Friction

This week I upgraded my MK3s to the MK3s with the MMU2S. A very long time ago I owned the original MMU unit, the version 1 if I recall. It was a frustrating experience and I ended up removing it, packing back into its box and pushing it as far as I could in to the cupboard. I swore then I would never run a Prusa MMU unit ever again.

So why am I now installing the MMU2S? A good question. I have a need to be able to print in multiple colours for one particular project, infact I need more than four inputs. I currently have been using old but dependable Mosaic Palette Plus and its been pretty solid, almost. There have been a couple of times when the unit dumped its settings and I had to recalibrate the esteps, which is no big deal really. The MMUV1 unit was a nightmare in comparison, any filament that was outside its tight tolerances would result in blockages in the matrix and ptfe tubes. At that time it was difficult to source +/- 0.02 filament, the best I could find was +/-0.05 and that varied through the spool. So I was always having issues and well I through the towl in and removed the MMU.

Jumping forward a few years to the MMU2S. I had read as much as I could before I handed over my money. It seemed to me that there was a fair amount of people who had had issues. I was concerned. On the other side of this negativity where a number of users who where having some great experiences.

I decided to gamble and part with my cash.

Having run a number of prints through the MMU2s using all 5 inputs and of varying durations all I can say is ‘WOW’. I have had almost no interventions and every print has completed with out issues. The few interventions I have had have been my own fault really, silly little things. So here is my collection of tips, well one really….

Friction. The path from the MMU2S selector right through to the spools needs to run as freely as possible. Any tight curves in any of the PTFE tubes will add friction and cause failures.

…And friction when using the MMU is your enemy. Take whatever steps you can to remove it from your setup. Take note and go for the win.