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Z calibration wizard not working

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Leander Kahney, May 31, 2017.

  1. Leander Kahney

    Leander Kahney New Member

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    Just got my R2 and the second setup step -- calibrating the Z axis via the Z Offset Wizard -- isn't working. The bed rises up to the extruded nozzle and keeps going. It makes a horrible grinding noise as the motor and screw keep turning, jamming the bed upwards into the extruder. It doesn't auto cutoff, as I assume it should. Then the extruded nozzle starts to move, scratching the bed. At this point I do a hard power shutoff to prevent the R2 damaging itself.

    I'm stumped. I assume it should stop just short of the extruder nozzle, and then have me fine tune the gap via the touchscreen. Where's the shutoff switch for the z axis?

    Couple of things: When the printer arrived, the four adjustment screws under the bed seemed loose -- one actually fell off. So I tightened them. But the bed is still too high and grinds into the extruder assembly.

    I also called tech support three times. But each time, their phone system somehow hung up on me! Very frustrating!

    Any advice?
     
    #1 Leander Kahney, May 31, 2017
    Last edited: May 31, 2017
  2. pclabtech

    pclabtech Active Member

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    My printer is presently printing but I will check. The Z calibration routine stops about 10m from the extruder and you actually have to press "UP" several times. Taking a stab at this, I would guess that either the laser leveler in the print head assembly is blocked or isn't working, or the limit switch is not hooked up or dislodged.

    The auto level routine uses a laser, I haven't checked to see if the R2 has any physical limit switched to keep it from ramming the extruder. My guess is the laser leveler. I could be wrong.
     
  3. Leander Kahney

    Leander Kahney New Member

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    @pclabtech Thanks. I figured it out finally -- the bed was too high at the start of the calibration process. I manually wound the down all the way to the bottom of the printer by turning the set screw by hand. Lo and behold, it rose up and stopped short about 10mm of the extruded, as you said.

    Trying a test print now! Fingers crossed.
     
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  4. Leander Kahney

    Leander Kahney New Member

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    Ok. That didn't go well. It immediately ground the bed into the extruder, just like before.

    I'm beginning to suspect the laser leveler isn't working. There's a blinking red LED light at the back of the extruder head that lights up intermittently. Is that it?
     
  5. pclabtech

    pclabtech Active Member

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    Here is the routine (BTW try printing the R2_TEST_PRINT first ... I had my extruder get too close to the print platform when I used Gcode I had already saved from months ago. Apparently the safest thing to do is use Octaprint, or Cura 2.5 to convert your STL to Gcode to make sure it's compatible with the R2 settings.)

    When you start the print job, the platform raises to 10m from the extruder
    it will do a 4 by 4 grid, with the little red light you see, auto leveling 16 spots. The head never even gets near the build plate.
    After it does this, it goes to a home position (Front Left) and heats the print head.
    it will draw a single line in front of the build plate to extrude any extra plastic and park the head on the right
    it will wait for the build plate to heat up. When it is done the print job starts.

    What happens when you start the print job? Does the platform just rise until it hits the extruder? My calibration was -8.2m offset, I don't know what yours is, perhaps you should re-level the Z calibration again.
     
  6. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    I don't have an R2 ( most of us don't )

    I think it uses an Infared Sensor?, I just put one on my R1. At least on the IR Sensor I have which is made by a forum member here, the light only comes on when it senses something close to it.

    I'm sorry i can't help much do you have a picture of the sensor and the light?

    If you home it with a G28 ( home all axis button ) command does it stop before crashing the bed into the nozzle?
     
  7. pclabtech

    pclabtech Active Member

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    It probably is IR then, I just called it laser because it doesn't use physical limit switches for the Z axis calibration. I wonder if the IR is shining in the right direction... when I get done printing, I will look at where this light is. I hope the Robo people might be able to shed light on this as well (no pun intended)
     
  8. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    I really don't know much about the R2, but I Think it uses an IR sensor.

    if you home all axis (G28 from terminal window ) and the bed moves up and stops before crashing into the nozzle, then the sensor is probably working right..and its another setting issue that should be fixable.
     
  9. pclabtech

    pclabtech Active Member

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    I am sorry, I was assuming you were talking about an R2 (because you said you just got your R2 and are having problems with the Z calibration wizard) and this is the R2 troubleshooting forum. I was one of the first to get my R2 last Friday and have been posting my results and Youtube video of my unboxing of the printer.

    Do you have an R2?
     
  10. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    I do not have an R2, i was just trying to help the original poster troubleshoot. What I said about homing all the axis to see if the Z stop sensor is working should still apply.
     
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  11. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    the ir sensor people have on their R1 series and the ir sensor on the R2 are near identical to eachother. Sounds like yours is malfunctioning. Call Robo during buisness hours and request a replacement or a replacement unit (they'll make it right to you one way or another) if you cant get ahold of them shoot me a message and I'll try to reach out for you.
     
  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    C2 has the same sensor. Just make sure that the wires are connected to the sensor (none broken/knocked loose) and if you can look inside the printer bottom (with the bed UP lift the cover inside the bottom) and you can make sure there are not any wires knocked loose from the control board and the Raspberry Pi.

    I don't expect you will know where everything goes, but none should be hanging loose :)
     
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  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I do have at least one snapshot of the inside bottom with the control board and Pi in the thread where I unboxed the C2. Again, just make sure no wires are hanging loose.
     
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  14. Todd Wessendorf

    Todd Wessendorf Active Member

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    Not sure if similar issue here . . . . I've run the Z Offset wizard twice now. First time was -7.5 second time was -7.6 Both of them result in printing starting with the bed about 1cm too low. It starts the print job, but the bed is WAY too low. Can it be manually set? Am I missing a trick?
     
  15. Ed Ferguson

    Ed Ferguson Active Member

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    Todd - Same here at first. The Z Offset Wizard only gets you kinda close. Gotta do this instead:
    1. Connect the printer to WiFi.
    2. Update the printer's software over WiFi (mine needed updating).
    3. Now you'll have a Fine Tune Offset Wizard in the Utility section.
    4. Run the Fine Tune Offset Wizard. It prints a straight line. Use the up/down buttons to move the bed as needed. It then prints another line. Repeat adjustments until you have a semi-compressed line.
    5. Press Save.
    My Fine Tune Offset ended up being -7.64
     
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  16. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes. It can be manually tweaked.
    On the lcd
    Utilities->Options->EEPROM->Home Offsets

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
     
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  17. Todd Wessendorf

    Todd Wessendorf Active Member

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    This did the trick. Mine ended up being -6.0.

    Nice updates on the software upgrade as well.

    TW
     
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  18. Todd Wessendorf

    Todd Wessendorf Active Member

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    Liking the filament tube clips!
     
  19. Shrp77

    Shrp77 New Member

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    My R2 doesn't stop when it reaches the bottom. Afraid that the motor may burn out unless I turn it off... How important is the Z-level calibration wizard? Not so much?
     
  20. Talanvor

    Talanvor Member

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    @Shrp77 you can skip the calibration wizard with a lot of trial and error, but check your bottom z level switch for damage (lift the bottom cover and its located in the back left of the area) you may need a replacement part before your belts get damaged. you will need a mirror or camera - it is located under the long bolt that protrudes from the bottom of the tray assembly
     
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