PRUSA CORE ONE - One Week Later, Sincerely!
CORE One was purchased as a kit, alongside my existing MK4S (not as an upgrade - the MK4S stays until further notice).
The assembly process was fun, easy to follow, thanks to the clear instructions. I left a remark or two suggesting clarification for a few steps, but overall, the process is already well staged. I completed the build in 3 afternoons.
First the cons, none of which are critical, followed by with the pros, that make the transition absolutely worthwhile:
CONS:
- Loudness. Due to the large resonance box created by the enclosure, it's about 4-6 dB louder than my old MK4S, which sits on a concrete tile with the Styrofoam underneath. The difference is noticeable, but still far more quiet than the competitors. However, while my wife tolerated overnight prints on my MK4S, the CORE One quickly became a no-go for nighttime use (even in the Stealth Mode). Also, the rear enclosure fans can get really loud, but you can limit their top speed, thus reducing the noise.
- Weight. CORE One weights 22.5 kg (vs 7kg for MK4S), making it harder to move for maintenance or servicing - especially if you have back issues.
- Long PTFE tube. This could be problematic if filament breaks inside, and it can be fiddly when using softer TPU (softer than 90A). Also, I sometimes print my own filaments when I needed a custom color; while the MK4S can handle a 30 cm piece of filament, the CORE One requires them to be much longer.
- Longer print time for small prints. With materials like ABS, ASA, and PA, the chamber warm-up can add ~10 minutes. This can be skipped, but at the cost of increased warping.
- Firmware still needs fine-tuning. For example, the calibration often gets randomly triggered, causing the print-head to bang like crazy for minutes. However, these issues are being addressed and resolved promptly.
PROS:
- Reliably prints high-temp materials. The Enclosure is heated by the print-bed, adding extra 10 minutes to the print time, but the payoff is worth it - no warping. I no longer use brims for ASA and ABS, and PA prints turn out great every time. In the end, that warm-up time overhead is a great investment!
The print quality for PLA and PETG is on par with the MK4S - I'd be lying if I said I noticed any difference.
- Larger print volume. 250 x 220 x 270 mm is a significantly larger volume than the 250 x 210 x 220 mm of the MK4S - 28.6% more, to be exact.
- Build quality. It is a robust machine. So is the MK4S, but the enclosure gives the CORE One a more compact, cohesive feel. One issue: the double-sided adhesive tape holding the door handle tends to give away, so I'll probably have to replace it with a stronger one.
- Faster large prints. Since it is not a bed-slinger, the head movements are faster, resulting in faster prints - especially with large prints.
- Smaller footprint. CORE One is a true space-saver! The recess on the right side is cleverly used as a filament holder, and the left-side recess is great for DIY tool storage ideas. I'm planning to make a magnet-held Plexiglas cover for the filament, which is a must for long TPU and PA prints.
- Design. It is a beautiful machine, that fits nicely into any room without making it look like a garage workshop.All reactions:2020
RE:
[...] However, these issues are being addressed and resolved promptly.
Oh, really?
Seems to me that the printer has been launched and demonstrated 7 months ago, and has been shipping to paying customers for 4.5 months now. The major firmware and hardware issues (head-banging, belt ripple, acoustic resonances, nozzle probing issues) have all been raised in the first few weeks of shipping. Given that they still exist, I would not agree at all that they have been "resolved promptly".
RE:
Regarding the door: I ended up removing the adhesive as much as possible then using M3x8 screws and those M3nN(?) nuts (the thicker ones that are rounded on one ended but hex in the other) to screw one the handle. the screws actually line up almost perfectly with the belt tensioning screw hole and some other one further down. The handle top and bottom are flush with the acrylic panel as well and align perfectly.
Based on the fact that the panel and handle screw holes line up perfectly, I wonder if that was the original intent of the design. The foam seemed like an afterthought, especially since it was too thick for me and actually interfered with the handle alignment
RE: PRUSA CORE ONE - One Week Later, Sincerely!
Posted by: @jurgen-7
Seems to me that the printer has been launched and demonstrated 7 months ago, and has been shipping to paying customers for 4.5 months now. The major firmware and hardware issues (head-banging, belt ripple, acoustic resonances, nozzle probing issues) have all been raised in the first few weeks of shipping. Given that they still exist, I would not agree at all that they have been "resolved promptly".
See this latest post by JP on the subject. https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/1lf9mjv/psa_lets_address_the_vfa/
RE: PRUSA CORE ONE - One Week Later, Sincerely!
Posted by: @jurgen-7
Seems to me that the printer has been launched and demonstrated 7 months ago, and has been shipping to paying customers for 4.5 months now. The major firmware and hardware issues (head-banging, belt ripple, acoustic resonances, nozzle probing issues) have all been raised in the first few weeks of shipping. Given that they still exist, I would not agree at all that they have been "resolved promptly".
See this latest post by JP on the subject. https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/1lf9mjv/psa_lets_address_the_vfa/
Yes, I have seen that post. If "addressing" means "talking about it", then yes, they have "addressed" it. Just now, after 4.5 months of complaints. And not a single contribution on this forum, where some users have invested massive amounts of time in this and other issues -- only on Reddit, where Prusa are concerned about their brand perception.
If "addressing" means "fixing it", then nothing has been addressed or resolved yet. And as far as VFAs are concerned, the vibes I get from Mr. Prusa's post are that they will tell us to adjust the belt tension and print in a certain, narrow speed range only.
Overall, my perception of the Core One is "meh" -- no innovation, and not the top-notch quality I was told to expect from Prusa. But my perception of Prusa as a company has totally gone down the drain -- from ordering (pre-payment) to delivery schedules, from open communication about technical issues to fixing them in a timely manner, they have disappointed me on all fronts.
RE:
Posted by: @jurgen-7
[...]If "addressing" means "talking about it", then yes, they have "addressed" it.[...]
Their troubleshooting capabilities have indeed started going south lately. All the problems I had with my MK4S and the Core One (during the assembly) I actually resolved myself, because the support had to drop the towel. On the other hand, they immediately offered to send me a replacement part, which I declined knowing it would not solve the problem.
I am lucky not to be in the population experiencing the VFAa, and yes - they just acknowledged the existence of the problem, but still - that's comforting. What is not comforting is the possible reprise of the infamous MK3 Issue #602 (which they also did acknowledge at the time), but it ended up to be a construction flaw resolved only in the next version of the printer (Mk4).
RE: PRUSA CORE ONE - One Week Later, Sincerely!
From what I can tell, the VFAs for me happen to primarily be on the X axis and correlate with the annoying resonance people have been experiencing. Seems to occur more around 80mm/s on the structural settings for the general perimeter. On speed setting, VFAs are virtually nonexistent for me.
I am still happy with my purchase cause this is the first printer I own though not the first I have used and it has performed very well overall imo, but I do agree with jürgen: contrary to their reputation Prusa seems to have made a huge mess of things and is scrambling to fix them all the while making PR/sales moves. It really feels like they took the Bethesda route and let issues be fixed by user mods.
BTW regarding my door post, pics:
RE: PRUSA CORE ONE - One Week Later, Sincerely!
Longer print time for small prints. With materials like ABS, ASA, and PA, the chamber warm-up can add ~10 minutes. This can be skipped, but at the cost of increased warping.
hm...with all due respect, above is not exactly true... simply because you compare two non-comparable things. MK4S was open printer (by default) without any case while core one is closed by default, so this "increased warping" was there "by default" on MK4S unless you bought (or make) a case for it, but even so you still couldn't pre-heat the chamber... so it's not quite fair to write "this can be skipped but at cost of increased warping".
So, only fair thing to say would be quite reverse:
"with core one you can make items with less warping, but at the cost of longer print time" which is not "cons" but "pros".
- Weight is a plus, not minus, since 3D printers are absolutely not meant to be moved a lot (they tend to discalibrate if you do...)
- i agree with you about (too) long ptfe tube. But, i guess it's a price to pay for the system chosen... or, should i say that we were simply spoiled with MK4S...
- Personally i don't think it's any louder than MK4S. But, then again - these things really shouldn't be in anyone's bedroom... toxic exhausts are present at all times when printing - more with some filaments, less with some, but they are there. 3D printer belongs in a workshop, basement, garage... reminds me that i've catched in one youtube video that someone said that it's so well designed that it could be placed in a living room as a decoration... 🙂
Note that i'm absolutely NOT a fan of core one, but i think that things written should be fair. I tend to read some excessive (almost non-true) "spitting" about core one every now and then... It's not that bad after all... And, i could be lucky, but so far (two weeks) it works perfectly after start problem with uneven belts (which i succesfully solved). I also don't see any resonances, vibrations etc.... (not yet at least).
RE: PRUSA CORE ONE - One Week Later, Sincerely!
I was a bit stymied the first time through calibration, but once I got past that, this thing has been a dream.
I came from a Dremel 3D45 at work, so maybe that set my expectations low, but I'm 12 prints and about 15 hours of print-time and have had zero print issues. The experience has been gratifying.