this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023
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Finished building the MK4 kit and placed it in the enclosure, first few prints have been great. (i.imgur.com)
submitted 1 year ago by poofy_cat@lemm.ee to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world
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After a few hickups I finished building my MK4 kit and Tukkari enclosure. The first few prints have been fantastic.

My MK4 kit had a couple bad bearings, so I replaced all the bearings and rods on the X and Y axes with MISUMI equivalents. I noticed that they have a fair bit less slop in the movement and are overall quieter.

I also made a custom G10+steel print sheet, and it's working exceptionally well with PETG. It sticks strongly while hot, and doesn't release until the bed drops below about 40 deg C at which point parts pop off easily. It leaves a super gloss surface on the first layer as well. If anyone is interested in building one, here are the parts I used:

(253.8x241mm steel sheet) https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832760691866.html

(white 250x240x1mm g10 sheet) https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255801004367032.html

I bonded them together with 3M 200MP double-stick tape (which is thin, strong, and heat-resistant) and filed notches in the g10 to match the sheet. I didn't abrade the G10, PETG sticks perfectly while glossy. I was very careful about cleaning it with iso. alcohol before printing, and I wipe it again every print or two.

The filament dryer is a Sunlu S1 Plus, which has a built-in fan to circulate air for better drying. I printed this guide and used a PC4-M10 fitting and 4mm OD teflon tube with it to reduce friction into the enclosure:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5234489

I'm quite happy with the setup. It is a little noisier in the enclosure than just on the table due to the melamine particle board panel vibrating while suspended on its plastic feet. I'll set it on foam and/or a paver eventually to improve this.

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[–] crocswithsocks@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Congratulations on getting everything set up! I like the case. I had a LACK case for my MK3 but I'm not going to use it my MK4. I don't like having to disconnect the PS to get the printer out of the LACK.

How do you like the case?

[–] poofy_cat@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Case is great, I like not having to mess with moving the power supply or display. It's designed around having the PSU inside the enclosure, with dedicated air ducting to the PSU vents. It is a little noisy with the printer vibrating the melamine base like a drum on top of the enclosure's plastic feet... I'll suspend it on foam and/or a paver someday. It also removed the hot plastic smell from the room entirely (I'm sensitive to it).

[–] crocswithsocks@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I used a mod on my mk3 that used handball balls as feet. Worked great. I'll see if I can find the link.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago

I added XT60 connectors to the middle of my hotend and heated bed cables, plus a JST in the middle of the power panic wire so it's quick to connect and disconnect.

The XT60s are way overkill in terms of the current they can handle vs what the printer puts out, but I trust them to stay firmly connected and they're really easy to solder... and I had a bag of them.

[–] cassetti@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Good to hear some people are happy with their MK4.

I've been seeing so many complaints in the Prusa facebook groups from early adopters.

Personally I'm keeping my printer farm running MK3S printers for now, I'm gonna let everyone continue beta-testing the MK4 for another year or two before I splurge on a few factory assembled machines for the farm.

[–] morbidcactus@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's a reason my mk3s is the one I have as a fallback. It's really easy to service and I find it doesn't need a whole heck of a lot of tweaking. I imagine not having to set z height is nice but I haven't found the need to change it once it's dialed in as I pretty much only use the satin build plate and don't change nozzles often.

[–] cassetti@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dude, satin build plate for the win, it's amazing

[–] morbidcactus@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

I wish there were comparable products because I want that build surface for my voron, it's just a bit smaller than an xl so there'd be some overhang.

[–] poofy_cat@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

One thing to check on the factory models is the belt centering on the pulleys. Both my X and Y belts weren't centered correctly despite following the directions flawlessly, had to shim the motor mounts and also the printed Y motor holder where it mounts to the frame. Seems to be a common issue.

[–] cassetti@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Hopefully the factory can find a good workaround for future revisions of the design. But gotta hand it to Prusa - they quickly respond when something needs be adjusted in the build. I remember the minor upgrades from the MK3s to the MK3s+ which seemed minor to some, but were huge for others (for me I see barely any difference in my farm, but hey I'm glad they made those changes if it increases the lifespan of the rails/bearings, etc).

[–] six_arm_spider_man@reddthat.com 3 points 1 year ago

Wow, that enclosure is awesome. The print's very nice as well.

I just finished my MK4 build yesterday and was blown away by how well it worked with no dialing in. As close to push a button and print as I've ever come across yet.

Looking forward to more prints and tweaking this weekend.

[–] poofy_cat@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Here's a close-up of the vase:

https://i.imgur.com/YGmJ3OP.jpg

[–] UserNotFound@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is it safe to put dryer with filament on top of the box? I have Tukkari for my Mini and I haven't try that yet

[–] poofy_cat@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Tukkari support told me directly to do this. It barely gets warm under the dryer, so there's no real risk of it damaging the plexiglass.

[–] UserNotFound@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I was thinking about the weight. Anyway, thanks for the info

[–] poofy_cat@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

This is their thicker (and more expensive) enclosure, I haven't noticed any issues. The back end of the dryer is right over the corner joint to hopefully add strength.

[–] roboticide@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you know how it compare to the MK3S+?

I have one and want another Prusa, and not sure if the upgrades are worth it, or if it's better to just get another 3S+ just for the parity and simplicity. Plus 3S+'s are cheaper now.

[–] poofy_cat@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

It's significantly faster, the higher motor resolution reduces vertical fine artifacts, and the nextruder reduces texture that could otherwise be caused by bad drive gears.