1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
I've had my 5T XL for a week now. I wanted to share my initial thoughts. Capture some of the annoyances. Maybe help others who get their new printer. I also think a thread with FAQ or captured common knowledge could be useful. Maybe a separate thread....
Assembly. It took me about 6-7 hours with the pre-flight checks. Most things went fine but I found reading the instructions twice and checking the comments people have left was useful. Thankfully others point out little things to be aware of so those comments are super useful. I also realised that I don't miss assembling printers, sure there's some satisfaction at the end but running wires in extrusions, bits laid out, worries I've done something wrong are something I'd prefer to avoid in future. All that said, I still don't think I'd pay the extra for the 'assembled' version.
After initial checks I soon installed the IS alpha FW so keep that in mind. I did re-calibrate the dock positions after as I had one clash. Been faultless since.
Positives:
The tool change action is superb. A true game-changer. It works really well and is fast.
Print quality is really good, still early days but so far I'm happy.
The size, it may seem obvious but having such a large build volume opens up lots of possibilities and I am just realising there's a new scale of parts I can produce.
First layers are great, Not worrying about Z height or build plate soon becomes one less thing to think about.
It's solid, it feels sturdy and certainly weights a lot, it's got plenty of metal in there!
Negatives:
After 2 years wait it's frustrating that we still have to wait for all the features promised. The new alpha FW adds some of those functions but IMO this thing should be polished by now. They've had the time to refine things and work on a fully functions FW and slicer. It seems the Prusa way that they let the early adopters beta test for them and then let the community figure out fixes.
Multi colour print quality. Single colour print quality seems really good. When you are using more than one tool the out of the box settings don't yield good results. Lots of stringing and oozing resulting in contamination of parts with colours/material where you don't want it. If you print the 5 colour keyring that comes on the usb drive then you will see how bad it is. The fact Prusa let these issues out of the door tells me they didn't spend enough time in this area. There are ways to improve this and I already have thanks to tips on here and my own testing. I should add, dry your filaments! The combination of using multiple tools and larger nozzles means poor filament quality will show up. I've opened new spools, ran a print then dried the filament (PLA) and the improvement was stark.
Prusaslicer. They should have been developing this to really take advantage of a tool changer. There is so much good work gone in to PS that it's hard to criticise yet on launch of the XL the profiles aren't great and the functionality is limited. I realise to truly take advantage of a tool changer there must be lots of new code they need to add, but they've had that time. They should make it easy to mix nozzle sizes for example.
User interfaces/Prusa Link. The screen is a little small IMO and the interface basic. The new alpha FW added some functions in that are needed but it's clunky. Spool join for example. Prusa link is very basic. Having used Octoprint and owning Bambu Lab printers PL needs developing to catch up.
Transfer speed/connectivity. They're not great. I also get upload errors which need me to power cycle the printer. Ps2.7 and the new FW have helped. I'm on Wifi for now but will move to Ethernet.
In summary, I think the potential is fantastic. There's a lot more to come from the printer as it's improved and developed. They're not even using the accelerometer (assume it has one) or other sensors in the Nextruders to the full potential.
I'll add more as time goes by. Would welcome other peoples comments and feel free to add or correct.
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
Some of the test prints. I’m pretty happy with the one on the right (shown close up). This is a worst case scenario with black and white. I didn’t even use the prime tower for it. Happy to share the 3mf if others want to try it or improve on settings
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
Couple of niggles while I think about it. The nozzle leaves small dots of filament on the bed when probing. I think they should drop the temp when they do that below 170c. When a print starts and the small purge starts off the bed so you end up with strings of filament drooping down.
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
Thanks for your report! I am still waiting for my 5 head semi. At the moment I am not sure if it might be good, that it is still not there. So Prusa could solve some of the severe faults and improve the overall quality of the XL.
I also ordered a MK4 upgrade kit (incl. upgrade to MMU3). This has also been delayed (MMU3 problems). So I am not sure which will arrive first. XL or MK4 upgrade 🤣
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
What filament types exhibit string for you on your XL?
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
I’ve only used PLA so far, building up knowledge of the printer. About to try a PETG print
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but running wires in extrusions
That was the most annoying part. The cable covers, including the edge petg part additionally drove me crazy as well.
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
Yeah, I had to take a time out when it came to the corner part. I could feel my frustration growing and I knew I'd make a mistake.
but running wires in extrusions
That was the most annoying part. The cable covers, including the edge petg part additionally drove me crazy as well.
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
S
I was almost inclined to say that the extrusion consistency of the white parts don't look particularily great. But then, this is white. White is the nastiest colour one can try and often has a tendency to be quite patchy. Does the black have much better extrusion consistency, ie less wobbly side walls? Hard to see on that image and on black in general.
Mk3s MMU2s, Voron 0.1, Voron 2.4
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
It's a 25mm cube so probably not ideal for a 0.6 nozzle plus as you say the white doesn't help. The cube looks decent in reality. I think the stock settings push too much filament for the infill etc. 0.68 width. So some tuning to be done there.
This was another print with stock settings. The walls look pretty good to me.
S
I was almost inclined to say that the extrusion consistency of the white parts don't look particularily great. But then, this is white. White is the nastiest colour one can try and often has a tendency to be quite patchy. Does the black have much better extrusion consistency, ie less wobbly side walls? Hard to see on that image and on black in general.
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
I fixed the little "dots" of filament by reducing the temperature during probe procedure. Changed this line in "Start G-code":
M109 T{initial_tool} S{((filament_type[initial_tool] == "PC" or filament_type[initial_tool] == "PA") ? (first_layer_temperature[initial_tool] - 25) : (filament_type[initial_tool] == "FLEX" ? 210 : (filament_type[initial_tool]=~/.*PET.*/ ? 160 : 150)))} ; wait for temp
See *PET* at the end of the line: I changed it from factory setting 195 degrees to 160 degrees and default from 170 to 150. This ensures in my case that no litte dots are left on the build plate during probe procedure. Lowering temp is no issue because toolheads are parked anyways to heat up to starting temp.
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
Appreciate the post and info. This is the sort of thing I’d expect Prusa to pick up in their testing….. which makes you question what testing they did.
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In that regard I think it’s a safe bet that they only tested in-house and in-house means ZERO real toolchanging experience. Josef doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. Beta testers were more than likely users of Prusa’s previous machines all of which are simple Mendels. As such they would have no clue as to what to test nor how to test it. I tried to tell them!
That said… this machine is still the most advanced FDM machine on the market right now. However the problems are:
1. Prusa markets it as an easy to use ready to print machine. It’s not. It takes advanced skill to get optimal prints in every use case. It is what it is. Toolchanging will never be as easy to use as a Mendel.
2. The software and FW side of their development is lagging way too far behind.
3. Inadequate beta testers
4. Since each “fully assembled” machine is actually not. I.e., extruders not attached, each machine leaves Prusa untested! Virtually every machine I’ve bought over the past 12 years that was ready to print out of the box always included a completed test print. Not the XL! Instead they included a bag of craptastic candy.
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
Honestly, given the design of the machine and toolheads, how could they ship the XL with the extruders installed? MAYBE the docks could be installed, but that's about it.
That said, from what I experienced, maybe selling them assembled at all is not the best solution. Maybe kit only is better.
And, no, I'm not ready to share my experience yet.
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
Over all, from this discussion results that everybody who has got his XL multitool printer is - good as beta/alfa tester. And you can hope - it will be fully tested till - next year? or later? And maybe FW will be finished too. Sometimes.
RE: 1st week with the semi-assembled XL 5T
You know - a pessimist is an optimist with a lot of life experience... 🤣
I haven't expected anything else when I preordered the T5 printer. Not meant sarcastic but pragmatic. Have several glitches here, but I'm confident they will be gone over the next weeks.