Upgrade path from i3 MK3  

RE: Upgrade path from i3 MK3

Posted by: @romen

Hello!

I own an original i3 MK3 with no upgrades or mods, and last summer I added a Core One to my home. I am very happy with both.

In the near future, I am planning to upgrade the Core One to INDX once it is generally available: this means I will have a very underused spare Nextruder in my hands.

That got me thinking about what options I will have to upgrade my original MK3 to a newer revision of the i3 family.

Checking on the website today I keep finding information about MK3 being the oldest i3 model with an upgrade path to the more recent versions, but I can only see kits starting from an MK3S.

What are my options? Should I already work on upgrading to MK3S to avoid falling out of the upgrade path in the near future?

Your options are 
Mk3 to 
Mk3.5 (Keeps existing extruder, adds 32 bit processor)
Mk3.9 (Nextruder and 32 bit processor...)   I Have one of these
Mk4 (Nextruder, 32 bit processor, better definition motors, more robust Z axis Smooth rods) Probably not cost effective
Note, the Mk3 to Mk4 upgrade does not include the most recent main frame and Y axis platform!

https://www.prusa3d.com/category/original-prusa-i3-mk3s-2/

regards Joan

I have a Mk3S+/-ish as well as my XL.   The slight confusion is because various upgrades were added and some removed along with  an MMU2 and some homebrew experiments ... but the really useful upgrade is to the angled fan and improved fan shroud which does noticeably improve cooling, especially on overhangs..

Why do I keep it?  Apart from the potential to use one printer to make replacement parts for the other in a fix I generally print almost all my TPU/FLEX parts on the MK3 because to print them well the XL has to slow right down ... so it's convenient to print them on my old faithful whilst the XL gets on with other work at full speed.

Frankly, unless you want the interest of the upgrade sequence it isn't worth following the upgrade route for more than one or two steps.  It's great that Prusa make it possible but despite it being possible to upgrade in multiple steps from a Mk2s to a Core One and beyond you would be spending more on adding and removing parts then you would just buying the newest printer.

Cheerio,

RE: Upgrade path from i3 MK3

Thanks Joan!

So my original idea was indeed to upgrade from MK3 to MK3.5 and later on try to see what could I do to integrate the spare nextruder from the INDX upgrade to an almost MK3.9.

But from the link you posted I only see MK3S to MK3.5 and that is what got me confused about options to upgrade the MK3

RE: Upgrade path from i3 MK3

I find Prusa confusing at times. 
before I upgraded to Mk3.9, I Had a Mk3S. the Mk3S+ Upgrade came out, and the information, of the day, was,  "if your Mk3S is performing well, there is no point upgrading to the Mk3S+! the Mk3S+ mainly simplifies assembly!"

The Mk3.9 upgrade replaces the mk3 extruder and X axis components, which is where the Mk3S+ Differences were... so I don't see why the '+'  makes a difference!

regards Joan

RE: Upgrade path from i3 MK3

But I have an MK3 (no S nor S+) . How do I upgrade to MK3.5?

The kit to upgrade to 3.5 calls out for a MK3S/+ as the starting point, rather than MK3/S/+

RE: Upgrade path from i3 MK3

Upgrading from Mk3 to mk3.5, would require new extruder parts, plus an infra red filament sensor and wiring plus filament sensor magnets and steel ball for the filament sensor.

Mk3.9 would probably be your better option. 
because the nextruder is part of the upgrade!

regards Joan

RE: Upgrade path from i3 MK3

Thanks again Joan!

The idea was to not let my spare Nextruder (from the Core One once I upgrade to INDX) go to waste. Buying the MK3 to MK3.9 upgrade kit would give me an extra Nextruder I do not need.

I hope that, once INDX is generally available and other people might find themselves with a spare Nextruder on their hands, Prusa might decide to add one more toggle to the “MK3 to MK3.9 upgrade kit” to make the Nextruder optional (similar to how they already account for optional heatbed and psu adapter) and save some money and reuse perfectly good parts.

RE: Upgrade path from i3 MK3

Hi Romen,
If you have all of the Nextruder kit, 
I suspect you could order the Mk3.5 upgrade, abandon the Mk3 extruder and use the Nextruder, nextruder cable and fans, from the Core one. 
I expect that the extruder cable for the core one may be the wrong length. 
Mk3.9/mk4 cables are available from Prusa
regards Joan 

RE: Upgrade path from i3 MK3

Please note that the part cooling fan from the Nextruder will be needed for the INDX upgrade (according to Bondtechs website)
So you should order a spare one