I am womdering too, why to remove the Nextruders. I want to upgrade form 2 to 5, so I am reading the instructions here before to know how it works. My printer is new, so I guess I do not have to remove the two existing Nextruders to add the three next ones. Is there an opinion from Prusa to this point?
Hello, the reason why you need to remove the already installed Nextruders is that it will make it easier to work in the back and there is less risk of breaking something.
There is no strong reason to remove the existing docks. I did the full upgrade without removing them and having the tubes and the cables dangle was at most a mild annoyance. If you built an early version of the printer where the docks were a royal pain to put in (the new ones went in much more easily), do yourself a favor and don't remove them. Just disconnect the cables and the PTFE tubes.
It would be helpful to know *why* we are removing the Nextruders. I bought a kit to *add* Nextruders, not remove them! Something like: "We need to install some new electronics, so we'll need to first remove any installed Nextruders in order to access the electronics case" Those press-fit docks were kind of sketch to install. I'm worried removing them will loosen the fit. It would be nice to have a design where the upgrade doesn't require dock removal.
