My MMU2s is working well (Now!)
When I first got my MMU2s, I slapped it together and kicked of the 36hr Dragon Stone 3 Colour Print with some brand new eSun eSilk PLA. As you can see it came out great esp for a first print (with a bit a bleed on the eMarble). There was not a single issue, it just printed right of the bat. I thought... how good is this!!!
Then I tried slicing some other models, using other material, and then as others found.... I had all sorts of issues. Like others I then fiddled with settings, mods etc but it was still hit and miss .... and frustrating. Seems I'm now back in a good place and can print reliably without intervention on both multi and single colour prints. My changes were:
- Prusa Slicer instead of S3D : Very happy withe the new Prusa Slicer and I'm slowly getting used to the UI and Workflow
- Heated Print Box : I did an incredibly simple mod of a Food Dehydrator (US$100) by drilling some 2mm holes in the top to put in some PTFE Tubes and added a Tile (cut to size) as the floor inside the cabinet. Printed some (modified) Tush Spool holders that I glued together and this thing now holds 5 Print Spools (4 side by side and 1 in the front) and will keep and dry the filament during the print. It also acts as a Print Buffer (just cut the lengths of the PTFE Tubs that come from the Print Box so that they met the end of the PTFE tubs from the MMU2s when the filament is being printed). This (and my 0% Dry Cabinet for storing the filament) has made all the difference in the reliability of the load and unloads. I just don't have any issues with load/unload at all. Best upgrade I've done.
- I've also installed the MMU2 Selector with magnet and opened FINDA canal so I could see if the was any debris fowling the ball bearing (yet to put in the magnet that has just arrived)
- I've also installed the MMU2 PTFE Holder M10 Passthrough Adapter to make it easier to insert and remove the PTFE tubes from the MMU2
Some other notes and things yet to do:
- The Sensor Menu in the MK3s is not a good indicator if the FINDA is reading 1 or 0 during a print as the change filament command is a "blocking" command and the data is not updated .... but ... you will see the red light on the FINDA turing Red when the filament is unloaded (it is very dim however for me) and is off when loaded.
- I need to do the mod to add alight to the IR Sensor so I can see what it is up to as well
- I wish that Cancelling a print from OctoPrint would also retract the filament as leaving it in the hot end can cause issues.
I think that is about it for now. Got to do some more MMU2s Multi Colour Prints! 🙂
Thanks
Nathan
RE: My MMU2s is working well (Now!)
I just wanted to say thanks for this. I'm taking your advice and working towards making the modifications you have. Although a dry box (which is something I *seriously* need in my humid climate) is still a way off.
RE: My MMU2s is working well (Now!)
I agree with you,
Since the S upgrade I'm able to print up to 5 colors together, 1000 to 2000 tool changes, of course I made my own hardware modifications for a long time for the MMU2 , especially a better filament path, reworked selector and extruder, with the S upgrade the benefit is immediate.
https://www.thingiverse.com/ad_lamy/designs
MK4/MMU3 - VORON 2.4 350 Stealthburner
RE: My MMU2s is working well (Now!)
It is still going strong for me - no jams, or MMU2s errors at all. Printing both single and multi colour no issues at all. I really suggest the Dry Box addition if you are in a Humid Environment. It's cheap and easy, holds 5 spools and you don't need a buffer at all + you can dial in a correct temp for the filament type.
RE: My MMU2s is working well (Now!)
thanks for the advice. Don't get me wrong, it's on the cards, but my printer isn't currently in its "final place". It's been next to my pc for 18 months, and I want it elsewhere... so until then, I'm not sure what form it should take. I've been using auto rewinders since day one... but I've had a nightmare of a time getting the mk3s/mmu2s working consistently, if at all. I've quit/given up, and are looking at these types of alternatives. I had such a high regard for Prusa, my Mk3 has been bullet proof, simply awesome. The mmu2s is a totally different story, and has hurt their good name in my opinion. So I'm now relying on the community, people like yourself to show how it's been implemented, leveraging the awesome design and mod work from others such as andre. I just want to throw a big thankyou out there to everyone whose pushing this forward to be a better, more reliable tool.
RE: My MMU2s is working well (Now!)
FYI - Here are some MMU Sheep examples. The white sheep on the left has some bleed from the black at default purge settings so I increased the purge when changing to white for the next print and it was much better.
RE: My MMU2s is working well (Now!)
Great job jmone 👍 👍 👍
RE: My MMU2s is working well (Now!)
For what it's worth, my MMU2S can successfully print models with up to about 2,000 filament changes without a visible defect.
It still requires frequent operator intervention (usually because a thread either blocks the FINDA or clogs the bowden tube). So it's not set-and-forget reliable. But the printer will now almost always detect the problem and pause until it can be fixed, which is a huge improvement over the MMU2.
For those still having problems, I hope this is encouraging. The MMU2S can work. I think it's a finicky beast, but it's still better than anything else on the market at a similar price.
RE: My MMU2s is working well (Now!)
I recently (literally 10 minutes ago) just posted a similar topic about my tips to success and it's funny about how much we do to solve our issues; our plan of troubleshooting was entirely different! I think the idea of a dry box is a must, especially for hygroscopic filaments. Also, PrusaSlicer is simply better for the Prusa printers and is geared specifically for them, I stopped using S3D for several reasons including that once the new PrusaSlicer version was released. I'm glad some people are still having success with their MMU2 as I understand it is a very difficult thing to get reliable prints out of. I really think Prusa should put some more time into trying out physical modifications that benefit the MK3 such as an optional filament box accessory (like you have) or something on their e-shop. I mean, developing a better-built extruder for the MMU2S is part of Research, right? 😉
Hi! I'm Mathieu!
Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/BramForReal/about
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh-2bXtfv-nLwgwO7H7IJxA
I have an Original Prusa i3 MK3 with MMU 2.0. Nice meeting ya! 😀