MMU3 first impressions + speed/performance question
Hey everyone. After upgrading my MK3S+ to the MK4S, I upgraded my Mk4S with the MMU - a purposefully convoluted statement, given the context - and I wanted to share some thoughts and asks.
First off, I wish I would have read through both upgrade docs before proceeding with the printer upgrade, itself. I suppose one could argue that it's beneficial to understand how the printer should operate sans-MMU. However, I could have saved a good 2-3 hours otherwise.
Next, for anyone planning on upgrading their MMU3 for MK3S to MK4S, the new buffer pulleys are NOT included. I understand this is noted in the upgrade docs. However, I reached out to support before receiving the package - I wanted to have any necessary parts printed BEFORE it arrived - and I was told that all printed parts were included.
Question for seasoned MMUsers: Any tips on how to improve printing times without sacrificing quality?
I found the MMU on the MK3s to be a terrible experience, and the print times were excruciating. Print quality issues now seem to be a thing of the past. Now I need to focus on how to get prints to before my 8-year-old is ready or college 😛
Thanks!
RE: MMU3 first impressions + speed/performance question
MMU2 on the Mk3 series printers, was less stable than MMU3 on the same printers.
MMU3 on the Mk3.9and mk4, is better again.
MMU3 print time management
1, If possible, print personalised boxes face down to minimise multi material purges,.. 
Print time is slightly shorter, waste is reduced, and in this case all of the colour changes occur within 1mm of model height, if you print face down, you know whether the filament changes were successful within minutes, if you print face up, you have to wait over 6 hours before you know if the filament changes were successful
Be careful, with painting, Odd things happen
the Cube below has two painted faces, top and bottom and takes 2 hours 52 minutes to print
the cube below is the same size with two sides, painted but this one takes 7 hours 21 minutes to print
for some strange reason painting the sides of the cube creates a wedge all the way to the middle of the Object, whilst painting the top and bottom only causes a thin skin of the paint colour
more complex shapes may cause different responses.
model placement can significantly change the print time...
regards 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:
Ive only printed multicolor on my Bambu A1 so far (my MMU3 has been constructed, just need to bolt it on to the printer and find space for all the spools!), but I'm expecting the MMU3 to be much faster then the Bambu due to no purging and printer 'poop' being flung about with every swap.
So far I've just created items that have a few layers multicolor - like coasters, name plates etc - but as suggested above I also print these items face down. Firstly it gives the top face of the final model a perfect finish, but it will minimize wastage etc too, since by placing them color face down you get through the multicolor changes in the first 2 or 3 layers, and then the rest of the model is one color. Although the number of color changes stays the same, you don't have the purge tower printing with every layer as you would if the color layers were on the top of the model. In essence sometimes just model placement and orientation can make a big difference.
Otherwise the actual filament changes are reasonably quick - over twice as fast as the Bumbu systems, and with MUCH less wastage. So much so, that I will be using the Bambu for smaller jobs, or prints with only the first few layer color changes needed, and the Prusa with MMU3 for any larger multicolor prints. I honestly don't think the MMU3 systems gets enough recognition for what it is - other then an actual multi toolhead system, like the XL, I really do see it as the best filament change system out there - thats coming from someone who owns both a Bambu and Prusa machine so I'm not loyal to a single brand........
The only downside to the MMU3 system is the lack of a dedicated material holder like Bambu's AMS. The AMS system is great. If only Prusa had such a solution.....
--> MK4 - MK4S - MINI+ - MMU3 - Accelerometer Guide - BambuLab A1 Combo <--