[Closed] Typical Machine Lifespan  

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Any advice on Slic3r settings for printing the replacement parts? Things like perimeters, infill %, etc. Thanks!
I use 0.2mm layer, 3 perimeters, 3 bottoms, 4 tops, 25% infill.

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Thanks, I will try it out. I just ordered my first ABS so I can print these parts.

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Any advice on Slic3r settings for printing the replacement parts? Things like perimeters, infill %, etc. Thanks!
I use 0.2mm layer, 3 perimeters, 3 bottoms, 4 tops, 25% infill.

What about shrinking? Do your parts fit? Or did you scale them up a bit?

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

That's a good question !

What do you recommend for printing this parts ?

ABS - sure ? Is ASA maybe better ? Or PET ???

Thomas

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Wear and tear is one thing but don't forget about parts will need to be replaced from learning mistakes.

You probably should have a spare belt. What will happen is you will print an object that will fail due to the design.

If the object is large enough it will hit print head and not give causing the belt to get stretched.

I think you will need to replace parts first from learning mistakes if you are new to 3D printing.

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Has anyone come across a list of parts?

I am looking to get a spare belt as mine is frayed and metal strands are hanging out, only after maybe 120 hours of printing 😯 , thought I had all aligned perfectly, but I guess a bad print got caught in my belt and caused it to flip and destroy itself. Still prints after fixing and realigning 😯 but need a belt soon. Unfortunately I am not have much luck finding parts lists and vendors to order from. 😕

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Belts are standard GT2 belt, and as far as I am aware there is no metal in it... which is worrying if you have metal strands sticking out!!!

about the only thing I had that failed on My Mk1 Prusa was the bearing inthe X axis idler... they are really inexpensive and possibly worth ordering in advance of failure.
same bearing is used on the Mk2 variant.

regards Joan

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Thanks, I ended up ordering GT2 belt 6mm wide from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XLGKDDE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My Y axis belt has strands of metal sticking out long enough to reach the bottom of the bed, will find out Wed if the belt I ordered fits. Took me an hour searching the web and finally talking to a Prusa rep to find what belt to order... Prusa wanted 25 dollars to ship a belt to me ( I live in USA), so Amazon order was a better option for me. I highly recommend anyone looking for parts to go straight to Prusa and ask about parts if you are searching. I realized later that all parts are listed throughout the build manual 🙁 but have yet to find a detailed parts list in one place. http://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-printers/59-original-prusa-i3-mk2-kit.html?gclid=CjwKEAiAuc_FBRD7_JCM3NSY92wSJABbVoxBLvoqQSjldKvo0Tm3cfaDcPPI44LiB0XY5M1B5MJ4oBoCdWfw_wcB click and scroll down to see chat feature of website for help

[email protected]

For me, the life span was 3 months. I brushed the dust off the LCD,as I had before, and it went to just squares. I was able to continue printing for a while since I use a raspberry pi controller and did not need to change filament right away. But support from the company in this regard is sorely lacking - remove the cables and straighten them out. Maybe the cables are bad. These are the 2 replies I received over the course of a week. I now have an expensive paperweight that no longer prints or responds to any commands, even when directly connected and using new cables. Great printer but not durable, and appears lcd is sensitive to esd, so do not touch. Better yet, do not buy.

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Sorry for you bad experience. Not trying to put salt on open wounds, but would you be willing to part with your MK2? If so how much and would you trade another brand of working printer for it? I have good working steel type A machine but would need to know your general location to see if shipping would be reasonable. I think others on this forum would also be interested if the shipping logistics are not good for me.

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Sorry for you bad experience. Not trying to put salt on open wounds, but would you be willing to part with your MK2? If so how much and would you trade another brand of working printer for it? I have good working steel type A machine but would need to know your general location to see if shipping would be reasonable. I think others on this forum would also be interested if the shipping logistics are not good for me.

Lol

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Any advice on Slic3r settings for printing the replacement parts? Things like perimeters, infill %, etc. Thanks!
I use 0.2mm layer, 3 perimeters, 3 bottoms, 4 tops, 25% infill.

What about shrinking? Do your parts fit? Or did you scale them up a bit?

Just printed a couple of parts in the original Prusa orange ABS. I used the default 0.2 settings with 20% infill (rectangular). They came out quite good. Compared to the parts on my printer they hardly shrunk. Maybe my enclosure which heated to around 37°C during the print helped to avoid shrinking...

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

I think the life span of the cables is highly dependent on how often and how far toward the extreme positions the extruder moves.

If you print small objects in the middle of the bed, then the cables may last years, but if you use the entire width and length and height most of the time, then the cables to the PINDA probe, the heater, the fans, and the temp sensor start to fail within a few months; first at the hotend, then also at the entry point to the RAMBo.

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

I would also like to know the answer to the original question, but i guess i will find out eventually. Here are my stats so far:

Printer: Prusa i3 Mk2s
Purchased/delivered: 2017-07-19
Total print time: 242h
Replaced so far: Nossle because of block.
Symptoms: I'm starting to hear some rattling sounds, especially when printer moves fast in small motions. There is also rattling sounds on left z bearing. As far as i know, this rattling is because of wear on the bearings. The print quality is not visibly affected as far as i can tell, but from time to time i have issues with the first layer not sticking to the bed. I suspect a "loose" bearing could produce this error as well.
Upcomming changes: I'm planning to install the noctura fan mod, just to reduce the noise. The stock fan still works fine.

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

Doon't do it... you'll hear more worrying noises once the fan is quiet... Lol...

Joan

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

I guess I'm going to upset a lot of people I just went through four pages and not one of them actually answer the question. what is the lifespan of the printer? How many total hours do you have on your printer before doing any repairs?

For those who don't understand life span I'll explain it to you. how many hours do you have printed on your printer? I bought myself an XYZ printer I've hit 1340 hours and I had to replace a bearing it is now printing again no problem I'd like to get an idea whether I can justify spending $1,000 on a prusa when my XYZ printer cost me $212.

So to be repetitive, how many hours have you actually printed on your printer, without requiring any repairs?

After you state total lifespan of your printer then you can list the repairs you made to keep it running I want to know out of the box can I get 500 hours, thousand hours, 5000 hours, ten thousand hours, it seems to me this is a very expensive printer and should at least perform better than my XYZ.

Thanks for your help in this most important decision.

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

@harry.s2

Prusa i3 are personal hobby printers - there is no established MTBF (mean time between failures). Each individual printer has a different print/repair history because each individual builder/user has followed a personal preference in what they print and how they print it on that machine. Speed/filament/temperature/environment all affect the longevity of the components as does maintenance content and frequency.

If you are looking for someone to persuade you the Prusa i3 MK2S and MK3 with or without MMU is the right printer for you and can give you the investment return you are looking for - the only person that can tell you that is the one you see in the mirror.

Am I getting value for my money from my two MK2S - yes, emphatically yes - both exceed my expectations, but both have had repairs. One to plastic parts due to physical damage and one to wiring due to flex fatigue. I accept those costs as part of my unique total cost of ownership, and I am still very happy.

Best regards,

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

[...] I'd like to get an idea whether I can justify spending $1,000 on a prusa when my XYZ printer cost me $212.
If you're trying to justify the additional cost of a genuine Prusa based solely on life cycle, then no. Mechanical parts do wear, and there are no guarantees a Prusa would run 5X as long. You will, however, get full warranty (parts at least for a kit) and support with a Prusa, the heated bed, auto-leveling, removable flex print surface, thermal protections enabled and a host of other features in addition to build quality that may well justify the additional expense, not to mention the value of your own time and additional not required to add parts to a cheaper printer to bring it up to the same capabilities. As to comparing to an XYZ, it depends which model.

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

[...] I'd like to get an idea whether I can justify spending $1,000 on a prusa when my XYZ printer cost me $212.
If you're trying to justify the additional cost of a genuine Prusa based solely on life cycle, then no. Mechanical parts do wear, and there are no guarantees a Prusa would run 5X as long. You will, however, get full warranty (parts at least for a kit) and support with a Prusa, the heated bed, auto-leveling, removable flex print surface, thermal protections enabled and a host of other features in addition to build quality that may well justify the additional expense, not to mention the value of your own time and additional not required to add parts to a cheaper printer to bring it up to the same capabilities. As to comparing to an XYZ, it depends which model. If you mean the Nano, then there are significant differences in the printer itself.

Re: Typical Machine Lifespan

I have just rehomed an XYZ DaVinci AIO, that is younger than my mk2.
it has gone faulty, XYZ don't offer help, and the owner has given up trying to repair it, so it's now at the local Hack space

the previous owner had also got fed up with the proprietry filament cartridges... that were quite expensive

another friend has a lesser quality XYZ davinci and the proprietory filament killed it for her... just too expensive,

she now has a chinese 3d printer that seems to be faulty more often than functional

regards Joan