i3 MK3S kit journey begins
This is primarily geared to people new to 3D printing It has been 6 months since I received my Original Prusa i3 MK3S kit. I must have spent at least that long researching 3D printers before deciding on this one. I bought a kit to get a better understanding of how the pieces work together. If you understand how something works, you can fix it if it breaks.
The kit was very well packed and organized by sections in the assembly manual. Before I assembled each section, I read it and checked in the forums here to see if anyone had problems with the section so I would be prepared if they came up. Thanks to some information I found, the build went smoothly without any issues. AND when it was finished, I had on extra screw to ADD to the spare parts package. That was a first! ( no, I didn't overlook one during assembly). I am used to kits being short parts.
The journey begins:
Initial setup and first prints went well.
But printing test objects and included samples gets boring ( anyone want some triceratops skulls 😉 ), so it was time to expand my horizons.
Downloaded some things from various locations and learned a lot.
Everyone was a beginner at one time.
Never AAS/U/ME files from someone else are valid – some have floating objects, some won't even slice properly.
I avoid GCODE files unless I have absolute trust in author.
If you are having problems, research in forums, on-line, etc.
Somewhere in all the noise you can find answers or guidance.
I spent 2 weeks trying to figure out why I seemed to be the only person in the world have a problem. Must be something I was missing! It was! It will never get me again as I now better understand my CAD program (Sketchup 2017), PrusaSlicer and 3D printing.
I am now at a point where I know enough to be brave ( or foolish ) enough to to trust my own design and my printer to tackle a one meter tall multi-part project with many 20 hour prints.
Looking forward to the next 'opportunity'.
The biggest problem now is that my printer is so busy, I can't do my small scale test prints. I wonder how I can solve this opportunity?
My advice to beginners is to try to find solution BEFORE asking for help. Stick in there.
Quality is the Journey, not the Destination. My limited prints->
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
I agree. If you are going to do something well, Learn how to do it, then do it yourself. But don’t beat yourself up if you can’t do that yourself. One example of this happened many years ago. I heard a story of a group of people going to the boundary waters (a big wetland area with lots of islands between Minnesota USA and Canada. Many of the people on the trip had practiced canoeing before the trip, but another person just read a book on how to canoe. The person who had only read how to canoe was much worse at canoeing than those who had actually gotten some hands on practice with it. If you are having trouble with either building your printer or printing issues, Do some research on what others have done to solve the problem, and then try to take that knowledge to make a small change of your own. If that doesn’t work, then do what someone else has done. The only reason why I suggest doing research first is so you don’t damage your nice new 3D printer. Think about someone who doesn't know how to swim. If they try without knowing anything about swimming or floating, they’re going to drown if they jump in the deep end.
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
You are at a very risky point. Your current printer is too busy with long prints to try the little spur of the moment things you want to do.
Obvious solution - you need a second printer!
Much like jelly beans - it is hard to stop with just one. Or two.
Look at Joan for what can happen.
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
@tacticaltechtomatoturtles
Research and knowledge are a good starting point, but then people have to take that and learn by doing. AND asking for clarification as needed. Everybody was a beginner at one time, but we learn. I spent weeks trying to figure out why the slicer kept giving me missing layers and why netfabb kept closing holes that I wanted. I searched everywhere and it looked like I was the only one in the world having this problem, so the problem had to be me. It was! That issue won't bite me again. I was going to ask in the forums, but I knew there was an answer. I am still learning and right now my journey is going downhill as I try to figure out how to resolve my bed leveling issue. I have been reading until my vision goes fuzzy, done hours of test prints. I have serviced bigger machines with tighter tolerances and I will find a solution to my bowl shaped heatbed. A day without learning is a day wasted.
Quality is the Journey, not the Destination. My limited prints->
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
@robert-rmm200
😊 Both my wife and my bank account are happy that I do not have room for another printer right now. Kitchen table is out!
☹️ My printer is not busy doing anything right now while I try to resolve my heatbed issue. I am glad it lasted until I finished my 2 foot tall, multi-piece snowman before my bed thermister perished, and now this.
Quality is the Journey, not the Destination. My limited prints->
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
Anyone know what the realistic lead time is currently? I ordered my kit on 4-11-2020. This feels like it's taking longer than my 45 day escrow did, and it's only been 11 days! Possibly because I couldn't watch youtube videos of other people using my house during escrow?
My guess is, the farm is printing Mini parts and PPE. Anyone getting i3 & mmu kits?
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
@smoking_rubber
check here:
https://help.prusa3d.com/en/article/shipping-information_2297
Quality is the Journey, not the Destination. My limited prints->
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
@kennd
That just says 4-5 weeks, and it was updated the day I ordered. I'm patiently waiting, but I'm not good at it.
QUESTION: I ordered the i3 and the MMU (separate orders, but minutes apart to avoid extra fees) kits. Will they arrive at roughly the same time? Are there points in the instructions that say WAIT you should slap the MMU part on right now. I would rather not assemble it, then disassemble it minutes later when I put on the MMU. I know the instructions are legendary good, but are they that good? Then yesterday I ordered the textured plate (on someones advise from here) and a couple more rolls of filament while it was in stock. Fingers crossed it all arrives at around the same time. Is there anyone here, from Prusa, that can make that happen? I'll blow kisses from a safe distance!
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
Update: My printer was shipped 2 days ago. It was scheduled to be delivered prior to 10:30 am today. It's 11 am now 🙁 No update on FedEx tracking details lately. It's allegedly been stalled in Germany or somewhere. I read here the no update scenario is common so I'm still optimistic it will arrive VERY soon.
Three separate filament orders (almost 3 weeks apart) consisting of 16 rolls, were all shipped the day after the printer shipped. No complaints, the printer isn't here yet so all the filament would be on the shelf anyway. Plus I've already got 10 rolls on the shelf from other vendors.
I feel like a chick with a shoe fetish! I can't pass up a filament order button without hitting it twice. So far I've ordered 36 rolls of filament, totaling about 44 Kg!!! Don't tell my wife. I'm already getting the stink-eye every time UPS shows up, and that's just small stuff like magnets, bearings, cutters, tube, yada, yada.
Anyway, I'm hoping FedEx shows up 30 seconds after I hit send on this post. That's what usually happens. So yeah, ordered the kit on 4-11 and it's been 26 days. When I ordered it said 4-5 weeks, so they weren't kidding.
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
@smoking_rubber
looks like your lucky i placed my kit order on 4/8/20 and still nothing.
jim
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
@smoking_rubber
looks like your lucky i placed my kit order on 4/8/20 and still nothing.
jim
Jim, now I feel lucky. I was feeling unlucky because the package still hasn't arrived. The printer package has now fallen back to group with the filaments. Latest update is they're being sorted in Ontario, which is approx 200 miles from me. The filament package (14 rolls) is still allegedly arriving today before 10:30. Arrival today seems unlikely, but I'm pretty sure it will be here tomorrow even though tomorrow is a Saturday.
Why haven't you received your printer yet? You ordered the kit, like I did right? I suggest hitting the chat button (through the shopping page). I was given that suggestion 2 weeks ago to resolve breaking up my filament and MMU order so I didn't have to wait on the seriously backordered MMU. While I had them on chat I gently prodded them for a firm ship date on the printer. They're very helpful and it appears the squeaky wheel gets greased around there. I never did get that firm ship date, but I got the impression he'd see what he could do. Which obviously helped. They man the chat stations 24 hours, but know our (California) 2pm is their midnight.
Good luck!
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
i ordered the MMU separately and a week later couldn't decide if i want to go all in right off the rip. ill see if anything i ordered is holding up my shipment and maybe can be put with my second order.
they said nothing is holding up my order. i just have to wait..lol
well it was worth a try.
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
Well that's a pisser. Just the fact you rattled their cage might get some movement. Either way it's very likely to ship soon.
We're almost in the MMU window but I have serious doubts that will ship anytime soon. Like you, I had serious concerns about going all in right off the rip, but like you I pulled the trigger anyway. It being on backorder is really not a problem because most veterans suggest taking the time to dial in the printer before complicating it with the MMU. So that's my plan. Even if it arrives soon, I'll put it on the shelf for a couple weeks. My first priority is getting the damn printer and hopefully assembling it tonight or tomorrow.
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
hope to get a tracking code soon. but.....
that was my thought as well. to have some time to work out the bugs and make sure i have the kit up and running before jumping into multi printing. when i ordered the mmu i thought it was just a few week delay. i see now its out of stock. well in any case post some pictures of your build and any insight on the build and how it went.
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
So far all I can do is set up my space and wait. Got a tall workbench and a couple thin led lamps. I'll move them inside directly over the printer after I print new mounting hardware. (there's no lip to clamp the standard clamps to along the back).
I asked them about the back-ordered MMU last time, and they said it will still ship in a couple weeks. My plan is to assemble the MMU, then immediately go through it again based on Chris's Basement video. I think that will give me my best shot at success right out of the box. But again, I want to run the printer without it for a while. My only problem is there are a couple parts Ive already designed that I want to use the MMU on. And I'm impatient, but that's a whole different subject lol.
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
Please get really familiar with the base printer before you dive into the MMU.
You have to get good at recognizing what is a base problem and what is a MMU problem.
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
Package got stalled at my local FedEx so I went down and got it this morning. I'm almost done with the Y axis. It's slower going than I hoped but I'm having fun. I've got the GoPro on a timelapse, we'll see how it comes out and how long it takes.
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
Was thinking of a newer GoPro to do the time lapse thing.
dont forget to eat the gummies
RE: i3 MK3S kit journey begins
@smoking_rubber
they just shipped the printer and mmu together today...