The 5 tool Prusa XL is currently flawed, but I think it can be fixed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 พ.ค. 2024
- Check out my 2nd channel, TT Racing: / @ttracingyt
A QUICK UPDATE video using non alpha firmware: • Prusa XL update: Was t...
2nd update: Prusa have released a new version of the slicer with some counter measures for the blobbing and stringing. I will keep testing and update in a future video.
It’s been delayed for some time and the price hasn’t gotten any cheaper, but finally my 5 tool Prusa XL has arrived. Was it worth the wait? So far, the printer is quite undercooked. In this video I take you through my honest experience, including the problems myself and other owners are facing, as well as some of my intended fixes. Hopefully Prusa can release some updates to get this machine working as it should.
My apologies for my ranting in this video, but honestly I could have added more. Things like needing to turn down the crash sensitivity to stop false positives, the nozzle dragging across the bed after purging and leaving trails, the fact that you can’t adjust things like acceleration from the printer settings, the friction from the long ptfe tubes making it impossible to load tpu without pulling bits off, the PTFE tubes rubbing on the metal frame behind the tool posts, the USB flash drive being fussy with insertion angle.. The whole thing is just underwhelming.
This video is dedicated to my two dogs, Ricciardo and Sofia, who were both tragically killed by snake bite this week. Treasure your time with loved ones and pets, because you never know how long you will have with them.
0:00 Introduction
0:45 What is the Prusa XL?
Prusa XL store page: www.prusa3d.com/product/origi...
3D Printing Nerd XL video: • Prusa XL First Look at...
1:34 Delays and the context behind this purchase
3:33 Unboxing and setup
Robert Cowan channel: / @robertcowandiy
6:18 Self calibration and first print
7:27 Updating to alpha firmware and slicer
8:11 First sliced print
9:23 Initial multi-colour printing
Bambu Lab A1 Mini multi colour waste video: • Reducing waste from Ba...
11:11 Prusa GitHub and forums
11:29 Retraction and tool change tuning rabbit hole
3D print dogs video: • Master multicolour pri...
Nozzle scrubber by Surfalex2000: www.printables.com/model/4624...
15:55 Further print progress
17:53 Rant: This XL experience is really not good enough
20:42 What the XL does well
22:06 10 proposed fixes and improvements
26:27 Conclusion
Models in this video:
3Dbenchy: www.3dbenchy.com/
Multi-color Sushi (maki) by MosaicManufacturing: www.thingiverse.com/thing:243...
Marlin multi material remix by Cipis: www.printables.com/model/5480...
Previous video on Bambu Lab multi colour printing: • Reducing waste from Ba...
Refined gear bearing by Austin Vojta: www.printables.com/model/1148...
Low poly squirtle by Agustin Arroyo: www.printables.com/model/255-...
Tavern / Secret Dice Tower by MosaicManufacturing: www.thingiverse.com/thing:538...
Support test by Faulty Data: www.printables.com/model/1984...
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Some commenters pointed out that all of my testing was done with alpha firmware and slicer, and this may not be representative due to potential bugs. That is very fair, so to be as thorough and transparent as possible, here is a quick follow up test: th-cam.com/video/bVY3S22L4EY/w-d-xo.html
Spicy!!!
Thanks for your transparency and perseverance. I’m sure these teething problems will be sorted but there is a lot of competition out there. I wish TT and Prusa all the best.
In order to test your "second wipe" proposal, can you try printing 2 identical models together so that one becomes a fake second purge tower for the other?
Amazing work and review. Sad to see it has gone so poorly.
Do you get the sense that the extruders/hotends are the problem? Because I sure do. All of the symptoms you bring up could be caused by the extrusion system. The thing I immediately wonder is how are these different from the MK4 extrusion system. Cus it works there. Not being able to tune out stringing in PLA is a giant red flag towards the extrusion system for me, and it could absolutely cause layer shifts, z banding, inconsistent extrusion, knocked over parts. Basically everything you described.
Perhaps find a way to include the bambu nozzle wipe. Maybe you could attach it somehow?
This was painful to watch, it gave me flashbacks to the craftbot flow idex and trying to get useable prints out of it - doing much the same testing and tinkering. At the price point, there is zero excuses honestly. Manufacturing delays sure - but getting improvements by reverse engineering their own unpublished codes is a really bad look. I didn't pay for the flow and I still felt ripped off, you've got a cooler take on this than I would have if I had dropped 6K !
I hope XL customers aren't abandoned as Prusa shifts focus to their newly announced professional range of printers.
i loveg you makers muse
I look forward to your video on this printer.
I have to say I'm shocked and disappointed by the performance of this mega expensive printer made by the top company that made 3D printers more accessible to the public.
@@TechnologistAtWork not happening, I'm not buying one sorry. Michael's take on it is very reasonable and trustworthy.
@@MakersMuse Understandable l. Maybe Prusa will ship you one for free after they address some of the issues.
Doesn't it feel weird that the extruder nozzle choice is kind of a step back from the Revo design that they have in their MK4? It's like the two projects were built by entirely different teams and had zero communications about what their next gen line of printers is supposed to be like. It's like they have an identity crisis over there at Prusa HQ.
@@MakersMuse prusa should send you one
I can’t imagine paying $5000+ for any 3d printer and having to change anything, even as simple as changing gcode commands, to make the machine actually work worth a damn.
Ya, that's pretty rough and disappointing
100%
No camera too. Are they serious?
I've been on the waiting list for like a year. Got an email saying it was my last day to complete my order. I decided it's too risky and cancelled.
and quality this printed parts..... hard to watch
Very disappointed in prusa with this one. Hope they do better because i really do appreciate what they have contributed to the community so far and hope to see them succeed
Printer stuff aside...as a dog lover with 2 of my own fur babies I am very sorry to hear that you lost 2 of your doggos at the same time. I cannot fathom what that must feel like. Just know that you have my deepest sympathies because I know all too well how hard it is to lose a member of your family. 😥
I feel like your critique is very constructive and to the point. If it was creality honestly no one would be outraged, but Prusa has set a bar for itself and others and is simply not clearing it with that performance. Hope they recover from this soon. It feels like they have overstretched themselves with the implementation of input shaping and the Mk4 along with the delayed XL.
Just insane what you're having to deal with after spending that much cash. NGL, I howled with laughter when you printed out that beautiful replacement part on your Bambu. Put the existing parts to shame. Couldn't design a better commercial for Bambu if they tried.
This is the kind of feedback a engineer dreams of. Interested to see what prusa does with it.
Given all of your struggles, you did a remarkable job staying professional and highlighting the positives. I too hope they can work out the issues.
Condolences regarding your animals. I once lost two pets at once as well, and it was devastating. Time will heal though.
Issues are worked out. Check something current from someone who knows their printer.
The file transfer speed issue really highlights how Prusa has fallen behind the times
Yeah, but adding a new open source BGCode, they really are behind the times lol!!!!
Kudos for all the investigations you've done, but that's absolutely catastrophic at this price point and with this competition. In this environment, anything short of amazing speed+quality+reliability from the get-go is an absolute no.
Prusa is a sympathetic company, but they've gotten complacent imo.
I think they have been complacent for years now. I first got into 3D printing back in 2020/2021 and during my initial research found that a lot of their hardware was severely out of date, such as the 8 bit boards, older stepper drivers, and small form factor, while still asking $1000 for the machine when every other competitor was charging half that with more modern hardware. Reliability and customer support was supposed to be their biggest draw, but it appears that may be going out the window with these newest releases. I hope they can turn things around because it would be a shame to lose them in the industry.
its what you get when you think ur the best printer brand out there... using stuff people released as opensource and try to make it better without extensive knowledge.
This is prusa's own downfall if they do not change their strategy and hire real cad and mechanical engineers instead of hobbyists. there is nothing wrong with hobbyists because these can be great engineers. but if you watch their source files and also cad files you start crying how they design parts. and the Prusa Pro aka the delta printer brand they just bought is also a joke. It's sad to see how a company like that goes down but its their own fault. especially Josef himself.
complacent is an understatement. this is a ripoff. prusa seems desperate. its sad.
Not complacent. But they are finding it increasingly hard to remain competitive with their business model.
@@Underp4ntz_Gaming_Channel exactly.
Hello Michael, this is Christian @rapterron here:
I am a "day one XL 5T pre orderer" from Germany and "usually" quite a pro prusa boy but I really thank you for this brutal honest video.
Unfortunately I made the same experience with my XL which was delivered on the 9th of September. Even if the prusa support tried their "best", but in the end they were just answering me things you would tell a 3D printing beginner, something like "dry your filament" etc. yeah no the exact same filament works fine on another printer and I also tested with brand new spools.
Even with all the shipment delays the printer hardware is fine and robust but overall it feels like rushed and in a late beta development state.
Never the less after weeks of profile tweaking I think I and found a 98% solution which addresses all the issues (with PLA, haven't really tested other materials) without tweaking the firmware or custom gcodes or hardware changes and mods.
My changes to the stock profile are almost entirely in the filament section (I use the Prusament PLA @XL 0.6 as base) of prusa slicer, everything else is mostly stock and adjusted by case.
- reduced temperature from 215 to 200 on the first layer and 195 on every other layer
- max volumetric speed to 15.5 from 16
- enable ramming for multitool setups with parameter 5 on volume and 10mm/s flow wipe tower
Furthermore the default extrusion with on the first layer is set to 0.68 mm which should create bigger and more robust first layers but I found out this might create also gaps in the first layer so I would set it back to 0.6mm
I also reported all my findings, feedback and even profiles to prusa support.
Hope this helps and please let me know if you have any question. I can also send you my profiles If you want to test them.
In general I post mostly on twitter / X including pictures of my prints.
Cheers Rapterron (Christian)
Thanks for sharing your experience and especially the tips. I will try them next week.
Wow, and to think that at one point I was debating whether to buy a Bambu or keep waiting for the XL. I’m unbelievably glad I pulled the trigger in an X1C/AMS.
Same, I had the XL in my basket at the beginning of the year and was ready to hit buy. Instead I ended up with an X1C/AMS and couldn't be happier, even more so knowing I STILL wouldn't have the XL and even if I did it would be a complete mess. Prusas loss was Bambus gain as it enabled me to expand my print business and I've now got 6 of the things. I love my mini and MK3's but Prusas really dropped the ball, and we're now beyond the point where the weird cult following is enough to save them, they really need to step up their game.
Your loss guys. The XL is a beast and you can't get one used.
@@ShadrackcI hope so. what an embarrassment. multi extruder consumer printers seem like a great idea. who else is making one?
@@justin-tv3pc nobody. This is it. AMS is such a waste of filament. Plus prusa pays employees properly. Bambi probably pays them cents an hour.
How is that waste tower? Heavier than the model?
I think people need to look at this and realize just what Bambu accomplished with their printer line and specifically the AMS. What they pulled off while not perfect is nothing short of amazing. Yes they went a little more proprietary than most tinkerer's would like and yes the AMS can be quite wasteful when not tuned. However the fact is the machines work incredibly well out of the box and that is something that isn't easily achieved even by a company as good as Prusa. As with anything, competition is good and the more manufacturers we get trying to tackle multi filament printing the quicker we get to a point where we have reliable systems that create as little waste as possible.
prusa obviously didnt do their work on this one, but i wonder how much that might have to do with EU-politics. theres huge issues in all kinds of supply chains. the sanctions effed up my own planning - i have to switch things around for a prototype - but they were right in the middle of pre-production when that madness hit.....
I pre-ordered on day one and received my single-head XL in July of this year. It felt like a beta product. I too had to spend a few hours with support to get everything ironed out and even then the user experience sucked compared to the Bambu one. Having to sit and wait for the bed to preheat and soak just so I could wipe the nozzle before it probed the bed was insane to me. In the time since the pre-order, I bought two X1Cs and they've been insanely good.
I sold the XL a couple weeks ago. Disappointing after having years of good experiences with the MK3Ses.
It's so disappointing because my Prusa printers are so dang reliable. I don't think my Mini has ever had a print failure. I decided on the QIDI Xmax3 because I was tired of waiting for a machine that didnt have a heated chamber. I gave up the multi toolhead feature but I've been printing large flawless models completely drama free so far. I hope Prusa gets it together soon cuz I really like their company and hope to buy from them again in the future.
For the amount of money they are commanding, the performance should be on par. As a newbie looking to get into 3d printing, I want the size and feature set of the Prusa XL with the no hassle results of a Bamboo X1 Carbon. I guess I will wait to see if Bamboo brings out a big brother to the X1, or Prusa reolves their quirks in the XL. Whoever gets there first will get my money.
Thanks for the unbiased reporting, it does help folks like myself make informed decisions!
I'm on the waiting list still for an XL, if the Bambu had a larger print space I'd have already bought one. If Bambu makes a larger printer Prusa may lose my money at this point.
The XL is a beast. IS is fast, and you can't find a tool changer that is even close to this product.
To fix the stringing, properly adjust the silicone flaps below the nozzles. It's clearly visible in your video that they are misaligned. The assembly manual actually even warns you that this will lead to heavy stringing, as the nozzles just sit there oozing after being parked otherwise.
Not just because you showed my GitHub post several times 😊 but I fully agree what you said.
This Maschine is currently not fulfilling any expectations I have for a Prusa.
Thanks for the video. I’ll try some of your recommendations as well for my stringing.
My most sincere condolences to you and your family for the loss of your dogs. What happened to them? I currently have a one year old pup sleeping next to me and I can’t imagine losing not one but two of them after only 4 years. Hugs and love from across the world in this difficult time.
Honestly I wanted it to turn out great but i expected this after seeing various print samples on different conventions. If prusa cant put out a flawless print while presenting the printer then how could anyone at home? (I saw layer shifts and low overall quality)
For 5k they can be open source all they want - it does not matter if the product is not perfect and reliable. The XL costs 5k and gives you the Ender-3 Creality experience.
Very disappointing and thank you for your honest review.
"bUt ItS oPeN sOuRcE" ends up being a frequent excuse for all the shortcomings of such machines. so open source is a free ticket to make a half baked machine and charge extortionate amounts?
I'm saddened to say that I think you're being unfair to the ender 3 with your comparison here. Having run an ender 3 print farm, I can attest that while they absolutely tend to have issues out off the box, with a bit of TLC they will ACTUALLY perform and produce pretty consistent and good results. So your comparison works if we were talking about a messed up MK w/e. But with the work he put in, AND their own factory test file AND printed parts being dodgy? Smells to me very much like their Nextruder is the primary culprit. I haven't used a hotend where I couldn't tune out stringing on PLA... Ever. Hell I once ran a V6 knock-off that had one of those stupid j-head style heat breaks without the PTFE liner that produced more consistent results than that (right up until heat creep would clog it lmao).
Stringing, layer shifts, inconsistent extrusion. All of those are giant red flags for those extruders. The only question is why does it work on the MK4 and not here? Are they using different/smaller motors or something?
I appreciate your honest reviews . Thank you for all your help for the community 🖐️
Bravo! I've been following basically everyone on TH-cam with a 5-head XL and this is a terrific summary of the current state of things. This is a printer I want, but not yet...
Very very neutral objective review! Agree that whatever may be the challenges faced during the development but at that price point it should be damn plug and play! Given the competition it no longer "I will sell what I can and when I can". I waited for months to get my mk4 after making full payment while Prusa didn't provide even a single update (compared to how Kickstarter kinds keep sending weekly updates) at least to make waiting bearable.
Thanks.... Very helpful. These things would have driven me insane. I look forward to any future video reporting on Prusa's fixes to any of these issues.
cant thank you enough for taking the enormous amount of time to put this video together man.. Our XL is still on its way (vancouver canada) so getting a "heads up" on what to expect is good. and I'll be printing the brush holders and buckets to collect for the wipers.. I personally really appreciate your efforts
Sorry to hear about your pups. May they rest in peace.
Thank you for this. I am now very glad I have not yet paid for my pre-order. I will continue to wait and hope they get these issues fixed before I complete my order.
Micheal, thank you so much for your time and the money you have spent to help support our 3D Printing community. I am grateful I ended up purchasing an X1 Carbon in the past 3 weeks, 99% of the time it just works. Donation coming your way mate. Thanks once again.
What I love about your channel is the constructive criticism of the printer. You've focused on solutions and possible changes to Prusa's product instead of just complaining about it. Keep up the great work.
THANK YOU - this needed to be posted. I think Prusa is 100% accountable for shipping these without having them working as advertised. It is a sad thing when the Bambu mini prints perfect when this beast struggles with the most basic tasks.
Awesome video and review. There is a fix called X1C for that printer! lol
Excellent work Michael! I too recently got my 5T XL and have been learning and working with it. I agree that it's not ready for prime-time (which is disappointing for a Prusa product) and I expect Prusa to get these issues ironed out. Fortunately most can be addressed with software. Like you I was surprised by the single-screw attachment of the tool head brackets. Time will tell if they start to shake themselves loose (I've got a bottle of thread-lock at the ready). I haven't had the stringing issues you've had but that's likely due to my near immediate switch to 0.4 nozzles.
thanks for the video! I have a deposit in on an XL. Please keep us updated. hoefully this gets ironed out with time and development. Thanks for your work and honesty.
Thanks for posting this and doing all the testing. I thought all the oozing, blobs, and debris ripping up layers could be related to my filament but it's obvious it's not. The 5.0 Alpha FW has a "cleaning routine" that literally smooshes ooze into the base of the nozzle which then gets dragged around pulling the first layer off the bed. I really hope they take time to fix a lot of these issues.
Damn snakes. Sorry for your loss mate. Hope you can have a happy New Year and thanks for your work in this field.
I am sure they will solve it some day.
I'm glad with your honest review, thank you.
I almost put in a preorder last year, but ended up with a X1C instead. Pretty happy with that decision
This feels like my experience with Creality printers. my first Ender 3 was a great reliable first printer. Purchased a total of 5 other printers from Creality and most were hot garbage.
Got into the kickstarter for BambuLabs Carbon X1 and have never looked back. 4 bambu printers with very little issues. Alway get the result I want with minimal fuss.
Bambu for the win
agree with all your points, thank you and all others for the time and effort to make the XL better.
Thank you for your insight!
I would be experiencing the same issues but the size was a no-go for me
Hopefully they make a comeback and I can join the fun later!
Thank you for the honest review, this is what keeps us on your channel Stay true !!
I cancelled my XL order soon after ordering. I think that I am glad that I did. My Bambu prints almost flawlessly.
Fascinating indeed! Fantastic job, Michael! 😊
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Hello, thank you for your review and for sharing your honest opinion! We watched your video shortly after you published it and we took notes of the areas that needed improvement. Apologies for the delayed answer here, but we wanted to wait until the things you mentioned in your video are fixed rather than promising we’ll do it in the future. Just to summarize:
- We updated the assembly guide to improve the clarity of instructions
- The G-code documentation was updated with XL-specific G-codes
- New PrusaSlicer 2.7.0 comes with features to tackle stringing and blobs - we shared an extensive explanation in the release notes and in our blog article.
Once again, thank you for your valuable feedback, it’s what helps us to further enhance our printers and everything around them.
Dominik
XL Product Manager
I'm waiting over two years now. Recently I have paid this huge amount of money for 5 tools version. If this is the value I get for such price, I'm going to return it and start to learn the Babmu ecosystem :-(
Your video is truly refreshing, capturing the essence of straightforwardness. I resonated with it deeply, especially when I encountered print issues like blobs in my initial attempts. It seems like Prusa hurriedly launched this printer to the market, and it's evident that it's not entirely prepared for widespread use. It appears more suited for enthusiasts who enjoy tinkering with their purchases. Does anyone want to buy an XL?
Great video! I've experienced all the problems you state much like most people with the 2T and 5T versions. All I can add is the layer shift seems to be down to over sensitive crash detection and then misalignment happens after it homes to restart. You can change sensitivity (to low) or turn it off. I've turned it off for now which may come with some risk especially if I get blobs etc. Let's hope Prusa listen to you and other customers. If they don't then we know a company that will come along and make a printer which makes the XL redundant.
Not too harsh. The market has changed with high expectations. Prusa was caught off guard and released product before it was done. They need all the feedback they can get. I appreciate hearing more fixes. Hopefully by the time my 5XL arrives sometime next year, much of this is resolved.
Very happy I cancelled my order almost a year ago and bought a pair of X1 Carbons instead. I'll revisit the XL later this year. Thanks for the review.
Thank you Michael, On the strength of yours (and a few other) reviews, I cancelled my XL-5 head order. I may revisit it in the future, if/when it's a more stable product.
Shocking! I just want to make stuff and not fiddle with a machine. In beginning the challenge was necessary- I thought..then Bambu changed my world and now a third model purchase. Is it perfect, no, but the best value out there IMHO. I know Prusa was ahead of their time when they came out with original, but it is a brave new world and for the average Joe there seem to be better options at one fifth of the cost.
I was really looking forward to a video like this, which actually shows how the 5 heads work. Thanks!
Based on these, I'm glad I haven't ordered it yet. The cursor has already been over the buy button several times.
Thanks so much for your work on this!
Thanks for the shout-out! You really did think of everything and I'm not sure why you and I are having such different experiences. With most of your criticisms (of things that can be fixed), I absolutely agree. But my print quality is much better for some reason. We'll keep working at it! I'm going to try printing some of the same models and post my results.
Props for you being so patient and through for something that could be reasonably called a fiasco.
I received the XL in March and am printing it.
Fortunately, I am now able to obtain clean output to the point where I can say that the problems in the video have been resolved.
I believe that the speed of problem solving is faster because of pioneers like you, and thank you for the video.
I used a draft shield for my tool changes in place of a purge block. It swipes over the tower, knocking off the filament string, and purges into the infill. By the time it gets to the walls of even a small model, it has consistent flow. It finishes on the draft shield and moves to the next tool. The key to success seems to be that it swipes over the tower and knocks off the string, with increased success the less z raise I have.
It uses a slope z raise, too, so as it leaves and returns, it wipes on the model just a bit and doesn't leave a bump or strong like you mentioned. Maybe you want to run your z hop modifier on it and turn on draft shield?
I got a lot out of my MK3+, I hope they get this sorted and catch up. I've switched to a X1C and a X-Max3, and both are very good and together do what I wanted the XL to do - and total cost is less. Thanks for the informative review.
Mine is supposed to show up on Wed and I haven't been super optimistic about this being a flawless out of the box experience.... This video just crushed me. This is my first Prusa machine and my entire experience with Prusa thus far has been absolutely awful. I'm tempted to toss this thing for sale sealed in box and just buy 2 more Vorons for half the price. For $4000 USD I feel that having to do ANY tinkering is absolutely unacceptable.
Also... for as crushing as this video is for me to see the 2 pups at the end was even more crushing. Sorry for your loss.
Micheal, I am sorry to hear about your pups. My condolences to you and your family. I can imagine this was a very difficult situation. Best wishes to you. 😢❤
Very level-headed review for how poorly this (very expensive) printer performed. Prusa is lucky that they've built up so much goodwill that they can release products like this and still get measured opinions. Unfortunately, with Bambulab providing excellent multicolor prints and the Makertech Proforge 4 being a cheaper, faster, *fully enclosed* toolchanger, there's no reason to buy the XL.
Enjoy that bambilab printer with a waste weight more than the model, and try some tpu and pla models and see how that works out for you.
The Bambu Labs printing parts for the Prusa to get it working 💀
Excellent and honest review. I am disappointed that Prusa released this in this state and I hope these issues are resolved quickly.
My Condolences for Ricciardo and Sofia... thank you for the video been debating about which direction for my next printer and was considering the XL, but not anymore. Really wish you were able to review the flashforge creator 4 or mosiac element....
Thank you for this review. The news is frustrating, especially given that my multi-material XL will ship next week, but Prusa has improved their products in the past, at no cost to the customer. I'm thinking in particular about their MMU . So, fingers crossed that they will fix these serious problems. I look forward to new videos from you about the XL
MMU and MMU2 were never fixed for the people that bought them, like me. They just came out with a "better" model that would now work. If this is any indication of how things go, plan on the XL and XL2 never working great, but.by the time the XL3 is released, in 2028, it should work reasonably.
@@A1N0 Prusa not only pushed out firmware changes for the MMU and MMU2, but they also provided MMU2 free to me after purchasing the MMU. This went far beyond what most manufacturers would have done. That said, I stopped using MMU2 because it was unreliable and I was not willing to pay the penalties in time and filament that MMU2 required. I hope that the XL will improve on both of these fronts, and I hope that Prusa fixes the print quality problems. I am still puzzled that TH-camrs other than TT have had much better results than TT did, implying that something else is going on that we have not yet figured out.
I never said that Prusa didn't support the MMU, I only said it never worked. The AMS gets plenty of firmware updates as well, but the difference is, the AMS works. (The AMS also has over-the-air firmware updates, which even the Prusa XL hasn't figured out.)@@jonbondy
Thanks for the honest review. Exactly the information i was looking for.
Thank you so much for this. With the issues people have had with the mini, my own issues with the Mk4 I was very curious on honest results of the XL tool changer. Prusa really needs to take a pause and get the quality back.
I bought my first 3D printer from Prusa because I wanted a printer, not a project. It's been good so far, but seeing this many issues with one of their newer models is very concerning. When I'm ready to upgrade to something more capable, I may not stick with the same brand. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Exactly the video I needed to cancel my pre order. I really hope they can sort that out. I have been quite happy with my 6 Mk3s+ and was betting on the toolchanger... We have to wait even more then...
Oh man, I'm so sorry for the dogs. You have our sympathy.
You saved me a lot of money as I am looking for a CoreXY and I'd like to have multi filament but not the Prusa after seeing what you've been through. It really sounds like you got an alpha unit but really I'm sure Prusa wouldn't do that. Dang I'll have to think a while longer before making any decisions.
Prusa has just released PrusaSlicer 2.7.0-beta1 which adds a new way of doing travel moves: ramping to fight stringing and oozing deposition especially while using wider nozzles. If you enable those, layer changes will also change to a helical ("screw thread") trajectory inspired by how Bambu Studio does it.
You have a lot of valid points and it's a really nice summary.
One thing I wondered is if people have tried switching to 0.4 mm nozzles on the toolheads and compare the results. 0.6mm nozzles might be a lot more prone to stringing and oozing.
[Edit: I see you mentioned that in the end of the video :)]
If it was my money I would not be as calm as you.
Great video. Keep up the good work.
I have a 2 head XL, but my experiences mirror yours. I agree with your suggestions and hope Prusa has some serious work going into things on the back end. I have a dozen Bambulabs printers.. even though they lack a farm management tool, all the other features that work so much better are worth the hassle. First was makerbot.. then Prusa.. hopefully they're not going by the wayside, though if it means it's now the time of Bambulab I suppose that's not a bad thing.
Try it lately?
Stringing is gone, but It still has issues here and there. Most notably it randomly decides it's going into a filament swap cycle on the latest non beta firmware. @@Shadrackc
Not on mine. None of this. Did you clean the filament sensors? I run on full RC and had for two months. Had that happen once but the filament, upon testing, wasn't consistent in diameter. @@ZVexxPlayer Mine is perfection right now. Not a thing I will change till I put in the .4 nozzles.
Thank you for your honest review. I love Prusa but trying (and failing) to set up an MMU last year really dented my faith in them and seeing your review has reinforced my doubt in their ability to ship products that are ready for the consumer market. I manage a makerspace and just don't have time to spend faffing around with machines that should work better. I still love Prusa, they are a good and ethical company but I am now looking at the Bamboo A1 Mini (as seen in your video). Thank you for your great work.
Sorry for the loss of your dogs. ♥
Sorry for your loss. It is a hard thing to deal with.
Great video, Michael. My sincere condolences on the loss of your dogs.
I've had my 5 head ready to finalize for a month now. Fingers crossed that this machine will get ironed out over the next 6 months. As it is, it's too expensive to be having prototype design flaws.
I know they've already made some good progress from the earlier 1 and 2 head models. Though i'm ever cautious of another mmu2/ mini situation where something just gets left alone for extended periods of time or until end of life
Thanks so much for this. I just opened my semi-built 5 tool head today. I have been following TADA and she has been having the same problems. I thought that I would be getting a top of the line printer and still hope that it will be, but seems like it is 95% finished, the 5% needed is the most important.
I love that you mention that people will say it's your calibration that's the problem... Because of course they would. Nevermind the fact that you have one of- if not the most referenced and respected calibration sites on on the internet, lol.
This is a great video, I had been considering a dual-tool model vs. a Bambulab or other filament changer system. Guess I'll keep waiting!
I was blamed for the Prusa Mini problems by a few people, so I thought I would pre-empt that type of argument here.
100% captures my experience with the 5 tool XL. I’ve even reverted to printing some models with Bambu X1C despite the extra waste just to get more consistent, cleaner prints.
If it were easy to return, I probably would at this point. Instead, it’ll be a low use machine for me until Prusa makes it A LOT better.
Congrats for an honest, objective, review of the Prusa XL in its current state (of development). I own a MK3S+ and like yourself and others placed a pre-order for 5-tool Prusa XL. I canceled the order recently before even looking at your video on the basis of actual users posts in the forums. It is a shame that Prusa made a) a complete mess of their pre-ordering system; b) that they don't seem to acknowledge the issues that the printer has. According to their blog is just good news all around! I wonder to whom they shipped their XLs for beta testing? because either they didn't do a proper job or Prusa didn't listen to their feedback, or both! As soon as Prusa finishes shipping the pre-orders, I wouldn't be surprised if the XL price comes down considerably, which is bound to really upset people who paid top dollar for what was supposed to be a top of the line 3D printer. Clearly Prusa faces an uphill struggle to win back the trust of its users, maybe even financial. Sad that it came down to this but they have to blame themselves for it, for +2y we stuck in there, waiting patiently for the crown jewel...that turned out to be an expensive lemon after all.
I had a preorder out on the first day, but I cancelled about 6 months ago. I was really hoping this machine was a killer, and I even accepted the first few supplychain problems, but the delays became quite ridiculous. And now, with all the testing they said they did, the elaborate alpha and beta test programs, it's still flawed. I wonder what happened with the test results from the alpha and beta testers. I kind of lost faith at this moment. And I still haven't received my refund after all these months, so that process too is slow.
I do hope that they'll get on top of the problems though. The XL is still a beast of a printer, but it has to work properly. It's performance at this moment is unacceptable.
You canceled 6 months ago and have not received the refund? That right there is reason enough for me to never do business with prusa. Thats inexcusable, i would expect their doors to close any day if they cannot provide refunds.
@@ManBearPigCreativeit's still ongoing. I had several email exchanges with them and 2 weeks ago, they asked (after I queried what the delay was) for my bank account number since putting the refund on my credit card was not possible (strange, but ok). So I expected the refund within the week, but still nothing. It's not looking good...
Very nice review! Good to see a real review, instead of the basicly false advertisment we get from other youtubers.. Good job. Won't be buying a prusa anytime soon :D
Oh man if Michael can't get this to work flawless there's no way a typical user is going to be able to...
I'm glad I waited and didn't pre-order. I might still get one but not until they've fixed the issues. It needs to be an out of the box experience at this price.
I bought the single tool XL, and I think it's very poor value for money. I started with the i3, then I added a mini, but the XL is definitely a pretty poor product when compared to these.
For example.
It takes ages to warm up before it starts printing. It warms up, cools down, warms up again, seems to run 3 checks at every spot it probes when levelling, etc.
Because it's not a complete cube, it shakes around a lot when it's printing. Yes, I did tighten everything up using the crappy "torque wrench" supplied. It's on a sturdy bench.
When you change filament, you have to manually pull and then push filament about a yard down the PTFE tube.
It's not properly compatible with octoprint.
The USB port is in a stupid place: on the display board. I suspect this is because it's really only intended to be used to plug a USB stick into it. There ought to be another USB port at the back near the LAN port, for those of us wanting to use Octoprint or similar.
The integrated WiFi takes ages to receive GCODE files.
PrusaLink is a bit crap, especially compared to Octoprint.
For some reason, my XL parks the print head at the back left corner of the build plate after printing. That's not a great place to check or change the nozzle, oh sorry "nextruder".
Sometimes, the self levelling fails due to their being a bit of extruded filament on the nozzle.
For such an expensive product, that's taken ages to arrive, it's completely underwhelming.
Having purchased the MMU and the MMU2 and never have them work, I can't say I am surprised by this. I had a deposit on one of these, but very luckily I cancelled it and bought an X1 Carbon. Have 2 now, and still much cheaper than one of these.
I just bought a MK4 and have been working it hard nearly 24hrs a day on the latest alpha firm ware with few issues, it is obvious where Prusa puts all their attention and effort. I do think you were pretty lenient on the XL, but iirc you're pretty lenient in reviews anyway. One thing we have to give Bambu is that their printers just work while anything Prusa beyond the i3 is unfinished until a year after launch. The Prusa fanbase also loves to hate whenever you point that out, it's definitely the worst part of online Prusa discourse.
Loved the video, thank you for taking the time to make it thorough.
Good video. I own a MK3S and this just makes me sad. I remember the issues I had with the MK3 early on (yes, I bought before the "S" and later upgraded) and also had shipping delays! I also remember the improvements in print quality over time but, ultimately, it was a painful journey. I love my MK3S now and I recognized at the time that the Prusa company was still in the midst of growing pains and excused some of it. However, they have had time to mature as a company and I feel like many of these issues in the XL could have been ironed out ahead of time. This is, at the very least, a "prosumer" printer, if not a "professional" printer and I would expect more from it.
I have no doubt things will be improved down the line. However, I feel for you and everyone that has to go through the wait for these improvements. Best wishes.
What a bold and informative review. I, too, wish Prusa can survive but sadly with this design with its cost I just can't see Prusa making it. To you Michael, I feel your honesty is clearly shown.
I've been happy with my XL 2 head so far. I think the big difference for me is I really only print functional things, so if it doesn't look great it doesn't really matter as long as it is dimensionally accurate. I definitely agree with having only one bolt is questionable for longevity for the extruder holder. One thing I recommend all XL owners to do is replace that USB stick, mine failed within 2 weeks and from the facebook group I wasn't the only one, especially if you're updating firmware, you don't want it to fail.
Do a size check with gparted, don't know where Joseph got these USBs but the probably where one off the cheapest in china!
That's a really low bar to set for a very, very expensive printer
@@geometerfpv2804 If I would've paid the ~$5k usd that he did, sure, but my total was a little more than half that (semi-assembled 2 tool). There is nothing in the $3k price bracket that can do what the 2 tool XL can.
First thing I did when I got my mk4 was to replace the USB drive with a SanDisk. I don't trust anyone else with thumb drives.
wow and I thought those usb stick errors came from the Firmware Update good to know that it could be the stick itself.
After paying my deposit on Christmas Day 2021 for a two tool XL. I have waited patiently to get the email saying it's ready. I paid the other day
I must admit I am slightly nervous about my decision but prusa have always come good in the end....I love my mk3, mk4 and mini. I hope I will feel the same about my XL.... eventually
For 7k$ that printer better be perfect, easy to deal with and get me a drink. Unreal that it has ANY issues for that much money!
I have the PrusaXL single tool and apart from a bit of stringing have not had any issues. But it seems that is the whole issue. You critique seems very valid and I do think they will overcome it. That being said you can only value anything on what is out now not what *might* come.
thanks for your honest review
Sorry for the loss of your pups my friend.
Great video. It's really disappointing that the XL is plagued by so many problems. I placed my deposit for it almost 2 years ago after having good luck with the MK3, which I bought as a kit in 2018 and later upgraded to a MK3S, and it was my most reliable printer... until I got spoiled by a couple of Bambu Lab P1Ss w/ AMS units that I got this year. I've basically stopped using my other printers. I still want a large-format multi-color printer, but I feel the $4,000 I was going to pay for a pre-assembled XL with the 5 tools could be better spent elsewhere. Bambu will do an XL eventually, and when they do I can't imagine it having anywhere near so many issues as the Prusa. I really hope Prusa gets their issues sorted out sooner rather than later, since the competition would continue to further innovation.
(Ironically, while typing that I got curious and checked on my XL order status, and I finally have the option to switch it from a deposit to an actual order... It wasn't an option last week. Now I have to make a tough decision.)
I've got a 2 tool head XL and agree with most of your comments, especially returning to the wipe tower at the end of the layer. Prusa did something new with the toolchanger and I've had some great 2 color prints, including 2 color tpu. I'm happy with the performance so far, despite the bugs and room for improvement. The toolchanger hardware works great and the 12 minute alpha benchy looks pretty damn good. This is my first Prusa and I'm well aware that as an early adopter, there will be bugs. But I'm personally excited to contribute to the improvement of this machine and think it will evolve into more that what was promised through firmware updates. Also, pretty disappointed in Prusa link/connect!