Great review! Totally agree with your criticism of the stock extruder. The first thing I did was replace it with a Bondtech Extruder that has an Internal Filament Sensor (IFS).
Few corrections: The mini uses the Stealthchop mode of the TMC2209 stepper drivers that it has, the sound could be from insufficent greasing of the linear bearings creating extra vibrations. Only the mini and the MK2S MMU1 came as a Bowden setup, every other printer that they made/make comes with a direct drive extruder Please don't slide the springsteel sheet on the bed surface like that, PLEASE! It will slowly but surely rub down the insulation of the bed and will create a short circuit
Thanks for the feedback and support, I did misspeak when I said “all Prusa’s” as the mk3 and upcoming xl use direct drive, I meant all mini models, thank you. I stand by that this printer is louder than expected. These rails are greased, but all the movements and stops and vibrations are louder than other printers I’ve worked with thus the comment. And do you really think the coating on the heated bed is so thin than removing the bed with one hand and grazing it could wear it into a short circuit? That would be insane and a really poor design, thanks for the tip and feedback!
@@MrErdreich my friend killed his bed on their MK3 because they slid the steel sheet on the bed surface to put it on. Try to align it in air, and then snap the sheet onto the bed and it won’t happen
My Mini is basically silent. Something is suspect about the noise issue you are having. Maybe a bearing issue. Not sure. But, when I say my MINI is basically silent, I mean basically silent. Very puzzling. BONDTECH extruder is a very good upgrade. All Prusa printers are not bowden drive, the MK3 is a direct drive printer.
Mine makes exactly the same noise I think it’s quite common. It also squeaks when you run PETG through it (because it rubs against the PETG extruder body when moving through it maybe) and the gears in the extruder click doing certain moves (I’ve tried disassembling the extruder and cleaning the pulley teeth, realigning the gears closer together to remove some slack and increasing temperature and changing the tension so I’m sure it’s just due to some slack still between the gears from manufacturing.
I found printing some anti vibration feet for the printer made a huge difference to the sound. I used to be able to hear it from downstairs through the ceiling but they reduced the vibration so I can quite happy sit next to it while it prints without issue now.
@@YigalBZ there are designs you can find for your specific printer on sites like Printables. They dampen any vibrations that come from the different parts moving around and can significantly reduce the amount of noise in my experience.
There’s also these types of feet for big appliances, like washing machines, that are very cheap and designed for things much much bigger than a 3D printer, which work really well!
I have a small manufacturing farm of 8 Mini's, and the only issues I've ever had has been with the thermistors in the hotend going bad. I print about 18 hrs per day, per machine using PETG 0.6 nozzle, and have never had to adjust the extruder on any of my machines. I really haven't used any other materials in them aside from the bit of PLA they send with it. Perhaps the extruder issues are more material dependent.
I just picked up one, your concern about the extruder has me worried a bit. Hopefully mine doesn’t come to that. It seems like a intimidating kind of repair .
Congrats and no major worries! As mentioned, it really is an awesome printer! If you do get stuck, check out my unjam video and all of the resources provided by Prusa
I have never had to mess with my idler tension in 2.5 years of owning a mini. I've had to grease my gears, but other than that everything about the extruder has been set and forget.
My mini is not silent but it's quiet enough that if i close the thin closet door you can only really hear it in the room during retractions or in sections where there is a lot of accelorations. It's on a plywood shelf, nothing special. I think your printer is poorly assembled or not lubed up properly.
Not necessarily. These types of prints are typically done on a resin-type 3D printer (SLA/SLS) rather than an extension-type like this (FFF/FDM). If you’re exclusively making small high detail models, I’d recommend the resin type over any extrusion printer for better quality and precision. My preferred setup for ultra high detail prints with an extrusion type printer like this is a LulzBot Mini with the SL print head.
I did misspeak, thank you for the correction! I was thinking back to the old days :) I added a flag to correct my error, thanks again for the input and the view!
I have, and it’s definitely more quiet. The comment in this video is less about how to fix the issue and more to point out that I found this printer to be louder than expected, and louder than my other ones under the same circumstances. Thanks for the suggestions!
Good day to all. Please help me figure out the prusa mini 3D printer. The thread does not stick, even after wiping the area with alcohol. Sticky tape. And problem 2, after the thread falls down, it gets clogged by the temperature sensor. And the printer's work ends.
Sorry to hear of your challenges! In terms of your bed, I would heat the bed to 70 degrees, then wipe it rather aggressively with a mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol using a scotch brite / brillo pad. This should activate the TPU bed and make it more sticky, without needing glue or tape (assuming you have the metal TPU bed...if not, I suggest you order one). I would also check your filament idler pulley, which you can learn more about here: th-cam.com/video/AJzafAzIYhM/w-d-xo.html
I have never had any of the issues you mentioned with with the knob on the screen skipping and jumping around, it seems kind of odd that yours is like that
I’ve heard mixed feedback from a lot of users. I’m not sure if it’s assembly variation or work environment, but my machine are abused by novices in a makerspace environment and typically get an insane amount of wear and tear. Even still, the Mini is a fantastic printer for the price point
my only real issue is getting the xy and z planes perfectly square. Its never going to happen and the single sided support is always going to droop a little. No matler how much I try to correct for this I can't seem to get it perfectly square. The flexible bed edges also come up a fraction of a mm so maybe this is throwing things off. my extrusion is consistently off across the bed. the left side is fine and the right side is under extruding. If i try to increase this it just over-extrudes on the left side. very frustrating. I will never buy a mini again, and get an MK3 next.
Great review!
Totally agree with your criticism of the stock extruder. The first thing I did was replace it with a Bondtech Extruder that has an Internal Filament Sensor (IFS).
Definitely a worthwhile mod! Thanks for the view!
bought the mini+ as a gift, saw this comment, and bought that extruder immediately, thanks for the headsup
Congrats! Happy I could offer some support and enjoy!!
Few corrections: The mini uses the Stealthchop mode of the TMC2209 stepper drivers that it has, the sound could be from insufficent greasing of the linear bearings creating extra vibrations.
Only the mini and the MK2S MMU1 came as a Bowden setup, every other printer that they made/make comes with a direct drive extruder
Please don't slide the springsteel sheet on the bed surface like that, PLEASE! It will slowly but surely rub down the insulation of the bed and will create a short circuit
Thanks for the feedback and support, I did misspeak when I said “all Prusa’s” as the mk3 and upcoming xl use direct drive, I meant all mini models, thank you. I stand by that this printer is louder than expected. These rails are greased, but all the movements and stops and vibrations are louder than other printers I’ve worked with thus the comment. And do you really think the coating on the heated bed is so thin than removing the bed with one hand and grazing it could wear it into a short circuit? That would be insane and a really poor design, thanks for the tip and feedback!
@@MrErdreich my friend killed his bed on their MK3 because they slid the steel sheet on the bed surface to put it on. Try to align it in air, and then snap the sheet onto the bed and it won’t happen
@@Fejszi wow who would have thought, thanks for the input and support!
My Mini is basically silent. Something is suspect about the noise issue you are having. Maybe a bearing issue. Not sure. But, when I say my MINI is basically silent, I mean basically silent. Very puzzling. BONDTECH extruder is a very good upgrade. All Prusa printers are not bowden drive, the MK3 is a direct drive printer.
Mine makes exactly the same noise I think it’s quite common. It also squeaks when you run PETG through it (because it rubs against the PETG extruder body when moving through it maybe) and the gears in the extruder click doing certain moves (I’ve tried disassembling the extruder and cleaning the pulley teeth, realigning the gears closer together to remove some slack and increasing temperature and changing the tension so I’m sure it’s just due to some slack still between the gears from manufacturing.
I found printing some anti vibration feet for the printer made a huge difference to the sound. I used to be able to hear it from downstairs through the ceiling but they reduced the vibration so I can quite happy sit next to it while it prints without issue now.
What do you mean by "anti vibration feet"?
@@YigalBZ there are designs you can find for your specific printer on sites like Printables. They dampen any vibrations that come from the different parts moving around and can significantly reduce the amount of noise in my experience.
There’s also these types of feet for big appliances, like washing machines, that are very cheap and designed for things much much bigger than a 3D printer, which work really well!
I have a small manufacturing farm of 8 Mini's, and the only issues I've ever had has been with the thermistors in the hotend going bad. I print about 18 hrs per day, per machine using PETG 0.6 nozzle, and have never had to adjust the extruder on any of my machines. I really haven't used any other materials in them aside from the bit of PLA they send with it. Perhaps the extruder issues are more material dependent.
I just picked up one, your concern about the extruder has me worried a bit. Hopefully mine doesn’t come to that. It seems like a intimidating kind of repair .
Congrats and no major worries! As mentioned, it really is an awesome printer! If you do get stuck, check out my unjam video and all of the resources provided by Prusa
I have never had to mess with my idler tension in 2.5 years of owning a mini. I've had to grease my gears, but other than that everything about the extruder has been set and forget.
My mini is not silent but it's quiet enough that if i close the thin closet door you can only really hear it in the room during retractions or in sections where there is a lot of accelorations. It's on a plywood shelf, nothing special. I think your printer is poorly assembled or not lubed up properly.
Is it a good precision printer for HO scale (1:87) figure caracters (18mm height)
Not necessarily. These types of prints are typically done on a resin-type 3D printer (SLA/SLS) rather than an extension-type like this (FFF/FDM). If you’re exclusively making small high detail models, I’d recommend the resin type over any extrusion printer for better quality and precision. My preferred setup for ultra high detail prints with an extrusion type printer like this is a LulzBot Mini with the SL print head.
I heard you say it’s a Bowden style extruder “like all prusas” and that’s not accurate. The mk3s+ is direct drive. Just for clarification
I did misspeak, thank you for the correction! I was thinking back to the old days :) I added a flag to correct my error, thanks again for the input and the view!
My mini is silent - very odd that yours is that loud. Have you tried placing it on a stone on concrete block ?
I have, and it’s definitely more quiet. The comment in this video is less about how to fix the issue and more to point out that I found this printer to be louder than expected, and louder than my other ones under the same circumstances. Thanks for the suggestions!
My mini is super quiet as well
Good day to all. Please help me figure out the prusa mini 3D printer. The thread does not stick, even after wiping the area with alcohol. Sticky tape. And problem 2, after the thread falls down, it gets clogged by the temperature sensor. And the printer's work ends.
Sorry to hear of your challenges! In terms of your bed, I would heat the bed to 70 degrees, then wipe it rather aggressively with a mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol using a scotch brite / brillo pad. This should activate the TPU bed and make it more sticky, without needing glue or tape (assuming you have the metal TPU bed...if not, I suggest you order one). I would also check your filament idler pulley, which you can learn more about here: th-cam.com/video/AJzafAzIYhM/w-d-xo.html
Informative. :)
Happy to hear it, thanks for the view!
mk3s is direct drive, the bondtech extruder is a great upgrade
Yep, I misspoke there and dropped a correction link to the Mk3. And agreed! The bond tech is a beast! Thanks for the feedback!
I have never had any of the issues you mentioned with with the knob on the screen skipping and jumping around, it seems kind of odd that yours is like that
I’ve heard mixed feedback from a lot of users. I’m not sure if it’s assembly variation or work environment, but my machine are abused by novices in a makerspace environment and typically get an insane amount of wear and tear. Even still, the Mini is a fantastic printer for the price point
rotary encoders do this when they are damaged. Mine does not do this. You probably have a damaged part.
my only real issue is getting the xy and z planes perfectly square. Its never going to happen and the single sided support is always going to droop a little. No matler how much I try to correct for this I can't seem to get it perfectly square. The flexible bed edges also come up a fraction of a mm so maybe this is throwing things off. my extrusion is consistently off across the bed. the left side is fine and the right side is under extruding. If i try to increase this it just over-extrudes on the left side. very frustrating. I will never buy a mini again, and get an MK3 next.
This is really helpful feedback and real-world input, thanks for sharing!
Why don't you print a support for the open end of the cantilevered 'arm'? That's gonna be my first print! Thanks for the info!
@@ragemodegaming7962 I’m not sure how you would do this? I have not seen this before but would be interested if there was some way!
Although I actually do see a Z-Axis Brace, maybe this would help a little