Reprapguru 3d printers

Notes on the Reprap Guru Prusa i3 V2 3D Printer Clone

In the summer of 2017 I bought and assembled a 3D printer kit from an outfit named Reprap Guru, which sells, among other things, clones of Prusa open-source designs. I would have happily bought from Prusa directly, but their top-of-the-line i3 V2 was back-ordered at the time, and I really needed a new printer quickly. This was a very cheap machine, and came with a certain number of problems, some expected, others surprising. This page exists to document my fixes for the benefit of any other owners of this machine (and so I don't forget things myself!), and is likely to be updated frequently for some time to come.

I named this printer Crystal Palace, in reference to its clear acrylic construction and in honor of one of the greatest feats of Victorian engineering.

Now this won't hurt a bit.

Fixing the Heated Bed

Right out of the box the thermistor on the heated bed PCB was shorted by a splash of solder, producing a MAXTEMP error in Repetier. The solder bridge was clearly visible with some magnification and was easy to clean up with a soldering iron.

About to resolder the broken thermistor wire.

After some running time I also experienced a failure of the thermistor wires where they join with the PCB; I fixed this by resoldering. Although without some method of strain relief for the y-axis wires I expect this will happen periodically.

Cooling Nozzle

The small amount of epoxy visible in the photo fixes a crack caused by rough handling.

One of the first improvements I made to this machine was to print and install a cooling nozzle. This particular design, from thingiverse user James McGall diverts a small amount of cooling air from the extruder heat sink to the end of the nozzle. You can download the part at thingiverse or right here:

• Cooling nozzle, STL

Filament Extender

Revision A.0, installed

I designed some guidance structures to keep the filament feed from the spool under control. These mount to the top-most two of the four screws in the control panel assembly; the original screws are just long enough to engage with the nuts when used this way. I've experimented with two designs. The first one, (rev 0.0), keeps the filament further out and prevents it rubbing on the x-axis cable chain but it puts a bit more load on the feed mechanism. The second one (rev A.0) allows the filament to travel quite a bit more along the x-axis to keep up with the extruder, but it does permit some interaction between filament and cable chain.

Revision 0.0

• Filament Guide, Revision A.0, Onshape document
• Filament Guide, Revision 0.0, STL
• Filament Guide, Revision A.0, STL

Cable Chain

I've been steadily upgrading Crystal Palace by adding wire management, most importantly to wires that go to moving parts of the machine. For the x-axis I've adapted some cable chain parts from thingiverse; this version uses some snap-in cable retainers so that after assembling the chain, you can lay the entire cable bundle in the trough before snapping the retainers in place; this is much easier than feeding the end of the wire through.

X-axis cable chain.

I connected the x-axis cable chain from the x-axis stepper motor to the extruder stepper using two clamp-on adapters I designed. They use a 6-32 x 3/8 panhead machine screw and a 6-32 hex nut to provide the clamping force. The cable chain attaches to the adapter via a special male or female chain link that screws on with four #2 x 3/16 thread-forming screws.

• Cable chain x-axis adapters, Onshape document
• Cable chain link, STL
• Cable chain stepper motor adapter, STL
• Cable chain root link, female, STL
• Cable chain root link, male, STL

Upgrading the Linear Bearings and Rods

After not very many hours of operation at all I discovered that the printer was losing its position along the x axis multiple times during a typical print. At first I attributed this to insufficient current to the x-axis stepper and played with the potentiometer, trying to power my way out of the trouble. I also rigged a temporary cooling fan so that I could comfortably push the stepper drivers even harder.

A fan kludge.

None of this really worked for long however, and I shortly discovered the real problem: there were noticeable grooves worn into the guide rods! This is down entirely to the low-quality parts shipped with the RepRap Guru kit; it turns out that the rods are ordinary non-hardened stainless steel and are quickly worn down by the hardened balls in the linear bearings. Those bearings aren't great either; a few balls escaped at the slightest provocation during assembly and the bearings never felt or sounded smooth, even when everything was brand new.

So I sprung for top-quality Misumi parts. All the rods and bearings are 8 mm diameter; the rods are 52100 bearing steel with a hard chrome finish. If you wish to replace all the components, you will need:

• 2x z-axis rods: 320mm long, Misumi #PSFJ8-320, $12.00 each.
• 2x x-axis rods: 365mm long, Misumi #PSFJ8-365, $12. 00 each.
• 2x y-axis rods: 390mm long, Misumi #PSFJ8-365, $12.00 each.
• 10x linear bushings: 24mm long, Misumi #LMU-N8, $5.05 each at 10-19 units.

Replacing them is straightforward, just follow the Reprap Guru assembly instructions and these parts will fit just as the originals did. There is a night-and-day difference in smoothness however, as the next video shows.

MINTEMP Errors

The extruder thermistor joints are sleeved in orange (original) and black (my fix).

After some more operating time, prints starting failing due to an intermittent MINTEMP error. I was seeing a lot of “cold extrusion prevented” errors in Repetier. After some research I discovered this was due to an intermittent connection to the thermistor wire at the extruder end. Fortunately I was able to resolder the joint without cutting or stripping any wire; the end that comes out of the extruder itself is very short and I don't want to have to make it any shorter.

Replacing the Extruder Fan

In December, after six months of fairly hard service, including leaving the printer running all night after completing a print on many occasions, the extruder fan became noticeably noisier. Tapping on the hub while it was rotating would quiet the fan briefly, but for a period of time that decreased the more I ran it. I expected this was due to bearing failure so I found some replacements.

Original fan as installed (left) and its hidden face (right)

Naturally the original fan was a cheap unit made in China by “Pengda Technologies”. Reprapguru.com sells replacements for only $3.99 with the following specifications claimed:

• Size: 40 x 40 x 10mm
• Voltage:12V
• Bearing: Sleeve/Dual-ball
• Airflow: 5.5 to 10.3CFM
• Speed: 5000 to 9000RPM

I don't know what a “sleeve/Dual-ball” bearing is but I suspect this term is marketing nonsense; I'd rather pay more for something that definitely has ball-bearings instead.

Two possibilities.

Searching at Mouser quickly yielded two suitable replacements: CUI's CFM-4010-13-10 and NMB Technologies' 1604KL-04W-B50-B00. I bought both but installed and am currently operating the NMB one; I'll update this page if I test the CUI product. So far the NMB fan is operating well.

NMB ball-bearing fan spinning.

Z-Axis Threaded Rod Replacement

During an un-attended zeroing of the z-axis one of the printer's loose wires got caught under the actuator of the z-axis limit switch, preventing the switch from closing. This meant that the z-axis stepper kept turning for minutes, causing the nuts on the lead screws to back out of the plastic housing, and giving me another reason, as though I needed another, to add cable-management features to the many wires that are still unsecured on this printer.

Plastic dust from the spinning nut on one of the couplers.

Although I reseated the nuts and leveled the printer again, I kept running into failures in which one side's z-axis mechanism would make a noise, and the bed would be out of level again. Turning the lead screw by hand felt crunchy and revealed many damaged areas of the thread. Also the area under the nut on that side was accumulating black plastic dust, as though the nut would turn in the housing when it encountered resistance.

For a simple solution I ordered new 316 stainless steel nuts (M5 x 0.8) and threaded rods (M5 x 0.8, 300 mm long) from McMaster-Carr. Although this wouldn't necessarily help if the plastic housing is very damaged and unable to hold a hex nut, it runs much smoother and so far I haven't encountered any more trouble; there must not be enough resistance to cause the nut to turn in the housing.

Y-Axis Stop Upgrade

After a full year of merely managing the problem, I finally fixed one of the more irritating flaws in the printer. The designer intended the microswitch lever for the y-axis stop to be engaged by the edge of the y-axis bearing housing. But the housing doesn't extend far enough out to contact anything but the root of the lever, instead of the more effective far end of it, and to even achieve this you have to very precisely adjust the angle of the switch so that it's high enough to (barely) catch the edge of the bearing but not so high that the end of the lever catches the bottom of the bed leveling screw.

A tacky-looking fix.

In practice this balance wasn't easy to get right. Very often the switch would be able to stop the bearing mechanically without the switch actually closing electrically, so the stepper would skip and make noise until I'd rescue the printer by slapping the end of the lever myself. Or the bed leveling screw would trigger the switch and we'd be very far from the real zero position. For a while I stuck a wad of blu-tack putty under the bearing housing so that it could engage with the lever instead. This would work for a while until the blu-tack was mushed too far away and I'd have to reform it.

Right-angle bumper design, approaching the switch.

Success!

Once I decided to fix this problem seriously it only took about 40 minutes to get into Onshape, design something quickly, print it, and install it. Here are the links if you want to make one for your printer:

• Y-Axis Bumper, Onshape document
• Y-Axis Bumper, STL

RepRapGuru DIY Prusa i3 V2 3D Printer In-Depth Review

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6. 8Expert Score

RepRapGuru DIY Prusa i3 V2

As always, the Prusa i3 V2 3D printer has left no stone unturned in finding its place among those users who admire results. This machine is great at performing and you can achieve precision and accuracy with the right calibration setting without a hassle.

Affordability

9

Quality

7

Speed

6

Capability

7

Practicality

8

User Expectations

6

PROS

• It is affordable
• Heated build plate
• Amazing customer support
• Great print quality

CONS

• Assembling required
• Manual calibration

Open frame design and sturdy look, the printer is there to impress you with looks and with features too. Easy to keep an eye on, while the print of ...

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Table of Contents

RepRap has been flourishing with time by offering something unique and new with their every new offering. Being one of the leaders in manufacturing 3D printer kits, the company is looked up for results and high performance.

Apart from the exceptional product quality, the US-based company also offers unmatched customer support. The Prusa I3 V2 review highlights the most important aspects of the very popular I3 series from RepRapGuru.

This 3D printer is created to compensate for the limitations I3’s flagship version had. Hence, offering its customers better and enhanced results.

As we know about the company, RepRapGuru is popular for manufacturing budget printers. Many homemakers and tinkerers depend on the company for buying their first DIY Kit.

Although this isn’t the only company offering affordable machine, it does have huge backing from the 3D printing community for its high-quality products. Instead of the cheaper price tags, the printers from RepRapGuru are precise and accurate.

Though you may have to work a lot more for assembling and calibrating the machine before use, it does pay off later. Those who love to experience things themselves and experiment a lot would definitely welcome this amazing DIY kit for getting into 3D printing.

And, with so many online videos helping users assemble and connect the parts together, it does not seem that much challenging anyway.

Read the complete RepRapGuru DIY Prusa i3 v2 review to find out if the 3D printer is worth your consideration.

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Features

Jumping to the features is what you should be doing before buying a 3D printer. You must like to know the various functionalities the machine offers, isn’t it? So, here is a list of the features that tag along with this 3D printer.

DIT Kit: Let’s just say it one more time, the printer isn’t a plug and play design. On the contrary, it is a DIY kit that would need a lot of effort from your end to put the components together.

Sturdy Body: The first look says it all. This 3D printer with an acrylic frame is enough to provide you with balance and stillness when printing. Hence, users can work without vibrations and similar problems. You can make precise parts. Thanks to the sturdy frame.

Open Frame Design: Unlike those enclosed frames, this one is completely open from all ends. However, it does make it easy to keep an eye on the parts being printed on the machine. Printing with flexible materials that require a consistent temperature for printing may seem like a difficult job. However, with the proper setting, you can beat that challenge too.

Spool Holster: In this design, the company has been a lot thoughtful. By using the holster to hang the filament spool, the printer makes more space for the work area. Hence, easing the organization of the different components of the machine.

Heated Bed: This is a great addition to the entire printer’s design. A heated bed is something that could provide you the flexibility of printing with more than just PLA. Many materials have a higher melting point and they do require a heated bed to minimize warping. With this feature, Prusa i3 V2 becomes capable of printing with a variety of materials.

Stand Alone 3D Printing: If you would notice, there is an SD card slot on the 3D printer. This means that you do not need to hardwire the printer with your computer to upload the 3D design. You can just save the digital files to the SD card and put that into the slot on the 3D Printer. It will do the job perfectly.

Open Source: There are many individuals who only prefer to go with the open-source firmware. And, there are obvious reasons for the same. With this kind of design, every user can make useful changes to the firmware which every other user can take advantage of. Hence, the entire community grows together.

Customizable: If you are a maker, and an enthusiast, you must always try to find more upgrades for your existing 3D printer. And, this machine would allow you to test those theories in real. The same printer can print the customizable parts for itself. It is as amazing as it sounds.

Affordable: How can we miss that? The 3D printer is very much affordable and offers huge perks at this price range.

Manual Calibration: Although the 3D printer is affordable and home users can go for it, one must consider the trade-offs. For this budget, one must be ready to put in extra effort to calibrate the machine all by oneself. Yes, the printer isn’t equipped with auto-calibration. And, if you wish to achieve the best results, you must learn how to do that.

Multi-Material Support: As mentioned before, the 3D printer, with heated bed support, lets you 3D print with a variety of filaments. This certainly is a huge plus for those who are looking for a much serious engagement than just printing for fun. You can print with ABS, Wood, PVA, PLA, and TPE. Hence, it offers you the flexibility to prepare for a plethora of product types and creations.

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Specification

With the acrylic frame, the 3D printer offers a build space of 8″ x 8″ x 7″. This is impressive looking at the price tag. It has an Arduino mega 2560 R3 clone microcontroller.

It flaunts an Mk8/9 Direct drive extruder with 1.75mm filament space. The product footprint comes to 17 x 18 x 17 inches and it weighs 15 pounds.

You would need to work for the assembly, it being the DIY kit. And, the machine is compatible with MAC, Windows as well as Linux. The printer also has the user interface control for better flexibility with settings of the prints.

Price

RepRapGuru DIY Prusa i3 V2 costs around $279. This is a pretty affordable printer and can help you start your 3D printing journey without a need for spending a huge amount.

With a few hundred dollars expense, you can own your own 3D printer. And, this does not mean you must compromise in terms of quality.

Prusa printers are popular for their amazing performance. These are difficult to assemble, however, it does bring with itself a huge array of opportunities. From quality to the reliability, you get everything you need to move on.

Best for makers and home users. Although a bit tricky for beginners to assemble, it does offer a huge potential for in-depth learning of the technology.

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First Impressions

After unboxing, you would find the different components of the 3D printer snuggled safely inside separate packages. Each one labeled for your convenience.

Unlike the boxes for assembled 3D printer, this one would seem a little smaller. But that’s obvious. You still need to connect the components together to complete the 3D printer in one piece.

One thing to note, you do not receive any accessory along with this 3D printer. It’s just the different components, the power cable, and the manual for assembling the machine.

You must manage to get the screwdrivers and other tools for tightening the different screws on the Prusa i3 V2 3D printer.

Setup

Coming to the setup of the 3D printer, you must be expecting a lot of work from your part. And, this is what it is. When unboxing the parts, remember the name of the components.

If not, do not worry, the manual is well explanatory and helps users in assembling the machine with as much less hassle as possible.

To make the connections, you must follow the instructions clearly. If the manual seems not enough, you can also look for online guides and videos illustrating the setup of the printer. Make sure you connect the parts correctly and check the screws if they are tightened for sure.

Once you do that, you must download and install the software and firmware. This isn’t a plug and plays machine. Hence, it would ask for a lot of help from your end to start its work.

After you install the app, you must calibrate the 3D printer from scratch. This is important as the precision of the parts depends on the calibration of the machine.

All this would take hours of your time. And, if you are a beginner, it would be even more hectic. Just be patient and the later results would be worth all your efforts.

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Printing Type/Cost

The 3D printer is an FDM machine. This says almost everything about how these 3D printers work. The plastic filament after heating extrudes from the nozzle for preparing the first layer.

The layer is deposited on the print bed. After it sets, another layer is deposited. Hence, the process continues until the entire part is printed out of the machine.

In some cases, depending on the design of your parts, you may require to add support. And, if that happens, you must go through the post-processing steps to remove and smoothen the surface finish.

Printing cost is a variable that depends and varies with each part design. You must consider the amount and type of filament used, the complexity of the parts, etc with various indirect expenses such as electricity bills.

Print Quality

As always, the Prusa i3 V2 3D printer has left no stone unturned in finding its place among those users who admire results. This machine is great at performing and you can achieve precision and accuracy with the right calibration setting without a hassle.

In other words, you do need to work with the settings of the printer to find the sweet spot. If you can do that, the 3D printer will pay off with astonishing results.

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Software

The company offers its PrusaSlicer for its 3D printing users. This software was known as Slice3r formerly. PrusaSlicer is compatible with Linux, MAC as well as Windows.

It comes with pre-loaded filament profiles. Plus, it has three different modes of operation: Beginner, Advanced, and Expert. Hence, the users can choose the mode as per the expertise level and work with invited complexities.

Using the software, you can check the number of hours it would take to complete the parts as per the layer height and design. Not just that, the software is available in 14 different languages.

It offers users a user-friendly interface and an intuitive design. Hence, providing enough ingredients for all level of users.

Customer Service

RepRapGuru is popular for its commendable customer service. It provides users the best experience by providing 30 days refund guarantee. The company claims to refund the entire amount if the printer is returned within 30 days.

Moreover, customer support is highly informative and is always ready to help you in need.

Parameters Influencing Buying Decisions

Before you plan to get this budget printer, you must look at all the sides of the coin. The RepRapGuru Prusa i3 V2 review helps you take an informed decision by outlining the important concerns.

3D Printer cost: It is affordable. Build for home users and beginners.

3D Print quality: The print quality is par expectation considering the price tag of the machine.

3D Print speed: Prusa i3 V2 offers manageable speed. And, it is enough for most of the users.

3D Printer capability: You can create all sorts of designs, either with overhands or with complex geometries. Plus, you can print with different filaments.

3D Printer Practicality: Best for home use and for makers and hobbyists.

3D Printer User expectations: Although the 3D printer is cheap and budget-friendly, a few more feature addition would have helped enormously to the beginners. Such as inclusion of tools inside the box, if not automatic, then assisted bed leveling, etc.

The Verdict

When buying a 3D printer, it’s important to weigh the options. And, at this price range, Prusa DIY kits do leave many other competitors behind.

Reading the Prusa i3 V2 review, you must have gained this insight. However, it may not seem a good option for those who are not ready to invest this much time fixing the components together.

Answers to reprap questions

For questions related to the RepRap (repicating rapid prototyper) project, its firmware of the same name and related topics as FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication).

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• Arduino Mega voltage regulator overheats with RAMPS board This is my problem: I'm building a 3D printer with a RAMPS 1.4 board and an Arduino Mega. I assembled the structure and electronics (installed drivers, placed jumpers, connected stepper motors...) and uploaded… ) I ended up burning the voltage regulator on my Arduino Mega 2560. Now, powering the Arduino…
• How to use MEGA pin numbers instead of RAMPS pin numbers in marlin I am designing my own shield for the MEGA2650 that I will use to control my printer. When defining pins in marlin firmware, pin numbers are pin numbers…
• Marlin temperature sensor problem I have RAMPS 1.4 and Arduino Mega 2560. The problem is 100k NTC thermistor. I checked it with a multimeter, it gives ~ 122 Kom. I'm using Marlin 1.0.2 (latest stable version). I…
• Z motors work in sync ToyRep I have a problem with Z direction. As you know it has two motors. And my problem is that one sometimes goes in the other direction (so basically one is screwed in and the other is screwed out).…
• Ramps 1.4 and extruder I have a ToyRep (RepRap) printer, with RAMPS 1.4 on the board. And I turn on the power from the ATX power supply with 12V. And the problem is that it does not get warm up to 230 (for ABS), the maximum ...
• reprap scaling I have been 3D printing for almost 4 years now. Now that I have the M180 my RepRapPro Huxley is picking up dust as I only use it for flex and ABS prints as it is… . It prints quite well, I'm really surprised by the quality of all the surfaces and the overall accuracy of the printed parts. BUT I HAVE A PROBLEM: when…
• How to make your own 3D printer? I'm wondering if I can get some electronic and mechanical layout of the machine. Is it possible to make 3D printer components with a 3D printer?