Upgrade Prusa MK3 To MK3S - Walkthrough - Chris's Basement
We walk through what is involved to upgrade your Prusa MK3 to a MK3S.
00:00 Intro
00:48 The Kit
01:28 Printed Parts
02:02 MK3 Disassembly
07:15 Hardware Install
26:16 Firmware
28:02 Calibration
30:50 Conclusion
Link to the MK3S upgrade guide:
manual.prusa3d.com/c/Original...
Prusa MK3S upgrade kit, not affiliated:
shop.prusa3d.com/en/upgrades/...
Prusa MK3S upgrade printed parts:
www.prusa3d.com/prusa-i3-prin...
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Thanks for going through every step. I got a box of parts for free that turned out to be an MK3 with a disassembled head and parts for MK3 and MK3S. Apparently an aborted MK3S upgrade.Thanks to you laying out the kit parts, I was able to print a couple missing parts at the local makerspace and complete the upgrade, thanks to you and this video.
Awesome, glad this turned out helpful for you.
I was really nervous about taking my printer apart until I watched this. Thank you for this detailed step by step video. Wish me luck! 😄
Glad it helped! Good luck!
Always a brilliantly clear presentation, helpful close-ups, tips & tricks.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chris! This is very helpful.
You're very welcome!
Chris. Thank you. I have had the upgrade for months in the cupboard and only installed it after watching this video. I watched it twice and performed the upgrade using the pause and rewind functions. Perfect result. Thank you again for your hard work.
Awesome, glad it was helpful.
Great video again Chris, made my upgrade go super smooth.
I'm glad I could help. Thanks for watching
You explain things very very well, thank you.
Thanks Sergio, your support is always appreciated.
This has been one of the best instructional video's, thank you
Glad it was helpful!
great video and thanks for doing this. just ordered m y upgrade and being able to see it done first is a great help.
Great! I am glad it was helpful.
Thank you very much for these informational reviews
You're very welcome.
Thanks Chris - about to do the upgrade and this is a good reference.
You're very welcome!
Thanks Chris, wish I had this when i did my upgrade!!
I was too late! LOL, thanks for watching!
Thanks for taking the time to make this video. I'm about to upgrade my mk3 to an mk3s and while the prusa docs are fantastic, it's great to see a live walkthrough. I appreciate it!
Awesome, glad to help.
very helpful . many thanks. one of the best how to's on this subject.
Great! Glad it worked for you.
Amazing video! This was immensely helpful in my upgrade. You are very thorough and have great camera angles that make it easy to follow the guide. Keep up the great work. Subscribed!
Thanks Travis!
I had this video on one monitor, and prusa's instructions on the other. You made it super easy to upgrade! Thanks for the video!
Awesome! Glad it helped you.
Another useful video, great work Chris !!!
Thanks Ron!
dude, your timing is on point for me because my upgrade just arrived a few minutes ago. super helpful!
Great! Hope it's helpful!
@@ChrisRiley update: succesfully upgraded my printer. took me a few hours for assembly and calibration. thanks again
@@91DevilDriver91 Very nice!
Chris with the weapons-grade knowledge as usual. Got the dreaded print fan error, so now was as good a time as any to strip it down and do the upgrade. Awesome stuff, man!
Thanks man!
Nice Walkthrough Thanks for sharing😀👍
Thanks Asger!
Thanks for putting together this great MK3S upgrade guide, Chris. It was super helpful and better than the official Prusa written walk through. Top job! Subscribed.
Thanks Nathan!
Thank you Chris this helped me a lot
Great! Glad to hear it!
This is the best guide ever. Thank you so, so much for making this incredibly thorough, detailed, and well-filmed guide. You rock!
Thanks, glad it helped!
Just now upgraded, and found out about the ‘+’. Thank you for walking me through this process, it was extremely helpful
Glad it helped! Thanks for watching
Hi Chris, just adding my gratitude for a fantastic video giving a brilliant step by step guide on doing the Mk3 to Mk3S upgrade. It did take me from 10 in the morning to 6:45 in the evening and I've yet to switch it on and do the calibration by without your assistance it would have taken much longer.
Great to hear and glad to help!
@@ChrisRiley Software updated and calibration completed. It all seems to be working fine.
Thanks Chris for another great and very throughout video. Prusa should put a link to it on their site to help those who haven’t done the conversion yet.
Thanks Patrick!
Thanks man, appreciate it.
Thanks for watching Douglas!
Good job Chris! My MK3 had runaway print. Ended up with a hard blob which ripped out themistor and heater wiring. Ordered a new E3D hot end. Went ahead and ordered the MK3 to MK3s upgrade kit... Might as well. Gonna use your vid as reference once all the parts get here. Thanks bro!
Awesome! I hope it helps you out.
Greatly enjoyed. Well done. I've been putting this off for many years. I had a filament jam that is requiring me to pull out the hot end so it's time. My old filament sensor broke a long time ago.
Glad it helped! Good luck with your projects
Nice video! Prusa generally doesnt really tell you what the precise changes are, this shows them completely
Thanks! Glad it was helpful.
The new extruder design is great for servicing. I feel like I can do it in my sleep now! No more having to take everything apart to clear jams. Anyway Chris great job. By far the best technical content for 3D printing on the KZhead’s
Thanks Stephen! Agreed, it's a lot easier to work on.
I have no interest in this printer but I support you man. Letting it roll ads and all.
Thanks Ronny!
Thank you so much for this video !
Thank you for watching!
very helpful, thanks!
Thanks Patricio!
Great video. It was thorough and informative enough to convince me to stay with my MK and not bother upgrading or just buy an MK3S
Sweet! Thanks for watching!
Thank you. I had the parts since 2019 but life happened and I was unable to upgrade. I set aside 7 hours (I was being extra careful) and got it complete. Excellent vid.
That great, thanks!
Thanks great and useful video.
Thanks for watching Robert!
Well done
Thanks Doug!
Thanks for sharing! Cheers. : )
Thanks for watching!
@@ChrisRiley Just finished upgrade. Your vid helped! : )
Thanks for the nice video - just successfully upgraded using your instructions. Please note: The printed parts now include a small adaptor for the connection of filament sensor cable to the board to avoid misalignment. Check Prusa's online guide for electronics assembly of the upgrade.
Glad you liked it, thanks for the tip on the part.
Very good video as usual mate and I'm fussy. Here's a little twist; I bought a non working MK3 and it is coming with a Bondtech upgrade still in its box and ready to install box but I won't be using it. I've ordered the upgrade to a MK3S+ which goes past the Bondtech upgrade. I'm super keen to be once again, getting the hex tools out and getting under the hood. Thanks again mate; I'll be following your instructions quite soon.
Awesome, good luck with your projects!
thank you very much
Thanks for watching Mike!
Great video I don't even have a prusa printer and I watched the entire video
Thanks for watching.
Another great video, please don't take this the wrong way because you really do a great job I would sometimes like to see a closer shot of those things you say are really important, for the older eyes watching. Could you make a video of Duet vs is it Marlin what is the difference or benefit. Also your so fast at everything you do and its so normal and your understanding is so complete that I think if you turned around and looked after the dust settled you see us trying to catch up. I'm sorry proffesor if that dampens your day. I will get the upgrade soon and rewatch this video of yours. Thanks again for you hard work.
Thanks for the input. It is hard for me to get in tight with the webcam setup I have, but I can try to work up something. Duet vs Marlin is a video I have thought about before, I will see what I can work up.
Nice one Chris. You sound so much like Chris Fix 😁
LOL, thanks!
Purely my opinion, this is one of the best printers out there.
Totally agree with you!
Great video as always! While we didn't need the upgrade I was curious about that idler door pin. Our original one has now crept out of place twice. I was wondering if the kit had a new longer one. Other than gluing the pin in place, was looking for some way to keep it in place.
Not sure on the pin. Mine is super tight and really hard to get in and out. Just out of curiosity, have you tried printing the part yourself? Any difference?
Not yet, but that was one of my options. That pin needs to be a tad longer to avoid shifting.
I remember building the extruder housing the first time. It took me over 3 hours (and all my gummies). As much as I'd love to try the upgrade, there's no way I'm doing that assembly all over again : )
LOL, I hear ya.
Thank this help
Happy to help! Thanks for watching
Great Video! I did the upgrade a while back and had an issue with the sensor not working correctly. It would keep telling me to reload the filament over and over again. Thing:3452597 has a slightly larger area that interfaces with the sensor and it fixed the issue for me.
Thank you! Nice! Thanks for the link!
Wish I saw this while upgrading my mk2 to mk2.5s. Same new extruder carriage.
Thanks for watching anyway. :)
I made my upgrade with you : )
Sweet! Glad I could be helpful on this one!
Finally did my upgrade and had the documentation up and this video.. Putting the screws in some nuts in was a pain and very had to get seeded. But i got it going and working. Take your time!! Don't rush!! Have you done any videos on hotend upgrades? aka is gold worth it?
I haven't really done any hotend upgrades. The gold is the same, just a different color.
Yeah I just upgraded my mk3+mmu2 to mk3s+mmu2s. Well worth it, the new sensor is really good. The mmu2s is also way more reliable.
Cool man, I agree, I love the new MK3S filament sensor, a great idea.
Did you do the "Chimney" Upgrade without the Steel Ball? What instruction was the right? I think its very confusing, wich manual you have to use. I have the same combination like you.
@@plastikschmiede2017 Yes, I have done the MMU2S upgrade on one of the machines, here is the link for that. manual.prusa3d.com/c/Original_Prusa_i3_MK3S_to_MMU2S
14:50 I broke this part.. but it wasn't easy. There was no way it was ever going in. So I glued it back together, because I couldn't print it (with my printer dismantled!).. in hindsight (and next time), I'll just use a 3mm drill bit to open it up a bit.
Yeah, I was worried I was going to break that one as well.
Chris I hope you read this - your videos are amazing and crazy helpful. Keep it coming. Just sent you some goodness via paypal. Thanks again!
I try to read all the comments. Thank so much for the Paypal, I am very glad the videos are helpful.
great video ++++++
Thanks TC!
@@ChrisRiley Where can I find a hex screw driver like you have? I cant find one anywhere!!!!
@@cruzekid1031 I got mine from Amazon www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-48-22-2106-Multi-Bit-Driver/dp/B00D5YLGWO/ref=sr_1_22?crid=2QW4IXPVRYA0&keywords=milwaukee+tools+hex+driver&qid=1561125370&s=gateway&sprefix=milw%2Caps%2C184&sr=8-22
Great video! Have a question why does Prusa recommend black PETG?
It's because on the IR sensor. It works better if when triggered it is completely blacked out. You really only need to worry about the trigger flag piece.
Great video! Have you upgraded from MMU2 to MMU2S? Your MMU2 video was GOLD!
I have, I don't really care for the neset MMU2S filament sensor.
@David I have another MK3S that has the MMU2S upgrade on it that I use for the MMU2.
I will first buy a Prusa MK3 then i will upgrade it to MK3S , by the way i like your videos a lot .
Thanks Romio! All the new MK3's will already be upgraded, so you will be ahead of the game.
On 17:51 you noted that the video was running faster. Now I'm not entirely sure why that is happening, but in my case, when my Google Pixel XL overheats, the video will skip frames, and when imported in Premiere Pro (don't know what video editor you're using), it causes the audio and video to fall out of sync. I use version CS6, so I don't know if the new versions, or whatever video editor your using could be speeding up parts of the video to try and keep up with the audio.
Interesting, I think something happened after the encode process. I will have to pay more attention next time and see if I can figure it out.
Very nice. I’ve got my MMU2S and MK3S upgrade kits here ready to go when I get a chance. I think the MK3S and MK3S for MMU2S are pretty close...Just sensor difference I think. Do you know?
Thanks John. They are kinda close, but the MMU2S upgrade has a chimney. The idler door triggers the filament sensor. I have no clue why they did this, because the MK3S filament sensor works much better. The MMU2S filament sensor setup is designed to trigger as soon as the filament crosses the bondtech gears.
Chris, did you find the motor (hob gear) was a little too close to the filament path? Mine was forcing the filament out of the guide path. So I adjusted the motor as much as I could in the x- direction to try and make more room.
Yeah, it is really close. I had to get mine just right as well.
Have you ever tried to extend the z height of any of your printers? I'm ordering an Ender 3 and think the z axis could be easily extended with some new lead screws (perhaps the ones you mentioned in your lead screws video for more steps), maybe some new extrusions but I think a corner bracket with a turnbuckle connection to the base should reduce any wobble. Maybe extend out the base with some printed pieces or EMT for a wider base. What do you think would be the best/simplest/cheapest way to do this?
I've seen this mod done. Would not go more than 400mm usable area.
What if you extended the x and y axis as well to reduce the wobble? What if you added an enclosure from insulation foam with canvas to act as a bracing skin like on diy trailers? Those stand up to the rigors of highway winds, certainly that's more turbulent than a kg hotend traveling back and forth at 60-80 mm a second or small bed moving side to side. I wonder what the maximum build height is? 400mm, 500mm 1000mm? What if I bolt it into a wall?
If you can change the firmware, you can technically go as far as you want. I have seen things bolted to the wall over 12 feet high. There are limits, but it's caused by hardware/material limits.
Just wondering where you got your adapter from the MK3 before the upgrade for the filament where you can fit the PET tubes into. I am also interested in having one of these. Do you have any PET holder on the MK3 or just hanging them around?
Here is the part www.thingiverse.com/thing:2823965 and the couplers I used. www.amazon.com/YOTINO-Straight-Pneumatic-Connector-Long-Distance/dp/B078SRBDS7/ref=sr_1_10_sspa?keywords=10mm+ptfe+coupler&qid=1564333147&s=gateway&sr=8-10-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFZWlpXR1VRSTVQMTkmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA5NTcyODAyQzY3TEY1QkNZOUFVJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAxNjUwMDMxUVY5WTA5NTk3R1NEJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Looks like i am missing the filament sensor cable it‘s not even listed on the bag where it should be. I am not sure if i have to use the cable from the mk3 sensor and i really don't want to burn the sensor.
I think you should have gotten a cable, but they could be the same. I would touch base with support chat.
That’s the thing the cables are definitely different so i just contacted prusa and they said the cable should arrive in the next few days. Thanks for your advice!
While searching for an upgrade from MK3 to the MK3S I have seen users claim the PETG is not working for them; seems like they are referencing PETG drooping around the printer head where the heat is the highest. Have you heard this before?
I have never see this, I know the fan duct has to be ABS, but I have never heard of this drooping issue.
that is a great review, I am new to the 3dprinting thing and I never own or work on one of them. but I am so excited to buy my first 3dprinter with a budget of 1000 euro and I am really lost and confused. I was just about purchasing the Prusa MK3S DIY kit till I found something scared me a little bit. I am a communication engineer, so I can judge only on some electronic components. I am not a big fan of the EINSY RAMBo motherboard which based on "Arduino Mega". I believe all those boards are not designed for a pro user or heavy tasks/load which could generate unwanted heat that leads the board to produce un accurate printing. I like those boards just for small projects. I was excepting an advanced motherboard and this what scared me and push for watching more reviews. but maybe I am wrong about all of that and maybe this board is performing as it designed for. any advice would be appreciated
Hello, these boards are based on the mega for sure, but I can tell you, anything built by Ultimachine is a great product, the Einsy included. They are the same old chips, but the rest of the components are a lit higher grade. Outside of that, your other go-to option would be the Duet, there are a couple of printers out there now that are built with Duet boards, they're top-notch as well,
@@ChrisRileythanks for your quick response, I just went quickly today in the net to compare the Prusa with any other 3dprinter with the same price range and I could not find any printer near to it with respect to print quality. it looks they did a really good job in building this machine. Anyway, I do not have enough time to dig deeper with all hundreds of 3d printer and that because I volunteer to maintain a hospital's biomedical equipment due to the global COVID-19 virus situation. so I would be so appreciative if you know any better option than the Prusa with the same price tag. otherwise, I would purchase the Prusa MK3S i3. I feel it is the best option I have but you are the expert. Regards
@@anas7hamed I have looked at 100's of 3d printers, I can't find one that is even close to as good as the MK3 out of the box at this price point. Even at a much higher price point.
@@ChrisRiley I placed the order. unfortunately, it going to take 4-6 weeks before shipping. thanks a lot. king regards
Hello Chris, Great video... I am goping to order the mmu2 and this to upgrade my mk3... this will help!! What kind of screwdriver are you using with the hex bits??
I can't see what model Chris is using, but I have the Bahco BF-8577 and love it. From their website I can see the Bahco 808050, which have bits in the handle, if that is what you want.
Great! I use this one. www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-48-22-2106-Multi-Bit-Driver/dp/B00D5YLGWO/ref=sr_1_13?crid=1FQYSXYDVPQXQ&keywords=milwaukee+hex+screwdriver&qid=1559836417&s=gateway&sprefix=milwalkee+hex+scr%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-13
@@ChrisRiley - I ordered this one on you affiliate link: www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00D5YLG2Y?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image
Thanks Charlie, just a heads up that one is SAE, everything I have is metric.
@@ChrisRiley Yeah... totally missed that! Well... good reason to get the other one then!
Im printing the parts on my own. Is tjere any list where i can see all de bolts and nuts needed for the mk3s upgrade? Thanks!
Not that I know of, they are all listed in the assembly manual on Prusa's site.
Chris, overall about how much time did it take you without the recording and stuff to get each shot.
I would say about 2.5 hours total with firmware flash and all that.
I am working on a article about building a prusa mod and upgraded the printer to MK3s extruder. I printed all parts with ABS because I discovered that the old parts with PETG were a little bit melted in the near of the hotend. With the new MK3s I have a big problem. I have something like clicking. But only at the beginning for ,3 seconds. By the way: I printed the first time without silicon socks and got thermal runaway also with 50% fan speed. Do you have the same problem? My parts are printed perfectly because I use Dimafix Pen and I have no warping with this glue. I also discovered that first layer calibration is not helpful if you want to do mesh bed level correction. Because the main part is not exactly in the middle of the heatbed. Because of this my bed level correction was wrong and I got something like wobbles but it's not from axis because there are not constantly. And also not from filament because tolerance is 0.05%
Well, I haven't experienced any of those issues. I am not sure what is going on here.
@@ChrisRiley maybe I expect to much because if I see other results from other people on KZhead that are not better than my prints :)
How cool the come out with 3d printer
???
Thanks for watching Paul!
So for a disgruntled Prusa Mk3s/MM2S user who's about ready to give up on it, how do we change the MK3S/MMU2s modified extruder back to a straight MK3S extruder? :)
I thought about that, maybe we should walk through the MMU2S version and show how to go back to the MK3S.
I will have to get a Prusa someday! Do you like yours?
Save your money for something better.
@@TheRob2D Like what?
Man, I have 4 and they have all been awesome.
Everything went smoothly until the bondetec gear needed to come off... of course even though it was pre build the nut was stripped... so fuck, and what ever I do I can't get it off :-/
Doh! That sucks man, maybe you can take it to someone and have it pressed off? Might need a new gear though.
@@ChrisRiley i used micro grinder and split the gear in galf.. it was glued in, including the nut... im just waiting for new gear now
Why is it necessary to re-run calibration after this upgrade? You didn't change the frames geometry at all.
It's probably not, but since I moved the PINDA probe, I thought it would hurt just to re-run the wizard.
That edit at 6:00 when you're pulling the hot end out =( I've been tilting a pulling for an hour and no matter the angle I can't seem to remove the hotend without more force than the instructions imply I should use.
It is a tight fit, I have seen a few of these where the part got a little too hot and it was stuck a bit.
Got my mk3 and the upgrade arrived the day after I assembled it all...lmfao fml. ill do it later that wiring is a PITA haha.
lol, yep, wiring kinda sucks.
any before/after thoughts? any improvement to print quality?
Print quality, really no difference. The new filament sensor works a lot better.
Chris Riley Good to know. I'm still on the older cooling fan setup (no angle). Is the improved fan setup much better? Every once in a while I get inconsistent cooling on prints. Worse though is when i get filament jam from thermal creep on lower melt temp PLAs.
@@user-dm1tv6nl2e The part cooling is a bit better. I have had those jams on one of the printers. I removed the barrel and redid the heat compound. That seemed to solve it.
can you do a comparison?
I can give it a try.
When I buy the mk3 now will it already have these upgrades?
Yeah... I got one and they are shipping mk3s, no need to upgrade.
Correct, all now come upgraded like this.
@@ChrisRiley Thank you
@@WilliamShakour Thank you
To prevent the screw holes of the part cooling fan to be screwed up, I made this: www.thingiverse.com/thing:3452595
Very nice! Thanks for the link!
I’ve never seen a black noctua fan
🙂👍
Noctua Chromax
What? No SD card with files??? 😆
Ha! That would have been nice!
@@ChrisRiley 👍
Why on Earth did they take this excellent filament sensor arm and replace it with HOT GARBAGE that is the MMU2S idler door/sensor combo?! All they had to do was add a festo hole to this!!!
For the MMU2S upgrade you mean? I thought the same thing.
@@ChrisRiley yes for that, it's terrible! Hasn't worked consistently yet! I'm considering looking into if the einsy can support a digital encoder wheel mounted to the extruder.
“do you have a prusa i3 that you still have to...” Haha! No ;( I’m broooooke I really wish i could have one
No you don't.
@@TheRob2D why not
All my Prusa's work really well, super happy with them.
@@ChrisRiley *jealousy intensifies* :P
@@chloemcholoe3280 It tries to be too smart with all it's bells and whistles they trick you into thinking you need. And needlessly over complicated designs that change every few months. There's too many things to go wrong. Prusa just put the cart before the horse every time. And then when things fail, support don't want to know you. Meanwhile Josef is already at some show somewhere showing off the brand new MK5S.2 X with time travel mode that will bring your Benchy back to the past before it failed or some shit. Stick to your Anycubic, you'll get more value for your time and money.
I upgraded to the MK2.5S to sell my machine and now PLA is jamming all the time. Rebuilt the hotend three times now and still the same. Must be something in the new design that messes with the heat dissipation. I've lost count of how many times I've had to take my Prusa apart over the years for one problem or another. So sick of being in a constant beta program. Can't wait to be rid of this piece of demonic orange misery.
Some people say they have issues with the fan, you might try switching to s Sunon fan.
@@ChrisRiley Nah, it's not going to be around for much longer anyway.
@@ChrisRiley A new E3D titanium throat with a bit of thermal paste seems to have solved the issue.
@@TheRob2D Sweet! That's good to know.
Camera shake 😡
I know, hopefully I fixed it right after that.
Prusa such a joke 20$ for a print yourself upgrade kit xD nice
I thought $20 was pretty cheap.
You get PETG to print the parts + about 200g additional premium filament (~5$) , Some screws and springs (~1$) And I'd assume an IR Sensor+ cable costs at least 2$ from china so 20$ is a good deal considering you also buy the development time etc.
@@AgentSmith778 Agreed!