$750 vs $275 FDM Printers, Did I Waste $750 Purchasing A Prusa.

I bought the Prusa a while ago, 7 weeks to be exact, in that time i recieved the FLSUN Q5 and its a printer that really blew me away. The quality and dependability i was getting off the Q5 was amazing, far better than i thought possible at this price point. Seeing this, it got me thinking, did i over pay from my Prusa given how well this little $275 printer is. Well i printed some models on both and the result was pretty interesting.

[frokeswinter]

Having worked with prusa mk3s in our makerspace I am always surprised how "smart" these printers are. We had to resolder the wires to the bed temp sensor on one of them after somebody had mangled it. I was prepared for a painful recalibration of the sensors and other hacks but once we started the printer it instantly realised the bed temp was wrong, asked us to remove the build plate and proceeded to calibrate itself by touching the hot end to a screw in the bed.
Compared to our Makerbots, Creality and ZYYX printers (that cost 2 - 10x as much...!) the prusa is in a league of it's own when it comes to reliability, not to mention print speed!

[theangrymarmot]

A little confused to why you are trying to have two very different machines use the same settings for the print. IMO a more balanced review would be to use the recommended settings from the manufacturers per machine. At ~6:37 you say you used the same speed settings on the delta as the prusa, and at 6:42ish you say you even used the same temp settings. This IMO invalidates it as an accurate comparison because you are forcing one machine to operate out of it's optimal settings while the other is at it's recommended. You should run the test with factory settings for each machine, then compare. Even if you "dialed" in each machine on a basic level - it would be a better and more accurate comparison. The whole point of this video is moot because you somehow think having the machines operate at the same speeds/temps/etc is accurate - when in fact it is not as you have given the Prusa a very obvious and clear advantage. Disclaimer : I don't own either of these.

[KayoMichiels]

9:54 The texured print sheet is for Petg and ABS and other filaments, there is a smooth sheet, and that one is the one to use for PLA and it has a layer that sticks to pla.

[SLcompany_watch]

I bought 2 MK3S kits and assembling them really helped me to understand how things work. Also it's fun :D
They do their job really well and i think they are worth it

[nimeq]

The printing temperature for different machines and depending on how accurate it needs to be, even on the same machine can be different. The sensors and electronics aren't calibrated in general, so the total error you'll get varies and I wouldn't be surprised if it could even be +-10C. Then there's also the heat transfer and heat capacity of the hot end that plays in how hot the plastic coming out really is.

What I'm saying is, you shouldn't expect hot end settings to be directly transferable between machines. Also crappy part cooling fans seems to be the norm in chinese designs, but they're usually not the hardest part to fix.

[NateFromIT]

My first printer like a lot of peoples is an Ender 3 Pro. I have done tons of upgrades to it so much so that it probably costs as much as a Prusa right now. I have another Ender 3 Pro otw as well as have an order placed for the Prusa MK3s. In my research I found that the Prusa is probably the best option for reliability because he has a large print farm of them all going none stop so if anyone finds issues with the machine it's going to be the maker of the printers. That alones old me on it as well as his story was charming so I wanted to support his efforts.

[Ocastia]

i can't think about anything but your middlefinger octopus now...

[smokelesschimney]

Our Prusa is a workhorse. Reliable and can print the special filaments like TPU and PC

[LuisAlbertoSerranoAlonso]

I just got my Q5 today and it was so easy to assemble, following your videos of course! Now I'm just contemplating on where to set a desk for it and get it printing. Thanks for your hard work

[MarkusFotofieber]

Both these printers are standing in my workshop.
I have a lot of fun with the Flsun but you get what you pay for:
- no useful support
- dimensional inaccurate (Print a big square and you see the lines are not straight. -> Design Prototype Test on Youtube has documented this issue too.)
- part cooling fan insufficient and there seems to be no easy fix
- no removable build plate

Better buy a Prusa Mini if you start with 3d printing.

[marlboroxx]

I have a prusa mk2s, and I have been running it HARD for 3 years now. I have only run into a couple issues where i needed to replace major components, and those were my own fault, i didnt stick around to make sure the first layer was good before leaving for work one day, and came home to a huge booger the encompased most of of the bottom of the head. it was a disaster. I had to have my work print out a few replacement parts for the head body to get up and running again, as well as order new thermocouple and heating element.

Past that, only regular maintenance in 3 years, and I love this machine. I wish I had space to get more printers, I would hop all over the mk3.

[DevsonButani]

BRO - Try a budget SLA printer! I've worked as a technician repairing industrial 3d printers and the quality you get for below $500 is just amazing. The prints are soo good that there are slicer layers instead of print layer lines. These printers are absolute beasts for small parts especially the fans you make and smooth surfaces. Try them at the very least!

[lio]

With both styles of build plate you can get a perfect stick without any additives. Wash the build plate with soap rinsing properly and it sticks like magic. Textured doesn’t stick as well though you do need a larger piece for it to properly stick on that bed.

[apollowellstein]

The justification for a MK3s (which I bought my second one last week) is they're smart, easy to calibrate, technically open source, and a shit ton of other features. My favorite part is not having to worry about endstops as the motors know when they trigger the ends. They require so little maintenance to function fully, and I can go from Fusion 360 to my printer without any work other than copying the file to my SDCard since I'm too damn lazy to setup octoprint.

[lio]

Love a Prusa over the others any day. So reliable. I built my one myself. No printing artefacts just a great experience. It took me 15 hours to build mine, didn’t sleep that day 🤣. Loved your video by the way. :)

[qlum]

For bed adhesion what I personally found out on the powdered surface. There is one thing that is insanely important and that is keeping it clean.
At first I had issues with it not sticking but after cleaning it with water and soap and then a couple of times with IPA alcohol it sticks perfectly.
Just try to keep it clean and just give it a wipe with alcohol after every print. You generally should not need the glue stick at all.

[ized]

The q5 is only 199$ at the moment
Love that thing, but as I got a delta 6 years ago I understand why all say don't get a delta as a first printer. But that thing is awesome. Only needed to adjust stepped/mm. Made a windshield with 3 printed parts an 12 dinA4 clear pages and it prints even abs like a boss. 15 hour print with 0 problems.
Print the parts for a Prusa clone with mmu with it at the moment ^^

And that the fan doesn't work for you isn't a wonder, the new nozzle you use looks much lower than the original ^^

[zaccy]

Use the smooth plate for PLA and you wont need to use glue. Smooth and textured sides are used for different materials

[keeleyjones]

I have had my Prusa Mk3s for about 6 months now. I didn't have any issues with the filament sensor. Everything works great although I am not a heavy user and only have about 900 hours on it so far. Couple things. 1. If you use the online assembly instructions instead of the book, there are user comments under each section you can look at that can save you a lot of time down the road. It points out areas in the assembly where you might run into issues with over tightening, little tweaks here and there, easier ways to do things and which parts should be thoroughly cleaned up before assembly to assure a more reliable functionality. 2. The only time I end up with failed prints is with the textured build plate. It works great for stuff with medium size footprints and I love the textured finish but it releases so easily that anything with small footprints always comes loose on me and larger footprints warp up at the edges of the print, especially out towards the edges of the build plate. I purchased the smooth sheet as well and that one works every time and I never use any glues or adhesives. I just clean it with 91% IPA before each print and have no issues with stuff coming lose. I printed out a few of those octopi for my kids and it failed 3 times on the textured plate but worked every time on the smooth plate. They are like 30 bucks so if I was you I would grab one for your Prusa for any prints that might have more of an issue sticking. Keeps me from having to do brims to help with adhesion.

[StRM]

MK3S owner here of 1 year (first personal printer as well). Regarding the octupus it indeed has less adhesion especially at the end of the legs, but do some deep cleaning with isopropyl on the texture bed, obviously clean again before any new print, use 7x7 bed leveling setting instead of 3x3 and most importantly tune you live z height. The last one is the most important. Print a 40x20mm square 0.2mm height, and observe. If you have a micrometer you can tune that to exactly 0.200mm. Doing it by eye it's possible but you need some experience as it was the question i had when i started. I never used a glue stick or any bed adhesive with both beds (textured and smooth) and the only "failure" i had was with the octopus when i started, one end of the leg wasn't printed correctly because it detached at some point in the print (but it managed to pick up after). And i print with PLA/PETG/ASA/Carbon filled edit: as for the filament sensor i never had an issue but yes it needs some precise assembly to work as intended