Prusa Research Original Prusa i3 MK2S 1.75mm User Manual Download Page 2

Page: 2 / 67

Please always refer to the

http://www.prusa3d.com/drivers/

for an updated version of this 3D printing handbook (PDF download).

QUICK GUIDE TO THE FIRST PRINT

1. Read the safety instructions carefully (

page 7

)

2. Place the printer on a flat and stable surface (

page 10

)

3. Download and install the drivers (

page 40

)

4. Calibrate the printer by following our calibration flow /wizard (

page 11

)

5. Insert the SD into the printer and print your first model (

page 26

)

Important notice, tip, hint or information that helps you print with ease.

Read carefully! This part of the text has the uppermost importance - either for user
safety of for a proper printer service.

This symbol indicates text related to a printer kit only.

Handbook version 2.02 from January 4, 2018 © Prusa Research s.r.o.

Summary of Contents for Original Prusa i3 MK2S 1.75mm

Page 1: ......

Page 2: ...ll the drivers page 40 4 Calibrate the printer by following our calibration flow wizard page 11 5 Insert the SD into the printer and print your first model page 26 Important notice tip hint or information that helps you print with ease Read carefully This part of the text has the uppermost importance either for user safety of for a proper printer service This symbol indicates text related to a pri...

Page 3: ...usa i3 the third iteration of the original 3D printer It is constantly updated with the latest innovations and you ve just purchased its latest version In addition to printer hardware upgrades the main goal is to make the technology more accessible and understandable to all users Josef Prusa also organizes workshops for the public participates in professional conferences dedicated to the populariz...

Page 4: ...it only 17 6 3 5 2 Y axis alignment kit only 19 6 3 6 Calibrate Z 19 6 3 7 Mesh bed leveling 20 6 3 8 Loading the filament into the extruder 21 6 3 8 1 Unloading the filament 22 6 3 9 First layer calibration kit only 22 6 3 9 1 Launching first layer calibration directly from menu preffered way 22 6 3 9 2 Launching first layer calibration from SD card deprecated 22 6 3 9 3 Adjusting z height during...

Page 5: ... ABS PLA PETG HIPS PP Nylon Flex Composite materials ASA nGen PC ABS 50 11 12 Dialing in new materials 57 12 FAQ Printer maintenance and print issues 58 12 1 Regular maintenance 58 12 1 1 Bearings 58 12 1 2 Fans 58 12 1 3 Extruder drive gear 58 12 1 4 Electronics 58 12 1 5 PEI rejuvenation 58 12 2 Print surface preparation 59 12 3 Clogged jammed extruder 59 12 4 Nozzle cleaning 60 12 5 Replacing c...

Page 6: ...rdware tweaks for easier assembly and improved reliability Please check the http prusa3d com drivers page for the updated version of this 3D printing handbook PDF download In case of any printer related problem do not hesitate to contact us at info prusa3d com We are glad to receive all your valuable comments and tips We strongly suggest you visit our official forum at forum prusa3d com where you ...

Page 7: ...y damage Make sure that the power cord is not mechanically or otherwise damaged Stop using damaged cable immediately and replace it 5 When you disconnect the power cord from the socket pull the plug rather than the cord to reduce the risk of damage to plug or AC outlet 6 Never disassemble the printer power supply it does not contain any parts that could be repaired by an unskilled worker All repai...

Page 8: ...ts 3D printers use two different diameters of a filament you can find more in chapter Materials 2 85 mm and 1 75 mm 1 75mm version is used more worldwide though there is no difference in printing quality The filament is provided on a spool where you can find the basic information filament maker material ABS PLA etc and filament diameter 2 85 mm filament is commonly called as 3 mm This printer supp...

Page 9: ... in chapter 6 2 Printer assembly We offer the support for users who purchased the printer kit through our official forum If you need help do not hesitate to visit our forum at forum prusa3d com You can find the answers to your problem there If not please just post your question directly there Pict 2 Original Prusa i3 MK2S printer kit unboxed 9 ...

Page 10: ...off too Pict 3 Proper handling of a printer Both the assembled version and the kit version come with a few things you might need during the printer use USB Cable used for uploading a new firmware or alternatively printing from the computer Acupuncture needle used for cleaning the nozzle when stuck See the chapter 11 4 Nozzle cleaning for more information Glue stick Used for better Nylon adhesion o...

Page 11: ...a horizontally stable position best place is a workbench where there is no risk of draft Attach the filament holders to the upper frame Attach Filament to the holders Make sure the filament spool doesn t jam and can move freely Plug in the AC power cord check to make sure the proper setting for AC voltage is selected 110V 220V and turn on the switch Check out the firmware version in the Support me...

Page 12: ...zard Do not forget to read chapter 6 3 2 PEI print surface preparation before running the Wizard It follows the calibration flow and helps you with following steps Selftest Chapter 6 3 4 Calibrate XYZ Chapter 6 3 5 Loading the filament Chapter 6 3 8 First layer calibration Chapter 6 3 9 It is not mandatory to use it and you can cancel the wizard at the beginning Then you should just manually follo...

Page 13: ...ere the adhesion may be too strong See the chapter 11 3 PET for instructions Pour a little amount on unscented paper towel and wipe the print surface The bed should be cleaned while cold for the best results but it can also be cleaned when already preheated for PLA just be careful not to touch the bed surface or the nozzle When cleaning at higher temperatures the alcohol will evaporate before it c...

Page 14: ...ver any acetone based products due to shipping constraints In that case you get only the bottle and ABS from our e shop and you have to source the acetone locally 6 3 4 Selftest kit only The purpose of the selftest routine is to check most common errors when assembling and connecting electronics and to help indicate any possible errors after assembly You can run the Selftest from Calibration menu ...

Page 15: ... or endstop of different axis Axis causing the problems is indicated on the LCD panel Endstop not hit Motor XZY Check mechanical settings that endstop can be reached when axis is in minimal position Loose pulley XY The belt pulley is loose and slips on the motor shaft It is important to tighten the first grub screw on the flat piece of shaft then continue with the second grub screw 6 3 5 Calibrate...

Page 16: ...ion procedure the printer prompts you by a following message Calibrating X Y Move Z carriage up to the end stoppers Click when done After that the printer asks you to confirm this step Are left and right Z carriages all up Please make sure you really move the Z carriage up to the end stoppers until you hear a rattling sound as the Z stepper motors skip steps This procedure ensures that 1 the X axi...

Page 17: ...ongratulations Congratulations you built your printer precisely your X Y axes are perpendicular 4 XYZ calibration all right X Y axes are slightly skewed Good job Good job the X Y axes are not precisely perpendicular but still quite all right The firmware will correct for the X Y skew during normal printing so boxes will be printed with right angles 5 XYZ calibration all right A skew will be correc...

Page 18: ... broken Waiting for reset Verify whether the PINDA probe cable is plugged into the RAMBo board correctly If it is the case the PINDA probe is broken and it needs to be replaced 2 Bed leveling failed Sensor didn t trigger Debris on nozzle Waiting for reset This is a safety check to avoid the nozzle to crash into the print bed if the PINDA sensor stops working or something goes wrong with the printe...

Page 19: ...a3d com Pic 5 X axis rods must be visually aligned with lines on the heatbed If the Calibrate XYZ gives XYZ calibration compromised Front calibration points not reachable error you don t necessarily need to adjust the M10 nuts and position of the axis in the frame but you can adjust the belt holder position Y belt holder with a slot allows to make a 1 mm adjustment to both the front and the back L...

Page 20: ...to Please clean the nozzle for calibration Click when done If this advice is not followed and there is a plastic debris on the print nozzle then the debris may touch the print bed or even push the print bed away from the PINDA probe so the PINDA probe will not trigger properly and the calibration will fail 6 3 7 Mesh bed leveling Mesh bed leveling can be found in Calibration menu It is the same pr...

Page 21: ...oad filament option in the menu and press the button to confirm Filament is then loaded to the extruder by the extruder stepper automatically You should cut the top of the filament as shown in the picture below pict 7 detail Pict 7 Loading the filament to the extruder Check if the filament is flowing from the nozzle If you change the filament for a different one do not forget to completely remove ...

Page 22: ...h the first layer calibration 6 3 9 1 Launching first layer calibration directly from menu preffered way You can launch the calibration from menu Calibration First layer cal This option is available since the 3 1 0 firmware If you do not see this option you might be running an older firmware but you can still launch it from an SD card 6 3 9 2 Launching first layer calibration from SD card deprecat...

Page 23: ...er the nozzle until the extruded plastic sticks nicely to the bed and you can see it is being slightly squished Set value should not exceed 1 mm if you have to adjust it more move the probe slightly higher Loosen the two screws on the probe holder to make adjustments Rotating the probe counter clockwise will raise it 1mm per turn It is very handy for precise adjustments but it can also be pushed i...

Page 24: ... to print a simple object The Prusa logo from the supplied SD card is a great example The Live adjust Z function described in 6 3 9 First layer calibration works during every print so you can finetune at any point You can see the properly tuned first layer on the images below Calibration might be slightly different for multiple materials It is a good practice to check the first layer and adjust ac...

Page 25: ...Pict 11 Probe response diagram Now you are done 25 ...

Page 26: ... model model_name gcode Printer will start printing the object The filename gcode must not contain any special characters otherwise the printer is not able to display the file on the LCD If you remove the SD while printing printer will pause automatically When you reinsert the SD press the LCD knob and choose Continue option Confirm and printing will resume 7 1 Removing objects from the printer Wh...

Page 27: ...inter or you can connect your computer with USB cable We suggest the LCD panel because of its speed and reliability and moreover you do not rely on a computer 7 2 1 LCD screen Main screen is an information screen displaying the most important details These are the temperature of the nozzle and the heatbed 1 2 printing time 3 and the actual Z axis position 5 Pict 13 LCD layout 1 Nozzle temperature ...

Page 28: ...Mode stepper currents depend on Z height Current starts low when Z height is minimal and increases slowly with the object being printed 7 2 4 Factory reset The factory reset is used when troubleshooting the printer and resetting it to the factory state Entering the factory reset menu 1 Press and release the reset button marked X and positioned under the control knob on the LCD panel 2 Press and ho...

Page 29: ...e you can select to sort by name by date or no sorting Best is by time where newest files are on the top Folders are shown on the top of the SD card menu and then other files follow Maximum number of files which can be sorted is 100 If there are more some of them will remain unsorted Pict 15 SD card sorting 7 2 6 Testing if file gcode is complete The printer automatically looks for common gcodes w...

Page 30: ... Z during the printing process only Tune during the printing process only Speed Nozzle Bed Fan speed Flow Change filament Mode Pause print during the printing process only Stop print during the printing process only Preheat ABS 255 100 PLA 215 55 PET 240 90 HIPS 220 100 PP 254 100 FLEX 230 50 Cooldown Print from SD Load filament Unload filament Settings Temperature Nozzle Bed Fan speed Move axis M...

Page 31: ...d Normal FlashAir Sort Time Alphabet None Calibration Auto home Selftest Calibrate XYZ Calibrate Z First layer cal Mesh Bed Leveling Wizard Bed level correction Temperature Calibration PID Calibration Show end stops Reset XYZ calibration Statistics Support Firmware version XYZ calibration detail 31 ...

Page 32: ...we do not advise to increase the speed over 200 Watch the results of increased speed on the printed model and adjust the speed eventually When increasing the speed always check the model is cooled properly especially when printing small object from ABS increased speed causes the distortion sometimes called warping of the model You can prevent this issue by printing more similar objects together la...

Page 33: ...nnection information Next step is loading the model with Load model button and choosing the model_name gcode no special symbols in file name You can control the movement of all printer axes at the control area Next you can preheat the printer and prepare it for the printing Set the temperatures for the nozzle heater and heatbed bed and click Set button Printer starts heating immediately Always che...

Page 34: ...ing the nozzle and bed temperatures 7 Thermometer 8 Confirming the set temperatures heating starts 9 2D print process preview 10 Info panel Estimated print time axis position and other info is displayed after loading the model 7 3 Printer addons 7 3 1 Different nozzles E3D a UK based company supplies hotends for the Original Prusa i3 MK2 has whole ecosystem of upgrades and addons We support some o...

Page 35: ...otend Optional In case you are experiencing wide swings in temperatures of your nozzle e g 5 C you shall do PID tuning on your printer If you are experiencing major temperature fluctuations higher than that check that your hotend thermistor is properly seated in the heater block and plugged to your miniRAMBO board first You can find this feature in Calibration PID calibration In this menu you have...

Page 36: ...as the extruder will be moving around heatbed during this process Do not touch the nozzle or heatbed during this process until it is fully finished as it will reach high temperatures Once calibrating your PINDA probe it will be comparing its data readings under different temperatures and also on top of that it will include your Live Z data This should help you to have stable Live Z Still make sure...

Page 37: ... from the perfect perpendicularity It is measuring the skew of your X Y axis Up to 0 25 Severe skew compensating for offset of 1 1 mm on 250 mm length Up to 0 12 Slight skew compensating for offset of 0 5 mm on 250 mm length Under 0 12 No need to compensate X Y axes are perpendicular Congratulations It may look that the compensations are not that high at the first sight However if we take into con...

Page 38: ...dvance and 0 20 mm 100 mm s Linear Advance where speed is increased even more up to 100 mm s to get additional 30 faster printing You do not need to calibrate or tweak anything to get faster printing just use these settings to generate your gcode To see the speed increase you must test on larger models Slic3r limits the minimum time per layer to 15 seconds and in case it is triggered print speed i...

Page 39: ...e starting gcode script Keep in mind you need to manually change that for different filament materials Only Slic3r PE has custom gcode for each filament preset and therefore K value is changed automatically Set the speed you want print something large enough for speed to show up If sharp corners have blobs increase K value If you see missing filament decrease the K value Please note that different...

Page 40: ... Commercial Models not to be used commercially you must always include the name of the author or for a small fee We have selected the most interesting sites with high quality models 1 http www thingiverse com 2 https pinshape com 3 https www youmagine com 4 http www shapeways com 5 http www 123dapp com 10 2 In what program you can create your own models To create a 3D model yourself you need a ded...

Page 41: ...ount of filament to extrude The right tool for this task and for many more is the PrusaControl program You set the printing material print quality and the print speed in PrusaControl You can manipulate the object here varying the placement on the printbed resize it etc PrusaControl is the easiest way to get perfect prints on the MK2 MK2S and should be used when first experiencing the 3D printing w...

Page 42: ...ep are 0 1 inner circle step is 45 4 Auto arrange button positions objects on the print bed 5 Material selection menu 6 Quality Speed setting of a print menu 7 Infill menu 8 Supports menu 9 Reset transformation settings button 10 Position values 11 Rotation values 12 Scale values 13 Place on bed button turns on automatic placing of objects to Z 0 14 Brim On Off button 15 Model preview 16 Generate ...

Page 43: ... PE directly Pict 26 Slic3r interface 1 Add button loads models into Slic3r 2 Delete and Delete All buttons remove the model s from Slic3r 3 Opens the detailed settings of print filament and printer 4 When the model is ready for print this button generates the gcode file 5 Quality Speed setting of a print 6 Material selection 7 Printer selection 8 Right click on model opens the menu with rotate re...

Page 44: ...nting benchmark 10 6 Print in color with ColorPrint There is a simple way on how to create layer based multicolored 3D prints with PrusaControl or with our simple online ColorPrint app by manually changing the filament Pict 28 Multicolored object printed with ColorPrint ColorPrint is now directly integrated into the PrusaControl and filament changes can be added when the gcode is already generated...

Page 45: ...ader menu Drag the gcode to frame and click on Add change button Find the height of the layer where you want to make the color change This can be easily found in Slic3r under tab Layers The scale along right side displays the height of individual layers Set this number to the box Number of these changes is unlimited When you are done with your modification download the file This file is ready to b...

Page 46: ... the current filament You will get asked to insert the new filament When you do so and continue filament will be pulled into the hotend and LCD will display Changed correctly with three options 1 Yes Everything went ok and printing can continue Check if the new color is clear without any remains of the previous filament if yes choose this option to continue printing with a new color 2 Filament not...

Page 47: ...peratures and settings 10 7 Printing of non standard models Slic3r helps you while printing the non standard models as models with overhangs and or models larger than a printing bed 10 7 1 Printing with support material When you print models you can find special cases different from standard printing The first case is printing with support material If you print an object with a gradient lower than...

Page 48: ...inting Another special printing case is when printing objects larger than the heatbed First option is to resize the object to a printable size Right click on an object in Slic3r opens a menu with the Scale option then you choose Uniformly if you want to scale down the model evenly or you can alter the size of a model along the one of the axes Along X Y Z axis Pict 32 Size change of a printed objec...

Page 49: ...r you have to cut the object using Slic3r Right click and choose the Cut option in menu You can cut the object horizontally if you need to perform a cut in a different axis use the Flip option in the same menu Pict 33 Cutting the object with the Cut option 49 ...

Page 50: ...ents The best use of ABS is architectural models concept models spare parts car interior gears phone cases etc On the other hand thermal contraction is where ABS makes it really hard to successfully print something And that s especially true when printing anything big Even with the heatbed at 100 C your part may start lifting from the build plate and warp This and the unpleasant smell of ABS is wh...

Page 51: ...mperatures over 60 C The combination of being both biodegradable and having low temperature resistance means that it s not ideal for outdoor use not to mention low UV resistance Also PLA is only soluble in chemicals like chloroform or hot benzene So when connecting multiple pieces you re better off just using glue Even though PLA is biodegradable and the material on its own is food safe we do not ...

Page 52: ...presets in Slic3r or Prusa Control we already did that for you and the amount of stringing is minimal If you witness a tiny bit of stringing anyway you can get rid of it by quickly blasting your finished prints with a heat gun PETG sticks very well to PEI which is generally a good thing But sometimes t could stick a little bit too well and you could rip a piece of PEI from the bed so you should us...

Page 53: ...n set the bed temperature between 80 to 110 C depending the size of an object larger object means higher temperature Heatbed Make sure the surface is clean as described in 6 3 2 PEI print surface preparation chapter 11 5 PP Polypropylene is a flexible and resistant material suitable for printing of the precise objects requiring the flexibility firmness and persistence ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES Toug...

Page 54: ...ng Flex loosen the extruder idler screws Keep in mind that when printing from Flex the automatic filament change function may not work properly Flexfill has very good abrasion resistance remains flexible in cold environments and is resistant to many solvents It doesn t shrink much when cooling down so you can be fairly accurate with your measurements and perfect fit models ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES...

Page 55: ...able After sanding a big improvement in polish can be achieved with steel wool or brass brush If you re still not happy with the finish you can try wet sanding with a very fine grit 1500 ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES Easy to print Needs hardened nozzle No warping Great look after post processing Nozzle temperature 190 210 C Bed temperature 50 70 C bigger object higher temp Heatbed Make sure the surface...

Page 56: ...If you do not have anything else on hand use the bundled glue as a separator after cleaning it Windex or similar windows cleaner is a great option for nGen and you don t need to use the glue after the cleaning Spray small amount on unscented paper towel and wipe the print surface 11 11 PC ABS E3D Polycarbonate ABS PC ABS is an enhanced version of traditional ABS Offers easier processing higher str...

Page 57: ...flow All of these can be changed even during a print from the Tweak menu on the LCD panel Same also applies even for materials which are not listed here Take the manufacturer suggested settings find the closest match in Slic3r material profiles modify and save as new Continue by printing few simple test pieces and continuously use the Tweak menu After each improvement don t forget to modify the se...

Page 58: ...r spray will get the dust away and tweezers can be used for little plastic strands 12 1 3 Extruder drive gear The hobbed drive gear on the extruder motor shaft can have build up of filament shavings in the grooves and cause under extrusion A small brass brush is ideal tool to clean the grooves but regular toothpick will do the job as well Check and clean from the access window on the left of the e...

Page 59: ...the nozzle remove the filament from the extruder and cut the rod about 10 cm above the damaged part The next step is to clean the extruder There is a service hole on the left side of the extruder where you can access the hobbed pulley pict 34 Clean the hobbed pulley then heat the nozzle before reloading the filament If a problem persists you will have to clean the nozzle Pict 34 Cleaning the extru...

Page 60: ... to at least 200 C Heating the nozzle is crucial for removing the old nozzle and putting in the new one 1 Move the extruder body upwards to get to the nozzle end LCD menu Settings Move axis Move Z Set the height by rotating the LCD knob and then confirm 2 Unscrew the screw on fan mouthpiece and the two screws on the print fan and remove both parts Pict 35 part 1 3 Remove the two front screws on th...

Page 61: ...Pict 35 Nozzle change 61 ...

Page 62: ...ger models printed from ABS If you have set the temperature properly the printer is away from drafts and object design is right the printed object should not break The easiest way to avoid breaking or overall model fragility is to choose a different material The strongest are PET HIPS and PLA while PLA has low heat resistance PET is the firmest and has the lowest thermal expansion 12 8 Updating pr...

Page 63: ...w these steps Align the Y axis so that each Y corner is sitting on the table none should be off the table Align the tightening of each Y axis threaded rod so that each Y corner is perpendicular facing upright to the table surface Align the tightening of each Y axis threaded rod so that each M8 threaded rod is at a right angle to the M10 threaded rods the Y axis must form a perfect rectangle when v...

Page 64: ...to the assembly manual Pict 37 Proper wiring of the connectors 13 3 Printer can t read SD card First make sure that the file name on the SD does not contain special characters otherwise the file could not be displayed on LCD If there is no error in the file name check the EXT2 wiring from electronics to LCD If the cable is connected properly try to swap the cables 64 ...

Page 65: ... to check is printing a round object if any of the belts are not tightened properly the result is an irregular shape instead of a perfect circle Y axis belt is located under the heatbed X axis belt moves the extruder See the pictures with properly tightened belts Pict 38 A properly tightened Y axis belt under the heatbed Pict 39 A properly tightened X axis belt 65 ...

Page 66: ...tached cables to the heatbed Do not forget to use a spiral wrap on heatbed cables and attach the cables properly so they won t restrict movement during printing Pict 40 Cables to be wrapped in a spiral wrap 66 ...

Page 67: ...Print and share Do not forget to tag your prints with prusai3mk2 while sharing so we can find pin and showcase them with our http www prusa3d com original prusa i3 prints Happy Printing 67 ...

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