Anyone else had constant issues with the Prusa Core One?
I think I’m done with mine and arranging a return.
Pretty much every print has started with some kind of drama — mainly endless fiddling with belt tension using the app tuner to 'fix' 'Crash Detection'. Sunday was the breaking point: spent 40 minutes fighting collision detection errors before I just gave up and turned it off.
Feels like this unit just isn’t fit for purpose, and none of the suggested fixes have helped.
Curious if others have run into the same problems — did you find a workaround, or did you also call it quits?
RE:
I think I’m done with mine and arranging a return.
Pretty much every print has started with some kind of drama — mainly endless fiddling with belt tension using the app tuner to 'fix' 'Crash Detection'. Sunday was the breaking point: spent 40 minutes fighting collision detection errors before I just gave up and turned it off.
Feels like this unit just isn’t fit for purpose, and none of the suggested fixes have helped.
Curious if others have run into the same problems — did you find a workaround, or did you also call it quits?
It took me a few weeks of fiddling but now I have a near flawless printer and I'm happy with it. The belt tuning app works well (web version) once you get a routine down on how and when to pluck the belts.
Was your printer pre-assembled or did you build it from a kit? Did you contact support?
RE: Anyone else had constant issues with the Prusa Core One?
It's exactly as @hyiger said. If you approach the topic incorrectly, you'll struggle with it for a long time—but once you figure out where you went wrong, belt tensioning becomes a five-minute routine. There are a few key points to pay attention to:
- If you assembled the printer yourself (especially for the first time), the belt is usually quite loose after assembly and lacks a clear reference point, which causes the "belt tuning app" to struggle with picking up the sound because the values are still too low.
- Regarding the first point: tap the belt by grabbing it from behind and pulling it toward yourself (not up or down). Don’t be too gentle either, as that might also be why the "belt tuning app" isn’t detecting the sound.
- Sometimes the issue lies with the smartphone itself… In my case, when I held the phone in its normal orientation—top of the phone facing the belt—the readings were completely off. But when I rotated it 180 degrees so the bottom of the phone faced the belt, the values were consistently very stable. In the end, I even found that you don’t need to hold the phone close to the belt—when I placed it directly on the heated bed (which, as we know, is at the bottom after the first startup), I still got stable readings that didn’t differ from those I got when holding the phone near the belt.
I hope this information helps others too. 🙂
RE: Anyone else had constant issues with the Prusa Core One?
The strobe-based tuning included with 6.4.0 of the firmware is a real improvement in usability.
As @hyiger said elsewhere: frequently checking the gantry for squareness is important. You can't let tightening the belts pull it out of square.
Another cause of issues is inserting the belts too far into the holder on the linear rail. More is not better, as you can end up with the tensioner pulley holder sticking out past the edge of the block it's slid into. Four or five teeth, that's it.
RE: Anyone else had constant issues with the Prusa Core One?
I feel your pain! I have had mine a couple of months, built from a kit and now the hot end thermistor seems to be faulty, it goes from being brilliant to the acursed thing with each problem but I persevere.
I did have some trouble with the belt tuning, where I struggled a bit was ensuring both belts are tensioned the same, the method I used was to wind both adjusters out with my finger on the rear of the block the adjuster was in until I felt the adjuster was flat with the block, ensure the screw is pressed in when you set this. Do this both sides as this sets a mechanical reference point for both adjusters. This is important as you have to adjust both by the same amount.
Then you can start tightening each adjuster the same amount i.e. 2 turns on the left, 2 turns on the right, repeating until you feel the belts tighten up.
To actually set the tension I used the online web tool using a browser on my phone and a proper pluck, using my finger wasn't very good. At this point you still need to turn each adjuster by the same amount until the tuning app shows you are in range.
Best of luck.