MMU3: How well is it working for you?  

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

I agree prior to the MMU3, the MMU was a tinker toy.  I had many upgrades.  Most related to minimizing joints and better guiding of the filament end through the system.   The selector came loose a couple of times.    I finally got the MMU reliable, but at that time the tip configuration had not been resolved.   I used it for easy loading, not for printing multiple colors. 

The MMU3 has eliminated all major/medium mods that I had for the MMU2.   Fewer joints and on.   I like the Nextruder upgrade. The filament check is when filament is loaded vs. close to loading.  The one thing I still think needs improvement is the buffer system.  I want easier loading and reduced drag.   It is working well enough currently for me. I put it all in a dry box.     

If you have sliced  a project as an MMU3 part, even a single color, the nozzle  is unloaded when setting Z.  Another plus.  

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

I've only been printing for a year, and put my MMU3 kit together over Christmas.  The only issue I've had was fiddling with the PrusaSlicer configurations - once I sorted that out I've had no failures over about a dozen prints.  It works very very well...

I was frustrated by the default layout of the spools that Prusa had, so I've put together a system that works well for me and the tight space I have: https://www.printables.com/model/1180632-vertical-buffer-mount-for-rear-of-unoriginal-drybo

I find even single-color prints are easier now that the printer takes care of initial filament loading to the nextruder.  I print everything using MMU3 profiles.

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

Generally works well for me. 

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

Works really well for me too. Had no issues with the MMU3 itself. Honestly I think Prusa doesn't get enough credit for this unit, especially with the filament change procedure and the very little wastage - well, tiny in comparison to other manufacturers!

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

About this good...

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

It's not.

I bought MK3 + MMU2 in 2018, which I later upgraded to MK3S + MMU2S, which worked for a while. Then MMU2S became unreliable, and then not working anymore. 6 months ago I bought the upgrade to MK4+MMU, which is not cheap.
I could not install it before now, because I've been designing and printing aids for disabled people, but now I can.

Of course in the meantime Prusa released core one...

So I have upgraded, MK4 is cool. And now, MMU3.

Won't home. I've connected to USB to change registry values AOx19, I've tried from 4 to 13, still not homing.

First of all, it's a "crazy" operation, the need to connect through USB with putty and update value. I wonder how non tech people do it. This should be accessible from the screen.

And then, well, it's still not working.

So after the very frustrating MMU2 end of life experience, I'm on a very frustrating experience with MMU3. 

Just go Bambulab + AMS, it just works.

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

The only thing I can say: it's working very well for me: MMU3 with MK4S

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

Thanks

Posted by: @volker

The only thing I can say: it's working very well for me: MMU3 with MK4S

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

Got in touch with Support, it looks like a defective PD board, which is plugged onto MMU main board, or maybe the idler motor, which they will send if I understood correctly, I'm waiting for a confirmation email.

If these parts fix the issue I'll review once it's working, defective parts can happen. 

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

I was in the same boat. Started my 3D printing journey with the MK3S + MMU2. That setup worked great for about 6 months, then failed every single time I printed. I wanted to use my printer, so I took the MMU2 off and semi-permanently took it out of my life.

Wanting a better setup, I got the MK4 upgrade upon release, and decided to try the MMU3 upgrade also. YOLO...   Right?!? So, here I am with a MK3.9 + MMU3 (Am I considered a 3.9, or a 4... I think the 3.9 profile works best, so, lets just call it that.)

The MK3.9 is working better than ever! I love my Prusa again. The MMU3 technically feels better. The buffer system is what is giving me a headache. It mostly works. I've been tweaking it, and have one more mod to do to see if it helps. There has to be a good auto-rewind system out there somewhere.

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

It took a little longer than I hoped but I got the parts last thursday and was able to fix it during the week end. 

They sent many parts, didn't want to take a chance a miss something. Changing the PD board wasn't enough, I also changed the idler motor and all is working fine now!

Thanks a lot to support team, they even included gummy bears with the parts, which was very important, of course.

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

Fortunately, this problem has been fixed with firmware update 6.2.3.Alpha.

Posted by: @rayzik907

About this good...

RE:

Mine had been great for a few days since installing it, right up until it tripped over the overcurrent issue today ☹️ 

Firmware 6.2.3 Alpha did indeed sort it 👍 

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

They explained somewhere that it was caused by sourcing components from a new supplier.

I was lucky in that I never had that issue. My MMU3 has exceeded my expectations. I had the MMU2 before, which I was never able to get to work reliably. Then I tried the Mosaic Palette, which also turned out to be a POS. So I bought the MMU3 with quite some trepidation but it's been working flawlessly. Not one issue so far. But I should say that the XL of course is a big step above it, so for "serious" multi-material/multi-color work I tend to go to the XL instead of the MMU3.

There has to be a good auto-rewind system out there somewhere.

If there is, it's well hidden. I have spent way too many hours and material on trying a handful of different ones. All of them sucked. Ended up binding at some point.

My current setup is a RepRack above the printer, with five roller-style spool holders. The five PTFE tubes from the MMU3 go into a small coupler I designed that is attached to the back of my enclosure. Filament runs from the spool holder into the respective PTFE tube in the coupler. No buffer at all. The filament basically rewinds into a loop in the air between the enclosure and the RepRack. Doesn't look pretty but I haven't had any issues with it, and it trivial to load/unload filament.

RE:

It's worked perfectly for me on my MK3.5S.  It worked first time, every-time except where I made silly user errors.  Everything has come out looking great!  Self built by us and used with PLA, PLA Blend & PETG.  Couldn't be happier.

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

Only printed 4 models so far - but its been flawless. 

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

I don't do a great deal of multi-material printing, and I understood going into this that the MMU would mostly be for convenience, as it would allow me to keep multiple commonly-used filaments loaded (from a drybox) and available. Overall, I've had a great experience, and most of the issues I've had to resolve have been due to user error. (I have done a few multi-material projects, as well, and those have all turned out great.)

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

Posted by: @tom-drought

There has to be a good auto-rewind system out there somewhere.

I gave up on this -- I set up a large drybox with five spools on rollers with this terrific model, and I tried using this rewind mechanism, but it never worked for me. I just let the unloaded filement coil up in the drybox -- it looks terrible (and I will usually tend to it when I have reason to open the drybox, as I can't help myself!), but I've never had an issue with tangled filament.

Every so often, I will revisit the question -- the auto-rewind mechanisms seem needlessly complex, and I don't have confidence in them, though the built-in buffer mechanisms seem like a more simple solution.

At this point, I'm going to wait to see how the MMU3 is adapted for the Core One. If necessary, I may revisit the issue in the future; but somehow, I have a system that works!

RE: MMU3: How well is it working for you?

MMU3 working well for me on MK3.5s