oven at the lowest setting to evaporate the alcohol. Let them cool and give them a day or two to insure that all the moisture is gone. Then, if you're confident with electronics, reconnect the Einsy board to the display and power supply and plug in your stepper motors and see if you can drive them. As for the heated bed, look up troubleshooting on the Prusa site to get the resistance of the bed and the thermistor and read them out, if they read good you may be in luck.
If you find many of the electronics are junk, you might want to consider buying an upgrade kit to a MK3.5, or MK3.9 as those come with new steppers. It's pricey but less expensive than a new printer.
Good luck, keep us posted with your decision.
Cheers
-Bob
time for a 3.9 upgrade?
An upgrade is a real possibility, depends on what I will be able to salvage. I did love my MK3S+ !
Whatever, I'll wait a little bit. First to disassemble and test all I can test, and then (since I got a MK4 replacement printer last week) to find some place to put this resurrected/upgraded printer. The temporary place I live in while waiting for the house to be rebuilt is somehow crowded at the moment.