In an era when so much of RUclips 3d printer content is live streams, its nice to see a review that is concise, well written, thoughtful, and interesting. It is content like this that keeps me as a Patreon supporter.
@@hetismaarten7834 not if you sweat and exercise a lot during a hot day ! You can actually sweat a maxumim of 10-14 liters in one day so in the most extreme case you would need to drink about 15 liters a say hydrated ;)
Having just gotten a mk3s after a year of owning a Chinese delta, the sentence that keeps coming to mind about Prusa is "The printers they sell are identical to the ones they use in their own print farm".
I received my Mini a couple of weeks ago, and this review is pretty much spot on to my experience so far. It's just a solid, reliable printer for those who want to make things and not have to tinker.
That is exactly what I want not going to lie. While the ender 3 v2 has been good the amount of tinkering that it required was way too much and too many failed prints. I want a machine I can rely on and print models
I've got an early Mini, and it's had a few issues... First was the hot end clogging issue, that took a whole to find the solution... The manual gets you close, but they're tricks to not having a gap. Second was the MINDA... I just got the replacement yesterday and it did fix my issue. The Mini seemed to have no clue where the z axis was. The probe seemed fine. The light was on unless there was metal under it... No short that I could find. The new MINDA was redesigned ever so slightly... She printing great again... But, what is going to break next? At least my MK3s is solid! (Knock on wood). 😁
Excellent review, Tom. Way back in 2016 (almost 4 years ago this month) I waited until the end of your MK2 assembly livestream to pull the trigger on a MK2 purchase. I’ve since gone on to a MK3S with MMU2S, a delta, and a Railcore CoreXY printer. You cover so many important “quality of life” features in your reviews that others ignore. One item that also tilts the scales towards the Prusa Mini is the excellent Prusa support. Especially for a new printer owner, they might not know all the ins and outs of forums, Discord’s, and FB groups for community support. The ability to chat with Prusa, get replacement parts easily if needed, etc., is really another great selling point for the Mini.
@@Arek_R. Correct. Most stores do not have tens of thousands of backorders at one time + covid in the world. Also everything is made in house so iterations happen faster and reliable. There is roughly 600 employees working everyday, sending out over 400+ printers each day. Just.. stand in the line and be patient.
Thomas, you are a master at editing your videos, you manage cuts so well, you don't have audio issue but we can see the ghost around when you have done many takes and your body and/or the objects around have changed between the takes
I purchased a Mini after having an Ender 3 for 8 months. I had the exact opposite experience with the Mini than what I was expecting. I wanted a printer that was plug and play with no tweaking or problem solving. From the first day it was nothing but problems. I eventually worked through them all most with solutions not officially supported or suggested by Prusa. I was never able to solve the Z offset changing from print to print no matter what heat up procedure I followed.I also had bed adhesion issues with the textured sheet with PETG. I was so disappointed that none of my expectations were met that I sold it and bought a Artillery X1, took a couple of days to solve it's assembly and part shortcomings and have had a reliable printer since then. I'm gonna have a hard time considering a Prusa printer in the future. Just my 2 cents.
@@owowowdhxbxgakwlcybwxsimcwx I didn't swap, I added to the Ender 3. I simply wanted a plug and play, no fuss printer that I didn't have to tinker with that could be my go to when I was experimenting with my Ender. Size wasn't an issue but it didn't work out anyway and now I have a bigger printer with my X1.
@@ithork In March. It was revision 2 printed parts. As far as I know there haven't been any more hardware updates since the version that I had. Hope that helps.
I have an Artillery Sidewinder X1 as well and it has been great, but my extruder got clogged and I cannot fix it after several attempts. However a replacement extruder is only $36. Still really happy with it and think it offers some more things than the Prusa Mini.
I hear this a lot. The mini seems to have a temperament. A friend wanted me to recommend a cheap "easy to use" beginner printer that required a minimum of knowledge and someone had recommended the mini and I talked him out of it. First of all, it's not cheap and I think you're better off with an Ender 3 because it's so well documented. The Ender 3 was my first and I had it assembled and printing nearly flawlessly after an hour and half. The CR-6 SE I just received: assembled and printing flawlessly within 20 minutes. Printers are getting better but I think Prusa needs to up their game - I don't feel their high price point is competitive in today's market considering their printers aren't quite as flawless as the Prusa fanboys make it out to be.
This is one of the most accurate and honest reviews I’ve come across in a very long time. As I watched this I was wondering if any of the things I have experienced would be covered and everything was. Btw - I recently switched from an Ender 5 to the Mini and I’m very happy that I did. Keep up the good work!
@@argmarc I was a little quick of the mark there… the Ender 5’s steppers are really loud and the build plate is slightly warped from the factory. From what I’ve read this is or was common with Creality machines at the time. Initially the mini printer really crisp prints and bed adhesion was great but that changed after a month when nothing stuck and I got failed print after failed print. I’ve subsequently bought the super pinda upgrade but can’t be bothered to install it right now as I got myself a Mars 2 resin printer. Another thing that I really dislike about Prusa slicer is that it doesn’t do tree supports which I find fantastic for printing minis on an FDM. I was tempted to buy the Ender 3 pro which I think has the silent steppers and upgraded bed but ultimately went with the resin printer for minis.
@@argmarc welcome. Just thinking more about it and trying to be as fair as possible - I believe that Prusa are integrating lessons learnt over time into the Mini as they go along so the super pinda will be standard (if it isn’t already) and any other improvements that get fed back. So if the bed adhesion issue is fixed then it is very good value as the build quality is superior to most other printers - and the auto bed levelling feature is absolutely fantastic. I will be installing that new pinda as I do want to use it for printing out terrain. Tbh, I’d really like to see Thomas do a revisit of the Prusa mini, a year on, covering his experiences as I expect it would be a balanced piece.
The ease of use and the bed leveling to be able to just print without fiddling with the printer for someone that doesn't print every day was the main reason why I ordered the Mini as my next printer after having started with a kit printer.
It looks like they ironed out their issues... I originally ordered one when they first came out but many reviews reported a variety of problems. Also the waiting list is really obnoxious...
I placed my order in March and got it 3 weeks ago (approx 4 months leadtime). Was it worth the wait? Oh, yes! After 30 minutes of assembly, selftest and calibration I was up and running doing my first print. Now it's printing around the clock in my basement. Sofar I'm very happy with it!
After owning two delta printers, I was considering the Mini until I found a great Black Friday deal on an Artillery Sidewinder X1 for slightly less than the Mini. My point isn't to praise the X1 (which is supremely awesome), but to suggest comparing what else can be done with the same amount of money and some careful shopping.
@@lmychajluk Ooh you waited a strangely long time. My printer ordered in mid February arrived on the 4th of June, my friends ordered in April came at the beginning of last week.
@@_Piers_ Just double-checked. It was actually ordered more like mid-March (just before all the Covid shenanigans started), but still over a 4 month wait. I actually got it early - at the time of order, I wasn't expecting it until sometime in Aug.
I really like your verdict. Myself, I bought an Ender 3 Pro precisely for having to tinker and thus learn about 3D printing. (And boy did that thing deliver, it made me furious at times...) Now I know a bit about 3D printing, and I have a printer that pretty reliably prints stuff. Should it ever break, I will look at Prusa's offerings for sure.
6:10 So with heatbreak that thick it still works well with PLA? I hope Chinese manufacturers switch to this design too so they can print higher than 250C out of the box.
Have had my mini for around two months now, first thing I did was remove that key ring from the USB flash drive. Thomas did you not have problems with the live Z adjustment changing between prints? The only way most users have found to fix this is warming the minda probe for a few minutes close to the bed as the minda has no temperature thermistor like the MK3 does. All in all though it's a great machine!
I've had some issues with bed leveling, but that was because there was junk caught under the bed. Was working flawless after that (always had it on -1.350).
9:41 "The weights that the arm is seeing never changes." If you have a board with 5lbs sitting on the left side of it and weigh the left side, it would have a much different weight than if you weighed the right side with that 5lbs still sitting in the same spot on the left. Even if you moved that 5lbs 2" towards the right side and took a weight reading from the left side as before it would still have a different weight thus meaning that the weight of the arm does change depending on where the extruder would be on the arm.... correct?
xD yea made me nervous. the whole time i was thinking "dude just throw it away, put it somewhere else or whatever. its clearly way to close", but i think he was set on having it stand exactly at that spot. you can tell he's pretty ocd with stuff like that, a perfectionist, i guess you could call it too. but it definitely shows in the quality of his videos, which is top notch, even i can tell as a noob. not to speak about the content theres no question about that of course
Just FYI, the two textured sheets I got for my regular MK3 also have serious adhesion issues. The only thing I've figured out that worked was to give it a vigorous scrubbing in hot soapy water, followed by a thorough scrubbing with a paper towel and isopropyl alcohol after every print. Even then, I still have to re-wash the sheet every few prints.
I would. Mine arrived a few weeks ago, and my girlfriend who's a first timer has had no issue slicing, plugging in the usb and just letting it print while I've not been there.
Have had mine for a year now and really like it, other than the Prusa reputation and the ease of the sheet metal print beds, physical space was a big consideration for why I went with the Mini. Thanks for your excellent and detailed reviews.
Kind of expensive for a small 3D printer, but after a bad experience with an Ender 3 that I could never get working properly (chronic underextrusion even after putting in a metal extruder until I literally stuck a bed leveling spring in the extruder, extremely finicky bed leveling, a "bumpy X axis) I think I'd be willing to pay the premium.
My new MK3S came with the powder coated bed, and I had a lot of issues with PLA sticking. One person recommended washing it with dish soap and water, so I did. It helped significantly. Small parts can still detach but I have had much more success after the dish soap. It could help with the mini as well.
Print the first layer super slow about 10-15mm/s and it won't come off. (+u can use the glue stick came with the printer, I always use it for long prints, I don't want to risk a failed print)
I have a MK3S and I wonder the same thing about the cooling fan not helping cooling down after a print. If I want to shut down the printer quick, I manually set it to 255, but I don't get why this is not a standard thing.
I've got the Genius and it's a great printer, especially considering the price, the fact that it's not on backorder and the amount of features it has. Print results are pretty much as good as my friend's MK3S.
@@ddegn Not sure, I bought it from a local warehouse on Banggood here in Western EU. Maybe check out the Artillery facebook group, I'm sure there are some US people there who can help you.
Viele Grüsse Thanks for all your time doing these videos. Around 18:50. you mention it can do higher temp filaments like polycarbonate or ASA. Would nylon also be usable? I'm not sure yet if filaments with carbon fiber additives require higher heat, but I've heard it eats up nozzles faster. Would the mini handle such material? (I'm still researching which machine to buy as my very first, but I do know my applications require more robust materials.) Thomas, your videos are very helpful - many Danks / vielen thanks :)) - Howard
Based on how it prints flexibles and high-temp materials, it should definitely be able to handle Nylon and other PA filaments. As for abrasives, they will also wear down things like the bowden tube, but you will definitely need a different nozzle. I like regular hardened steel ones.
@@MadeWithLayers thanks for the prompt reply. Just saying nylon is PA and that carbon fiber falls under the category of abrasives is in itself helpful. The plethora of filaments is a bit overwhelming. I was just about to buy an Ender-5 (they 're on sale :)) but seeing your prusa mini review here has me leaning towards it instead. Granted, although the build volume of the Ender 5 is more and about USD 100 less, the Prusa seems like it will be much easier to use, as you mentioned when comparing it to the Ender 3 v2. I prefer something that pretty much works out of box. So maybe the Prusa first and an Ender 5 down the road... Any further thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. BTW your English is flawless. (My wife is German. I'm an "Ami"... lol. I tutored English while living many years in Hamburg and Berlin.) I'd like to offer one suggestion: you speak surprisingly fast (even to a native English speaker). I have found that when you say a single-word technical term, I often have to pause and rewind to listen again. Of course, any tech subject is loaded with jargon. So it's hard to determine what is "new" to a viewer. Perhaps when saying a tech. term, slow down just a bit before and after that word. It will also emphasize the concept. Thanks again for your time! -Howard in Florida
The older darker colored (more gray/black) textured build plates have better out of the box adhesion. However they start flaking and sticking leaving black flakes on your first layer over time. The newer more (yellowish/brownish) textured plate seem to hold up better but don't give you great adhesion out of the box. I do what Prusa tells you not to do... I wipe it down with acetone before I run a single print on it. After that I mainly use IPA with the exception of an acetone wipe down about once a month. I haven't had any issues since I started doing this. The first build plate I did this with is still good and it has been nearly a year.
16:25 After receiving my Mini+ kit a week ago, I soon modified my extruder to solve both these issues ("Material Tolerant Extruder" on Printables). This as for me as well, an old roll of filament made the gear chew filament 4 times and it even damaged the original printed parts. Will update the Printables page later on how well my cleaning wheel ends up working, the mod both allowing for mounting a dremel bit or the original filament door. The increased clearance for cleaning the profile manually and channel for filament shavings to fall out have worked out perfectly. And thanks to the carved PTFE tube my previously problematic filament now prints as well as it can on my Mini.
My first was an Mk3 i3 Kit. Hard to build but turned out perfect. My mini was easy and is perfect too. Thomas Sanladerer convinced me to buy my first printer.
Sadly the reseller in Thailand jacks up the price so much that it isn't the same league as Ender 3 V2 anymore. And the process you have to go through to import one yourself is mindboggling.
@@AsantePE For that price I just build BLV Cube instead since I can order the parts from China quite cheap. Other people might not confident enough to build instead of buying one.
I have to say, people keep telling me that a Prusa would have been easier to print with out of the box, but when I got my Ender 3, it took me maybe 30 minutes to assemble (as most of it was preassembled). It took me maybe another 15 minutes to properly adjust and tension all the axis. It took me maybe 15 minutes to level the bed. Literally within an hour of opening the box I was printing, and my first print came out perfectly. I don't know why people seem to think you need to tinker with an Ender machine so much. I only need to adjust my bed once out of every ~30ish hours of printing, and it takes me less than five minutes.
Good that you mention that one of Prusa's goals is making the most of affordable hardware. Too often people would make a wish list for a Prusa machine that would easily break 2000 bucks if they actually made a machine to the requested specs. Just ordered a Mini the other day. Expecting it in November. I can grab a bunch of Prusament along the way.
Fyi, the PEI/PLA combo is not recommended by Prusa, but it is possible to print the combo. I've had success with prints that have 1) a large surface area printed on the bed, 2) and with prints that use rafts and/or large brims.
I am curious how the "physical tab" prevents someone from installing custom firmware? It's an STM32 MCU, they do not have such hardware feature! They can be ether locked forever by setting "Level 2" protection, or not. If it's not in Level 2, just grab and cheap ST-Link clone, connect 2 wires and flash anything you want and return stock firmware any time you want.
The firmware is user-updatable, so the bootloader can rewrite part of the flash (similar to Arduino I guess). What I think the tab does is two things: 1) It prevents the ST-link from working by e.g. hard pulling the ICSP pins to ground / VCC / whatever still allows it to boot and 2) the bootloader checks if those pins (or any other pins that are pulled through the tab) are in their proper state and then decides to allow/disallow custom firmware.
@@MadeWithLayers I made some research :) Yes, that's true. BOOT0 and SWDIO pins are pulled down, traces are going through the internal layers of that so called "appendix". Well, then I would use a heat gun to heat one side of the MCU and gently bend BOOT0 or SWDIO pin away from PCB. This would leave no signs of intervention, but requires some skills, so protection is definitely serves it's purpose. Well done, Prusa! My respect!
I had an ender 3 for about 1 month. Lots of tweaking to get it right and at the end of the day I got most of my money back when I sold it 3 months ago.
Just got a used Mini. Works great. Decided that I just need a 3d printer as a tool, and no longer as a hobby. My previous printer worked around 85% of the time. The remaining 15% was weird or random problems that would go away on their own sometimes. It was useable, but annoying. I've wanted a Prusa for a few years, and I decided the Mini/+ was going to be my next printer. After about 6 months of not using my previous printer, it was having problems again. So I searched my local used goods sites, and found a 1st gen Mini for $320. So far I'm very happy with the purchase.
I don't print much. Most things I print are under 100mm in their longest direction. I just need a reliable printer, so this is a great option for me. I wonder if they'll make a Mini 2 in the future. I've just got no idea what they would change to call it a new machine.
Great review Tom. I’d be curious to see what happens if you print a 1z layer across the entire print area. Wondering how flat it would come out with the cantilevered design. I do find it somewhat surprising that in 2020 we’re still having to use USB sticks to transfer files. I expected a networked printer to have “send to printer” within the Prusa ecosystem.
I'm a noob to 3d printers, and I don't care to spend too much time troubleshooting; that's what I do at work. My first printer is an Ender 3 v2, and I've wasted too much time trying to print just about anything. I recently bought a mk3, and spent maybe 1 hour figuring out what settings to use, and haven't had to make a single adjustment since. Not only has this been the best user experience I could have asked for, I've actually learned a lot due to their provided documentation. I'm watching this video because I'm already thinking about adding a mini to my workshop.
I think there are still outliers though. I got the Ender 3 Pro for $100 on sale at Microcenter. I got it to learn about 3D printing since my son was getting a Prusa Mini+ from Santa (he didn’t know what model; he just wanted a 3D printer). The Ender 3 has been printing great. The Prusa “experience”’not so great. Long story short, I ordered the preassembled Prusa Mini+ with the filament sensor for about $470 shipped. I got really busy and couldn’t unbox the Prusa to set it up until Christmas Eve. Sadly, the extruder gears were jammed/gummed up from the factory. “24/7 support”was closed, so I had to abandon the Prusa and give my son the Ender 3 (luckily he hadn’t seen it since I’ve been using it when he’s at my ex-wife’s and hiding it when he’s home). There’s no point in taking apart the extruder and cleaning the gear/pulley since Christmas is already over. I got a return authorization for the Prusa, but I’m going to be out shipping costs (about $50) and will only getting about a $420 refund.
I was looking at purchasing a couple of used ones off of the local marketplace. Any thoughts on reliability printing only pla and petg? I have a couple mk3s+ and they are the most reliable printer i have owned to date. Have been seeing mixed reviews.
@Cryoos had one Mini, also an MK3S+, and now an MK4. I liked the Mini, it was reliable. And now it is also quick. So I think it is a great printer, hovewer I dont like the Live adjust Z compared with the MK4 where you just dont have to care at all. Also it is not direct drive, but for PLA and PETG thats fine. If you can get one for like 120-150€, then go for it, but I would rather consider the Bambu A1 Mini. Dont have one, but it is better in every aspect, for a similar price, new.
I had the same problem with the PEI sheed. Think it was related due to bed temperature and a way to high nozzle in the first layer. You need to get the nozzle rly low (by calibrating it in the printers options, not in the slicers options). Everythink after that sticks fine and gets loose by itswelf when the bed gets cold.
My printrbot simple metal is showing its age and so I have ordered the Mini with filament sensor and the extra flexible build plate. Mostly I print things to prove the viability of my designs.
I have printed close to 300h since i got my Mini. The extruder just experienced a catastrophic failure yesterday and was swapped with a bondtech replacement unit today, which should be an option at buy.
Early units plagued with issues, I had issues with levelling got sent a new probe and installed it, z offset kept changing so always have to preheat for a while before starting a print. A temp sensor in the MINDA would have solved this. LCD controller knob broke got sent a replacement. Also had issues with extrusion/clicking which is partly solved by lifting the hotend up. I still had some issues so I installed a bondtech heatbreak which helped some more, still not perfect though. For me not a great experience to start with, lesson learned do not rush out to buy a new printer, wait for a few months first. I cannot fault Prusa support though, always helpful and feel a lot of the issues could have been avoided if they didn't rush to get it out.
@@Underp4ntz_Gaming_Channel I'm good with the Mosquito also, if they can get a drive setup like Hemera that prints flexibles as fast and as well as it does. Or just go full toolchanger setup with single, dual and other heads available.
Thanks Thomas for this honest review! I missed one downside wich i was sure will be mentioned: MINDA! No temp. compensation. In my case, its really a big flaw. I can not start a print and be sure the first layer is right without live-z adjusments. I really wonder if you have the same experience like me and many other mini owners. Cheers
I've just got 10 bigtreetech s42b closed loop motor controllers (not sponsored)... For both my printers. Thomas, Could you review this tech for all 3d printing people? I think you don't have anything on this topic yet.
Great review! I am considering purchasing a few of these for the mini-print farm I want to set up for my printing projects, and this looks like it might be the answer I was looking for! Thanks!!
You're actually kinda wrong on the force of where a second z axis should be will never change, because it's always changing. The force the pushes down from comes from a torque, which besides the weight of the the rails themselves comes from the weight of the hotend at whatever position its at. The torque is lowest near the z rails but highest farther away. This machine however does look sturdy enough to handle it but I wouldnt put it past it that at the right speeds and motion, you can get some problematic ghosting. Of course at this price point I see how I can't complain, but to say the machine is sturdy while also being a cantilevered machine is kind of an oxymoron.
But as he also stated, its a repeatable force pushing down when the hotend is at its furthest point outwards, so the auto bed leveling should have that corrected from the very start of the print
I just sent mine in for warranty service for a z-offset problem. Since the day I got it 1 month ago, it wouldn’t maintain the z-offset. I had to adjust the offset via live z-adjust at the start of every print. Even when I performed consecutive first layer calibrations, it needed a different z-offset every time. Sometimes it was a difference of 0.5mm. I troubleshot it for 3 weeks with Prusa support and they finally asked me to send it in. It ended up not being related, but I found that the y-carriage was binding at the front and back of full travel because the hole spacing for the linear rods on the 3D printed front and back y-faces were at least 0.25mm too close. I 3D printed new ones on my Mk3S and fixed that problem. Anyway, I still think it’s a good quality printer, I just wish I had more than 3 weeks to enjoy it, and use it for anything other than troubleshooting a problem it shipped with.
Just to clarify, the profiles that are included don't adjust the print settings such as layer heights, speeds, and extrusion widths. The profiles only account for cooling, retraction settings, and temperatures.
I was able to get PLA to stick to textured surface ok... just lowered first layer so filament paths squish together completely with no air gaps between them. Maybe set first layer at 0.2 and live adjust down 0.05~0.1... I did have a tall skinny wing profile pop off once because a small air gap
9:40 I disagree. The support holding the arm sees different weights constantly. Yes, the absolute weight being supported doesn't change, but, as the tool head moves along the axis, the moment arm changes, this causes the moment/torque at the support to change. Therefore, as the tool moves up and down the arm quickly or even slowly but rhythmically, it will impart a vibration. Imagine you are printing two parts side by side along the x axis. The tool has to move towards its end ranges to deposit for each part. As it moves further it imparts a relatively higher moment and then it quickly moves back releasing this energy causing the tool head to bounce up then down. This will cause inaccuracies. As for movements along the z axis that will also be possible if there is some friction between the nozzle and part. However, with that said, the design of the printer (separating the two axis - one being on the arm and the other on the bed) reduces this.
im just curious with so many in house 3d printed parts from their own filament, why its so expensive. anyone who owns a 3d printer knows the cost of printing parts. i have ender 3 and like that its metal. granted if prusa provides the files to reprint parts, that makes it easier to repair broken parts.
Ender 3 is cheap Chinese labour and no real R&D or service costs. Prusa is a European company with software and hardware developers, customer services taxes etc.
The designs for the whole printer including its control board are on the Prusa Github. Part of the cost is they have a large team of software devs working on the slicer and firmware and they do a huge amount of testing before any of us find out a new printer exist. Some of the parts are also pretty expensive, the Meanwell power supply would be almost $60 retail for instance.
I'm using Prusa Slicer with my home brew repstrap. it usually works better than Cura, but it does have some issues with 'generic' printers. The biggest problem is setting and storing your own filament profiles, it won't let you easily copy 'their' profiles and save them for your printer. I usually have to turn off the flag that blocks profiles not tagged for my printer.
Tom - Did you experience any issues with the M.I.N.D.A if you tried to perform back to back prints? Mine as with many others on the Prusa forums experienced a temperature offset if we tried to print back to back. The only fix that appears to work is to place a delay in the start GCODE to wait for 2-3 minutes with the print head in the home position. This gives the M.I.N.D.A probe time to equalize in temperature from the heat bed warming up. After this change to the start GCODE I don't have to tweak the live Z after every single print.
The real issue with the included USB key is that it's a cheap one and it seems to overheat for some people. I tried printing the nut included on it and it crashed with a watchdog error BSOD at around 8% completion twice in a row!! I switched to another one and never had a problem since. Seem pretty extreme in my case, but some people had it happen after hours of printing. Not sure how frequent the issue is but I found plenty of people with the same issue on GitHub and the Prusa forum.
I was disappointed by the Mini. The hot end clogs easily, the extruder is hard to access, and the hob gear constantly clogs even with “premium” filament. Based in Canada, I cannot afford to order Prusament every time this printer is used. I get it, it’s fine tuned but you should be able to use other brands of good quality filament in this printer and I’ve had nothing but problems
Great honest and unbiased review. I absolutely love my mini. Sure it's not perfect but I challenge anyone to find a better experience with a printer for the same price. The 3d printing community need to accept that 3d printers don't need to be modded all the time. When was the last time you modded your inkjet printer?
Thank you so much for this review. I am asking for a printer for Christmas and wasn't sure which one to ask for. This seems like the best one to start with
Thank you so much. I’ve been thinking about getting this as my first 3-D printer! I’ve been watching videos about 3-D printing for years and now I want to take the plunge myself. Do you think this would be a good printer for beginners, or do you think there are other printers that would be better well-suited for people just starting out for the very first time?
And when he was talking about PC I was wondering how they solved hot bed temperature 100+ when they have beds on magnets that can work only below 80C. Some special Prusa PC?
Quick update! After weeks of waiting, unboxing and setup, I've just made my third successful print! Falling in love with it! Thank you so much for your advice Tom!
I love how many times you knocked over the model. I was cheering when @20:34 you are NEARLY knocking it over. the MK2(S) was my first printer based on your recommendation. Now it is a Haribo modded, Skelestruder printer but the Mini would have been the perfect starting printer.
I got one of these some time back. Not the first batch, but an earlier batch. There are many good things, but also some bad things. I also have a i3 MK3 and a SL1. 1. That Z-axis to base connection is weak. I also had to shim the heck out of mine to get it square to the table. My cubes were coming out as parallelograms before I fixed that. Yes, I had assembled it correctly, in the correct order. It's just a 3d printed part in a very critical spot. 2. Check that end cap on the x axis arm. It twists very easily. 3. Related to number 1: put this on a firm, fixed base. Do not lift it by the Z-axis arm, or you have to go through all the straightening again. I've seen printed handles for the Z axis for folks to pick this up and move it around. I really don't recommend that. 4. Printing was only through USB drive and that USB jack was in a silly place on the unit. I bought a USB extension and mounted it to the Z axis arm. (oh, and I removed the ring ) 5. I had problems with the first and second layers that ended up being fixed by changing the movement speed to something like 60% (I forget which it was). Other folks on the forums ran into this. This was with PETG which sticks to anything, and using the smooth PEI sheet (appropriately cleaned) 6. Calibrating the probe distance took some thinking. For many of us, it turned out to be much larger number than originally suggested. I had a thread going on the Prusa3d support site because I had a difficult time diagnosing this problem. In the end, it's a nice and inexpensive printer, but it doesn't match up to their past printers. But it does still have those super important features like bed leveling and compatibility with PrusaSlicer
I still haven’t purchased, but I’m leaning towards it as my first printer. I’m experienced with 3D printers, but I have always been hesitant because of the price. This definitely makes it more appealing. Idk why but I really want to see the WiFi settings introduced before I order. Will the WiFi printing be gimmicky or something you all are looking forward to?
I got a lemon from the orange factory. Got one of the early models, at first attempt to print filament would not load, drive gear could not grab filament. Once resolved was able to get two small prints before extruder stopped extruding, could not resolve, sent back for repair. Month later mini returned, filament load was excellent, then two more prints and the extruder stopped extruding. Customer support had an expectation of me to repair their mess. Returned to factory, still waiting for refund. This is not the Prusa I've known in the past. I have the MK3s (kit) , this thing is a workhorse. Only had a few issues here and there but it's a kit, once these were resolved there's no stopping this MK3s. Lesson learned: never buy the first batch wait for the bugs to shake out. 15 Sept 2020 update: still waiting for my refund from Prusa - I mean really, what kind of nonsense is this?????
Magnuson-moss regarding warrantee .. breaking tab on board does not void warrantee. Right to repair, you own it you can repair it / replace components.
21:20, ha, had to rewind there, was only listening to RUclips and working in Fusion360 on the side... all of a sudden:“schaut aus als ob der Mini bald deutsch kann.“. -> I‘ve watched a few of your videos and expected you to be Swedish. Where is the way-better-than-usual English (for a non native speaker) coming from? I‘m also German but grew up in the US, I would almost expect you lived some time abroad. Now I‘ll have to dig through your videos to get some answers... 😂
I really like the idea of this printer and love that they finally put out a more entry level printer. However what I'm really looking forward to is all the improvments that the i3 will get from this.
I bought a 12" extension usb A female to A male cable because I didn't want to wear out the usb port taking it in and out and it was kind of in an awkward place for my setup. Yeah, it was kind of hard to put together but I've never had a problem with it and it's put out great prints.
My Prusa Mini arrived today and it just works out of the box, I never need to do any extreme tunning or complex bed leveling. I am amazed by what I see as a tool to repair and create that is easy to waste hours just looking at how it moves and creates the part from nothing. It has really exceeded my expectations on ~10 hours of print so far.
In an era when so much of RUclips 3d printer content is live streams, its nice to see a review that is concise, well written, thoughtful, and interesting. It is content like this that keeps me as a Patreon supporter.
Right, and not reviews made after 2 weeks of using
True
"What are your expectations for Prusa?"
Orange
Some people make the wrong decision and choose for it to be all black....boooooo :)
@@_Piers_ but those people are weak and won't survive the winter.
@@_Piers_ I ordered black , i had to keep it in living room, not kidsroom or garage like you :D
@@_Piers_ matte black everything!
GUMMY BEARS!!!!!!
Tip for hot weather: Drink a glass of water every time Tom knocks over a 3d printed part
This is how you stay well-hydrated
Please don’t! Water can be deadly if you drink more than 10 liter
@@hetismaarten7834 r/woooosh
@@hetismaarten7834 not if you sweat and exercise a lot during a hot day !
You can actually sweat a maxumim of 10-14 liters in one day so in the most extreme case you would need to drink about 15 liters a say hydrated ;)
@@i.i.iiii.i.i It was a joke dude. Hetismaarten made a joke.
Having just gotten a mk3s after a year of owning a Chinese delta, the sentence that keeps coming to mind about Prusa is "The printers they sell are identical to the ones they use in their own print farm".
Desk footprint is much smaller on the mini too vs ender. Makes a difference if space is at a premium.
my case
Well the bed size is also smaller, so it's not really a big deal IMO
I received my Mini a couple of weeks ago, and this review is pretty much spot on to my experience so far. It's just a solid, reliable printer for those who want to make things and not have to tinker.
After working with a Cetus Mk2 this sounds so good haha
@@jadesparrowx same story with my CR-6 SE which had a warped bed!
That is exactly what I want not going to lie. While the ender 3 v2 has been good the amount of tinkering that it required was way too much and too many failed prints. I want a machine I can rely on and print models
So what were your expectations - and did the Mini meet them?
Definitely but I’m having issues with the firmware
I've got an early Mini, and it's had a few issues... First was the hot end clogging issue, that took a whole to find the solution... The manual gets you close, but they're tricks to not having a gap. Second was the MINDA... I just got the replacement yesterday and it did fix my issue. The Mini seemed to have no clue where the z axis was. The probe seemed fine. The light was on unless there was metal under it... No short that I could find. The new MINDA was redesigned ever so slightly... She printing great again... But, what is going to break next? At least my MK3s is solid! (Knock on wood). 😁
getting hard to watch with all the mid roll ads
@@tetra3dprint But there is absolutely no tuning needed! ;)
I have a mini since February. Not my first one and I love the hassle less package of slicer and machine.
Excellent review, Tom. Way back in 2016 (almost 4 years ago this month) I waited until the end of your MK2 assembly livestream to pull the trigger on a MK2 purchase. I’ve since gone on to a MK3S with MMU2S, a delta, and a Railcore CoreXY printer. You cover so many important “quality of life” features in your reviews that others ignore. One item that also tilts the scales towards the Prusa Mini is the excellent Prusa support. Especially for a new printer owner, they might not know all the ins and outs of forums, Discord’s, and FB groups for community support. The ability to chat with Prusa, get replacement parts easily if needed, etc., is really another great selling point for the Mini.
What comes to my mind first If I hear "Prusa"?
3-6 weeks
I think that is the biggest problem prusa has is the wait time.
@@maxliberman9653 If it would have normal shipping times of day-two I would buy MK3S for myself and 1-2 for work.
@@Arek_R. do you need it in 2 days?
@@andre_pikes I said shipping time not delivery time.
Most stores dispatch orders within 24 hours.
@@Arek_R. Correct. Most stores do not have tens of thousands of backorders at one time + covid in the world. Also everything is made in house so iterations happen faster and reliable. There is roughly 600 employees working everyday, sending out over 400+ printers each day.
Just.. stand in the line and be patient.
Very honest and on point review. Given your friendship with the namesake man himself, you are very unbiased, and hats off to that.
Thomas, you are a master at editing your videos, you manage cuts so well, you don't have audio issue but we can see the ghost around when you have done many takes and your body and/or the objects around have changed between the takes
I purchased a Mini after having an Ender 3 for 8 months. I had the exact opposite experience with the Mini than what I was expecting. I wanted a printer that was plug and play with no tweaking or problem solving. From the first day it was nothing but problems. I eventually worked through them all most with solutions not officially supported or suggested by Prusa. I was never able to solve the Z offset changing from print to print no matter what heat up procedure I followed.I also had bed adhesion issues with the textured sheet with PETG.
I was so disappointed that none of my expectations were met that I sold it and bought a Artillery X1, took a couple of days to solve it's assembly and part shortcomings and have had a reliable printer since then. I'm gonna have a hard time considering a Prusa printer in the future.
Just my 2 cents.
@@owowowdhxbxgakwlcybwxsimcwx I didn't swap, I added to the Ender 3. I simply wanted a plug and play, no fuss printer that I didn't have to tinker with that could be my go to when I was experimenting with my Ender. Size wasn't an issue but it didn't work out anyway and now I have a bigger printer with my X1.
When did you receive your Mini? I heard that the original ones had issues but they have fixed a lot of them..
@@ithork In March. It was revision 2 printed parts. As far as I know there haven't been any more hardware updates since the version that I had. Hope that helps.
I have an Artillery Sidewinder X1 as well and it has been great, but my extruder got clogged and I cannot fix it after several attempts. However a replacement extruder is only $36. Still really happy with it and think it offers some more things than the Prusa Mini.
I hear this a lot. The mini seems to have a temperament. A friend wanted me to recommend a cheap "easy to use" beginner printer that required a minimum of knowledge and someone had recommended the mini and I talked him out of it. First of all, it's not cheap and I think you're better off with an Ender 3 because it's so well documented. The Ender 3 was my first and I had it assembled and printing nearly flawlessly after an hour and half. The CR-6 SE I just received: assembled and printing flawlessly within 20 minutes. Printers are getting better but I think Prusa needs to up their game - I don't feel their high price point is competitive in today's market considering their printers aren't quite as flawless as the Prusa fanboys make it out to be.
This is one of the most accurate and honest reviews I’ve come across in a very long time. As I watched this I was wondering if any of the things I have experienced would be covered and everything was. Btw - I recently switched from an Ender 5 to the Mini and I’m very happy that I did.
Keep up the good work!
Wow, thanks!
Could you elaborate any specific things that are the reason why you are glad you did? i am a bit on the fence myself...
@@argmarc I was a little quick of the mark there… the Ender 5’s steppers are really loud and the build plate is slightly warped from the factory. From what I’ve read this is or was common with Creality machines at the time.
Initially the mini printer really crisp prints and bed adhesion was great but that changed after a month when nothing stuck and I got failed print after failed print. I’ve subsequently bought the super pinda upgrade but can’t be bothered to install it right now as I got myself a Mars 2 resin printer.
Another thing that I really dislike about Prusa slicer is that it doesn’t do tree supports which I find fantastic for printing minis on an FDM.
I was tempted to buy the Ender 3 pro which I think has the silent steppers and upgraded bed but ultimately went with the resin printer for minis.
@@nickvictor861 Thanks for info!
@@argmarc welcome.
Just thinking more about it and trying to be as fair as possible - I believe that Prusa are integrating lessons learnt over time into the Mini as they go along so the super pinda will be standard (if it isn’t already) and any other improvements that get fed back. So if the bed adhesion issue is fixed then it is very good value as the build quality is superior to most other printers - and the auto bed levelling feature is absolutely fantastic.
I will be installing that new pinda as I do want to use it for printing out terrain.
Tbh, I’d really like to see Thomas do a revisit of the Prusa mini, a year on, covering his experiences as I expect it would be a balanced piece.
The ease of use and the bed leveling to be able to just print without fiddling with the printer for someone that doesn't print every day was the main reason why I ordered the Mini as my next printer after having started with a kit printer.
So what was your very first printer Tom?
It looks like they ironed out their issues... I originally ordered one when they first came out but many reviews reported a variety of problems. Also the waiting list is really obnoxious...
Have the issues you mentioned been fixed? It is Oct 2021, and I am about to order the Mini; just curious if there have been updates.
I placed my order in March and got it 3 weeks ago (approx 4 months leadtime). Was it worth the wait? Oh, yes! After 30 minutes of assembly, selftest and calibration I was up and running doing my first print. Now it's printing around the clock in my basement. Sofar I'm very happy with it!
After owning two delta printers, I was considering the Mini until I found a great Black Friday deal on an Artillery Sidewinder X1 for slightly less than the Mini. My point isn't to praise the X1 (which is supremely awesome), but to suggest comparing what else can be done with the same amount of money and some careful shopping.
hey wanna send me one lol i want a printer
Is the Artillery Sidewinder X1 a Chinese printer?
The only “big” thing about it at the moment is the backlog of orders...
I got the one I ordered at the end of February 2 weeks ago. I haven't even had time to open the package yet....
@@lmychajluk Ooh you waited a strangely long time. My printer ordered in mid February arrived on the 4th of June, my friends ordered in April came at the beginning of last week.
@@_Piers_ Just double-checked. It was actually ordered more like mid-March (just before all the Covid shenanigans started), but still over a 4 month wait. I actually got it early - at the time of order, I wasn't expecting it until sometime in Aug.
I ordered mid june, they promiss late august, if they deliver, it would be only 8-10 weeks.
Waiting my machine to arrive next month, excited ^^
17:00 "Literally a black box - more or less."
Actually quite accurate since plane "black boxes" are also orange.
I've been looking forward to this video since june
I really like your verdict. Myself, I bought an Ender 3 Pro precisely for having to tinker and thus learn about 3D printing. (And boy did that thing deliver, it made me furious at times...) Now I know a bit about 3D printing, and I have a printer that pretty reliably prints stuff. Should it ever break, I will look at Prusa's offerings for sure.
6:10 So with heatbreak that thick it still works well with PLA? I hope Chinese manufacturers switch to this design too so they can print higher than 250C out of the box.
Have had my mini for around two months now, first thing I did was remove that key ring from the USB flash drive. Thomas did you not have problems with the live Z adjustment changing between prints? The only way most users have found to fix this is warming the minda probe for a few minutes close to the bed as the minda has no temperature thermistor like the MK3 does. All in all though it's a great machine!
I've had some issues with bed leveling, but that was because there was junk caught under the bed. Was working flawless after that (always had it on -1.350).
Piers And most users who do have this problem, this is a band aid fix.
9:41 "The weights that the arm is seeing never changes."
If you have a board with 5lbs sitting on the left side of it and weigh the left side, it would have a much different weight than if you weighed the right side with that 5lbs still sitting in the same spot on the left. Even if you moved that 5lbs 2" towards the right side and took a weight reading from the left side as before it would still have a different weight thus meaning that the weight of the arm does change depending on where the extruder would be on the arm.... correct?
I like how you keep putting that printed part back together the other way, it's funny :D
Great video as usual, Tom!
xD yea made me nervous. the whole time i was thinking "dude just throw it away, put it somewhere else or whatever. its clearly way to close", but i think he was set on having it stand exactly at that spot. you can tell he's pretty ocd with stuff like that, a perfectionist, i guess you could call it too. but it definitely shows in the quality of his videos, which is top notch, even i can tell as a noob. not to speak about the content theres no question about that of course
Just FYI, the two textured sheets I got for my regular MK3 also have serious adhesion issues. The only thing I've figured out that worked was to give it a vigorous scrubbing in hot soapy water, followed by a thorough scrubbing with a paper towel and isopropyl alcohol after every print.
Even then, I still have to re-wash the sheet every few prints.
So woud you recommend this printer to someone without any 3D printing experience whatsoever as a first machine?
I would. Mine arrived a few weeks ago, and my girlfriend who's a first timer has had no issue slicing, plugging in the usb and just letting it print while I've not been there.
Have had mine for a year now and really like it, other than the Prusa reputation and the ease of the sheet metal print beds, physical space was a big consideration for why I went with the Mini. Thanks for your excellent and detailed reviews.
I’m getting one as a birthday gift and I can’t wait, thanks for the info
Kind of expensive for a small 3D printer, but after a bad experience with an Ender 3 that I could never get working properly (chronic underextrusion even after putting in a metal extruder until I literally stuck a bed leveling spring in the extruder, extremely finicky bed leveling, a "bumpy X axis) I think I'd be willing to pay the premium.
I bought a Prusa Mini+ yesterday and watched this video today. Glad to hear. Thanks for the review.
My new MK3S came with the powder coated bed, and I had a lot of issues with PLA sticking. One person recommended washing it with dish soap and water, so I did. It helped significantly. Small parts can still detach but I have had much more success after the dish soap. It could help with the mini as well.
Print the first layer super slow about 10-15mm/s and it won't come off. (+u can use the glue stick came with the printer, I always use it for long prints, I don't want to risk a failed print)
I have a MK3S and I wonder the same thing about the cooling fan not helping cooling down after a print. If I want to shut down the printer quick, I manually set it to 255, but I don't get why this is not a standard thing.
I feel like the artillery genius is a better direct competitor to the mini than the ender 3 v2, more features at a good price
Go for the genius! Awesome printer
I've got the Genius and it's a great printer, especially considering the price, the fact that it's not on backorder and the amount of features it has. Print results are pretty much as good as my friend's MK3S.
Do you all have a suggestion of where to purchase it (from the USA)?
@@ddegn Not sure, I bought it from a local warehouse on Banggood here in Western EU. Maybe check out the Artillery facebook group, I'm sure there are some US people there who can help you.
Duane Degn I got the Genius on Amazon a few weeks ago.
Viele Grüsse
Thanks for all your time doing these videos. Around 18:50. you mention it can do higher temp filaments like polycarbonate or ASA. Would nylon also be usable? I'm not sure yet if filaments with carbon fiber additives require higher heat, but I've heard it eats up nozzles faster. Would the mini handle such material? (I'm still researching which machine to buy as my very first, but I do know my applications require more robust materials.) Thomas, your videos are very helpful - many Danks / vielen thanks :)) - Howard
Based on how it prints flexibles and high-temp materials, it should definitely be able to handle Nylon and other PA filaments. As for abrasives, they will also wear down things like the bowden tube, but you will definitely need a different nozzle. I like regular hardened steel ones.
@@MadeWithLayers thanks for the prompt reply.
Just saying nylon is PA and that carbon fiber falls under the category of abrasives is in itself helpful. The plethora of filaments is a bit overwhelming.
I was just about to buy an Ender-5 (they 're on sale :)) but seeing your prusa mini review here has me leaning towards it instead. Granted, although the build volume of the Ender 5 is more and about USD 100 less, the Prusa seems like it will be much easier to use, as you mentioned when comparing it to the Ender 3 v2. I prefer something that pretty much works out of box. So maybe the Prusa first and an Ender 5 down the road... Any further thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
BTW your English is flawless. (My wife is German. I'm an "Ami"... lol. I tutored English while living many years in Hamburg and Berlin.) I'd like to offer one suggestion: you speak surprisingly fast (even to a native English speaker). I have found that when you say a single-word technical term, I often have to pause and rewind to listen again. Of course, any tech subject is loaded with jargon. So it's hard to determine what is "new" to a viewer. Perhaps when saying a tech. term, slow down just a bit before and after that word. It will also emphasize the concept.
Thanks again for your time!
-Howard in Florida
The older darker colored (more gray/black) textured build plates have better out of the box adhesion. However they start flaking and sticking leaving black flakes on your first layer over time. The newer more (yellowish/brownish) textured plate seem to hold up better but don't give you great adhesion out of the box. I do what Prusa tells you not to do... I wipe it down with acetone before I run a single print on it. After that I mainly use IPA with the exception of an acetone wipe down about once a month. I haven't had any issues since I started doing this. The first build plate I did this with is still good and it has been nearly a year.
16:25 After receiving my Mini+ kit a week ago, I soon modified my extruder to solve both these issues ("Material Tolerant Extruder" on Printables).
This as for me as well, an old roll of filament made the gear chew filament 4 times and it even damaged the original printed parts.
Will update the Printables page later on how well my cleaning wheel ends up working, the mod both allowing for mounting a dremel bit or the original filament door.
The increased clearance for cleaning the profile manually and channel for filament shavings to fall out have worked out perfectly.
And thanks to the carved PTFE tube my previously problematic filament now prints as well as it can on my Mini.
My first was an Mk3 i3 Kit. Hard to build but turned out perfect. My mini was easy and is perfect too.
Thomas Sanladerer convinced me to buy my first printer.
I like that he kept the 'oww' part in the edit...
We picked up 9 mini's for our farm.. We print mostly PETG and ASA and all our parts are around 2" cubed or less. Perfect little machine for us!
Sadly the reseller in Thailand jacks up the price so much that it isn't the same league as Ender 3 V2 anymore.
And the process you have to go through to import one yourself is mindboggling.
why not start making copys of this machine
@@AsantePE For that price I just build BLV Cube instead since I can order the parts from China quite cheap. Other people might not confident enough to build instead of buying one.
I have to say, people keep telling me that a Prusa would have been easier to print with out of the box, but when I got my Ender 3, it took me maybe 30 minutes to assemble (as most of it was preassembled). It took me maybe another 15 minutes to properly adjust and tension all the axis. It took me maybe 15 minutes to level the bed. Literally within an hour of opening the box I was printing, and my first print came out perfectly.
I don't know why people seem to think you need to tinker with an Ender machine so much. I only need to adjust my bed once out of every ~30ish hours of printing, and it takes me less than five minutes.
Good that you mention that one of Prusa's goals is making the most of affordable hardware. Too often people would make a wish list for a Prusa machine that would easily break 2000 bucks if they actually made a machine to the requested specs.
Just ordered a Mini the other day. Expecting it in November. I can grab a bunch of Prusament along the way.
FYI, latest firmware has power panic when printing from USB
Fyi, the PEI/PLA combo is not recommended by Prusa, but it is possible to print the combo.
I've had success with prints that have
1) a large surface area printed on the bed,
2) and with prints that use rafts and/or large brims.
I am curious how the "physical tab" prevents someone from installing custom firmware? It's an STM32 MCU, they do not have such hardware feature! They can be ether locked forever by setting "Level 2" protection, or not. If it's not in Level 2, just grab and cheap ST-Link clone, connect 2 wires and flash anything you want and return stock firmware any time you want.
The firmware is user-updatable, so the bootloader can rewrite part of the flash (similar to Arduino I guess).
What I think the tab does is two things: 1) It prevents the ST-link from working by e.g. hard pulling the ICSP pins to ground / VCC / whatever still allows it to boot and 2) the bootloader checks if those pins (or any other pins that are pulled through the tab) are in their proper state and then decides to allow/disallow custom firmware.
@@MadeWithLayers I made some research :) Yes, that's true. BOOT0 and SWDIO pins are pulled down, traces are going through the internal layers of that so called "appendix". Well, then I would use a heat gun to heat one side of the MCU and gently bend BOOT0 or SWDIO pin away from PCB. This would leave no signs of intervention, but requires some skills, so protection is definitely serves it's purpose. Well done, Prusa! My respect!
I had an ender 3 for about 1 month. Lots of tweaking to get it right and at the end of the day I got most of my money back when I sold it 3 months ago.
For sure. Same experience with ender 3 pro !!!!!!!
Just got a used Mini. Works great.
Decided that I just need a 3d printer as a tool, and no longer as a hobby.
My previous printer worked around 85% of the time. The remaining 15% was weird or random problems that would go away on their own sometimes. It was useable, but annoying.
I've wanted a Prusa for a few years, and I decided the Mini/+ was going to be my next printer. After about 6 months of not using my previous printer, it was having problems again. So I searched my local used goods sites, and found a 1st gen Mini for $320. So far I'm very happy with the purchase.
I don't print much. Most things I print are under 100mm in their longest direction. I just need a reliable printer, so this is a great option for me.
I wonder if they'll make a Mini 2 in the future. I've just got no idea what they would change to call it a new machine.
Joe Prusa sent me this:
"schaut so aus als ob der mini bald deutsch kann"
"looks like the mini will soon be able to speak German"
Great review Tom.
I’d be curious to see what happens if you print a 1z layer across the entire print area. Wondering how flat it would come out with the cantilevered design.
I do find it somewhat surprising that in 2020 we’re still having to use USB sticks to transfer files. I expected a networked printer to have “send to printer” within the Prusa ecosystem.
Specially with the i3 models, that needs to use SD card - no USB port, no network.
I'm a noob to 3d printers, and I don't care to spend too much time troubleshooting; that's what I do at work. My first printer is an Ender 3 v2, and I've wasted too much time trying to print just about anything.
I recently bought a mk3, and spent maybe 1 hour figuring out what settings to use, and haven't had to make a single adjustment since. Not only has this been the best user experience I could have asked for, I've actually learned a lot due to their provided documentation.
I'm watching this video because I'm already thinking about adding a mini to my workshop.
I think there are still outliers though. I got the Ender 3 Pro for $100 on sale at Microcenter. I got it to learn about 3D printing since my son was getting a Prusa Mini+ from Santa (he didn’t know what model; he just wanted a 3D printer). The Ender 3 has been printing great. The Prusa “experience”’not so great. Long story short, I ordered the preassembled Prusa Mini+ with the filament sensor for about $470 shipped. I got really busy and couldn’t unbox the Prusa to set it up until Christmas Eve. Sadly, the extruder gears were jammed/gummed up from the factory. “24/7 support”was closed, so I had to abandon the Prusa and give my son the Ender 3 (luckily he hadn’t seen it since I’ve been using it when he’s at my ex-wife’s and hiding it when he’s home). There’s no point in taking apart the extruder and cleaning the gear/pulley since Christmas is already over. I got a return authorization for the Prusa, but I’m going to be out shipping costs (about $50) and will only getting about a $420 refund.
It's neat that it got imput shaping and linear advance :) really awesome features, and they just got added... nice gift for the owners.
I was looking at purchasing a couple of used ones off of the local marketplace. Any thoughts on reliability printing only pla and petg? I have a couple mk3s+ and they are the most reliable printer i have owned to date. Have been seeing mixed reviews.
@Cryoos had one Mini, also an MK3S+, and now an MK4. I liked the Mini, it was reliable. And now it is also quick. So I think it is a great printer, hovewer I dont like the Live adjust Z compared with the MK4 where you just dont have to care at all. Also it is not direct drive, but for PLA and PETG thats fine.
If you can get one for like 120-150€, then go for it, but I would rather consider the Bambu A1 Mini. Dont have one, but it is better in every aspect, for a similar price, new.
I'm a little dissapointed that they didn't fix the extruder in the mini+.
I had the same problem with the PEI sheed. Think it was related due to bed temperature and a way to high nozzle in the first layer. You need to get the nozzle rly low (by calibrating it in the printers options, not in the slicers options). Everythink after that sticks fine and gets loose by itswelf when the bed gets cold.
My printrbot simple metal is showing its age and so I have ordered the Mini with filament sensor and the extra flexible build plate. Mostly I print things to prove the viability of my designs.
I have printed close to 300h since i got my Mini. The extruder just experienced a catastrophic failure yesterday and was swapped with a bondtech replacement unit today, which should be an option at buy.
Early units plagued with issues, I had issues with levelling got sent a new probe and installed it, z offset kept changing so always have to preheat for a while before starting a print. A temp sensor in the MINDA would have solved this. LCD controller knob broke got sent a replacement. Also had issues with extrusion/clicking which is partly solved by lifting the hotend up. I still had some issues so I installed a bondtech heatbreak which helped some more, still not perfect though. For me not a great experience to start with, lesson learned do not rush out to buy a new printer, wait for a few months first. I cannot fault Prusa support though, always helpful and feel a lot of the issues could have been avoided if they didn't rush to get it out.
Hmmm, I've had no problems with mine. You got a lemon.
Hi Thomas, could you please activate the subtitles in English so I translate them into Spanish, I'm from Argentina and I love your videos. Regards
Prusa- I am waiting for that large format corexy! Put a hemera on it and ship it
same bank account standing by
That definitely sounds promising
I soo hope they have a hemera on it. I need it to go faaaast
The Hemera isnt that great... get some bondtech in the game with a mosquito
@@Underp4ntz_Gaming_Channel I'm good with the Mosquito also, if they can get a drive setup like Hemera that prints flexibles as fast and as well as it does. Or just go full toolchanger setup with single, dual and other heads available.
Thanks Thomas for this honest review! I missed one downside wich i was sure will be mentioned: MINDA! No temp. compensation. In my case, its really a big flaw. I can not start a print and be sure the first layer is right without live-z adjusments. I really wonder if you have the same experience like me and many other mini owners.
Cheers
I've just got 10 bigtreetech s42b closed loop motor controllers (not sponsored)... For both my printers.
Thomas, Could you review this tech for all 3d printing people? I think you don't have anything on this topic yet.
Great review! I am considering purchasing a few of these for the mini-print farm I want to set up for my printing projects, and this looks like it might be the answer I was looking for! Thanks!!
You're actually kinda wrong on the force of where a second z axis should be will never change, because it's always changing. The force the pushes down from comes from a torque, which besides the weight of the the rails themselves comes from the weight of the hotend at whatever position its at. The torque is lowest near the z rails but highest farther away. This machine however does look sturdy enough to handle it but I wouldnt put it past it that at the right speeds and motion, you can get some problematic ghosting. Of course at this price point I see how I can't complain, but to say the machine is sturdy while also being a cantilevered machine is kind of an oxymoron.
But as he also stated, its a repeatable force pushing down when the hotend is at its furthest point outwards, so the auto bed leveling should have that corrected from the very start of the print
WhatTrigger yah, but that's only good for the first layer. After that you can start to get banding if you go fast enough, like the Cetus had I believe
I just sent mine in for warranty service for a z-offset problem. Since the day I got it 1 month ago, it wouldn’t maintain the z-offset. I had to adjust the offset via live z-adjust at the start of every print. Even when I performed consecutive first layer calibrations, it needed a different z-offset every time. Sometimes it was a difference of 0.5mm. I troubleshot it for 3 weeks with Prusa support and they finally asked me to send it in.
It ended up not being related, but I found that the y-carriage was binding at the front and back of full travel because the hole spacing for the linear rods on the 3D printed front and back y-faces were at least 0.25mm too close. I 3D printed new ones on my Mk3S and fixed that problem. Anyway, I still think it’s a good quality printer, I just wish I had more than 3 weeks to enjoy it, and use it for anything other than troubleshooting a problem it shipped with.
Just to clarify, the profiles that are included don't adjust the print settings such as layer heights, speeds, and extrusion widths. The profiles only account for cooling, retraction settings, and temperatures.
I was able to get PLA to stick to textured surface ok... just lowered first layer so filament paths squish together completely with no air gaps between them. Maybe set first layer at 0.2 and live adjust down 0.05~0.1... I did have a tall skinny wing profile pop off once because a small air gap
9:40 I disagree. The support holding the arm sees different weights constantly. Yes, the absolute weight being supported doesn't change, but, as the tool head moves along the axis, the moment arm changes, this causes the moment/torque at the support to change. Therefore, as the tool moves up and down the arm quickly or even slowly but rhythmically, it will impart a vibration. Imagine you are printing two parts side by side along the x axis. The tool has to move towards its end ranges to deposit for each part. As it moves further it imparts a relatively higher moment and then it quickly moves back releasing this energy causing the tool head to bounce up then down. This will cause inaccuracies. As for movements along the z axis that will also be possible if there is some friction between the nozzle and part. However, with that said, the design of the printer (separating the two axis - one being on the arm and the other on the bed) reduces this.
im just curious with so many in house 3d printed parts from their own filament, why its so expensive. anyone who owns a 3d printer knows the cost of printing parts. i have ender 3 and like that its metal. granted if prusa provides the files to reprint parts, that makes it easier to repair broken parts.
Ender 3 is cheap Chinese labour and no real R&D or service costs. Prusa is a European company with software and hardware developers, customer services taxes etc.
Prusa does provide the part files
The designs for the whole printer including its control board are on the Prusa Github. Part of the cost is they have a large team of software devs working on the slicer and firmware and they do a huge amount of testing before any of us find out a new printer exist.
Some of the parts are also pretty expensive, the Meanwell power supply would be almost $60 retail for instance.
I had that problem with the USB as well lol. My solution was putting the printer on the edge of a desk. The key
ring actually comes in handy.
I'm using Prusa Slicer with my home brew repstrap. it usually works better than Cura, but it does have some issues with 'generic' printers. The biggest problem is setting and storing your own filament profiles, it won't let you easily copy 'their' profiles and save them for your printer. I usually have to turn off the flag that blocks profiles not tagged for my printer.
Tom - Did you experience any issues with the M.I.N.D.A if you tried to perform back to back prints? Mine as with many others on the Prusa forums experienced a temperature offset if we tried to print back to back. The only fix that appears to work is to place a delay in the start GCODE to wait for 2-3 minutes with the print head in the home position. This gives the M.I.N.D.A probe time to equalize in temperature from the heat bed warming up. After this change to the start GCODE I don't have to tweak the live Z after every single print.
Prusa should add a PINDA like the MK3s, the MINDA have no temp. sensor and almost same price. On my side i preheat few minutes before printing
The real issue with the included USB key is that it's a cheap one and it seems to overheat for some people. I tried printing the nut included on it and it crashed with a watchdog error BSOD at around 8% completion twice in a row!! I switched to another one and never had a problem since. Seem pretty extreme in my case, but some people had it happen after hours of printing. Not sure how frequent the issue is but I found plenty of people with the same issue on GitHub and the Prusa forum.
I was disappointed by the Mini. The hot end clogs easily, the extruder is hard to access, and the hob gear constantly clogs even with “premium” filament. Based in Canada, I cannot afford to order Prusament every time this printer is used. I get it, it’s fine tuned but you should be able to use other brands of good quality filament in this printer and I’ve had nothing but problems
Great review, Thomas. Answered all of the questions I've had for months. Thanks again!
Great honest and unbiased review. I absolutely love my mini. Sure it's not perfect but I challenge anyone to find a better experience with a printer for the same price.
The 3d printing community need to accept that 3d printers don't need to be modded all the time. When was the last time you modded your inkjet printer?
So true :)
Bad habbit because of crappy chinese printers...
Part cooling fan while probing induces vibration which reduces probing accuracy.
Welcome back to informative, well written and helpful reviews! Thanks Tom :)
Thank you so much for this review. I am asking for a printer for Christmas and wasn't sure which one to ask for. This seems like the best one to start with
Thank you so much. I’ve been thinking about getting this as my first 3-D printer! I’ve been watching videos about 3-D printing for years and now I want to take the plunge myself. Do you think this would be a good printer for beginners, or do you think there are other printers that would be better well-suited for people just starting out for the very first time?
It's a little tricky to put together but mine is a simple push the button and go. It has never failed in any way and puts out perfect prints.
What did he say at 21:23
I think he said "schaut aus als ob der mini bald deutsch kann" wich is german for "seems like the mini will speak german soon".
@@tec4303 oooh, makes sense. That screen must have German insted of English on it. Thanks!
Excellent video. I soooo want one. Gotta keep loading up that swear jar
Just a heads up, it says it doesn't print polycarbonate on their website.
And when he was talking about PC I was wondering how they solved hot bed temperature 100+ when they have beds on magnets that can work only below 80C. Some special Prusa PC?
Thank you so much for your helpful review Thomas! Just placed my order a few moments ago via your link! 🥳
Quick update! After weeks of waiting, unboxing and setup, I've just made my third successful print! Falling in love with it! Thank you so much for your advice Tom!
I love how many times you knocked over the model. I was cheering when @20:34 you are NEARLY knocking it over.
the MK2(S) was my first printer based on your recommendation. Now it is a Haribo modded, Skelestruder printer but the Mini would have been the perfect starting printer.
Generally, I had a great experience with Prusa printers, however, MMU2S was pretty bad, was not able to make it work reliably whatsoever
The extruder gripe is totally valid. You can fix the fan probe issue and the USB stick issue just felt so silly to even mention lol.
I got one of these some time back. Not the first batch, but an earlier batch. There are many good things, but also some bad things. I also have a i3 MK3 and a SL1.
1. That Z-axis to base connection is weak. I also had to shim the heck out of mine to get it square to the table. My cubes were coming out as parallelograms before I fixed that. Yes, I had assembled it correctly, in the correct order. It's just a 3d printed part in a very critical spot.
2. Check that end cap on the x axis arm. It twists very easily.
3. Related to number 1: put this on a firm, fixed base. Do not lift it by the Z-axis arm, or you have to go through all the straightening again. I've seen printed handles for the Z axis for folks to pick this up and move it around. I really don't recommend that.
4. Printing was only through USB drive and that USB jack was in a silly place on the unit. I bought a USB extension and mounted it to the Z axis arm. (oh, and I removed the ring )
5. I had problems with the first and second layers that ended up being fixed by changing the movement speed to something like 60% (I forget which it was). Other folks on the forums ran into this. This was with PETG which sticks to anything, and using the smooth PEI sheet (appropriately cleaned)
6. Calibrating the probe distance took some thinking. For many of us, it turned out to be much larger number than originally suggested.
I had a thread going on the Prusa3d support site because I had a difficult time diagnosing this problem. In the end, it's a nice and inexpensive printer, but it doesn't match up to their past printers. But it does still have those super important features like bed leveling and compatibility with PrusaSlicer
Hi Thomas, I really like your reviews and thoughts abot a specific topic. Keep on like this. Considering the Mini after ordered my MK3S+...
I still haven’t purchased, but I’m leaning towards it as my first printer. I’m experienced with 3D printers, but I have always been hesitant because of the price. This definitely makes it more appealing. Idk why but I really want to see the WiFi settings introduced before I order. Will the WiFi printing be gimmicky or something you all are looking forward to?
I got a lemon from the orange factory. Got one of the early models, at first attempt to print filament would not load, drive gear could not grab filament. Once resolved was able to get two small prints before extruder stopped extruding, could not resolve, sent back for repair. Month later mini returned, filament load was excellent, then two more prints and the extruder stopped extruding. Customer support had an expectation of me to repair their mess. Returned to factory, still waiting for refund. This is not the Prusa I've known in the past. I have the MK3s (kit) , this thing is a workhorse. Only had a few issues here and there but it's a kit, once these were resolved there's no stopping this MK3s. Lesson learned: never buy the first batch wait for the bugs to shake out. 15 Sept 2020 update: still waiting for my refund from Prusa - I mean really, what kind of nonsense is this?????
Magnuson-moss regarding warrantee .. breaking tab on board does not void warrantee. Right to repair, you own it you can repair it / replace components.
Please print and assemble the "mini base." Would love to see video and review. Always enjoy your considered opinion and reviews.
Very nice looking printer. In my mind I really think it should be supported by the extrusions on both sides, but good to hear it performs well.
Why threaded rod only on Z axis? Could all three use threaded rod?
21:20, ha, had to rewind there, was only listening to RUclips and working in Fusion360 on the side... all of a sudden:“schaut aus als ob der Mini bald deutsch kann.“. -> I‘ve watched a few of your videos and expected you to be Swedish. Where is the way-better-than-usual English (for a non native speaker) coming from? I‘m also German but grew up in the US, I would almost expect you lived some time abroad. Now I‘ll have to dig through your videos to get some answers... 😂
I really like the idea of this printer and love that they finally put out a more entry level printer. However what I'm really looking forward to is all the improvments that the i3 will get from this.
I bought a 12" extension usb A female to A male cable because I didn't want to wear out the usb port taking it in and out and it was kind of in an awkward place for my setup. Yeah, it was kind of hard to put together but I've never had a problem with it and it's put out great prints.
My Prusa Mini arrived today and it just works out of the box, I never need to do any extreme tunning or complex bed leveling. I am amazed by what I see as a tool to repair and create that is easy to waste hours just looking at how it moves and creates the part from nothing. It has really exceeded my expectations on ~10 hours of print so far.