Answered Ive got a major z axis problem

So ive finally gotten my 3D printer up and running and just finished wiring in my extruder. My pc found the printer and finally gave me an option to print the calibration circle. BUT THE DARN THINGS Z AXIS IS WAYY OFF. Also the printer seems to keep running too far on the x axis somtimes and just makes that super loud vibration noise. If someone knows how I should approach this problem, please and I mean PLEASE let me know

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

If by "THE DARN THINGS Z AXIS IS WAYY OFF" you mean that the printer is trying to print the first layer way up in the air or gouging it into the print bed, then that's a matter of setting the Z offset. This can be adjusted with the M565 g-code command. You'll need to experiment with it (setting various offsets with the Z option, as in "M565 Z-1.1", adjusting the "-1.1" part up or down as necessary) to get it right. Set this command in the start g-code produced by your slicer or issue it between prints and then save the result with M500. I thought there was a FAQ thread on this site that covered this issue, but I couldn't find it. I did find this thread on the topic, so perhaps that will help.

As to the noises and inconsistent X-axis movement, that could be caused by a loose or damaged X-axis wire. I suggest you check the connections on both ends -- at the X-axis stepper motor (you may need to remove the top cover for better access) and at the control board (you'll have to turn the printer on its side and remove the bottom; each axis input is marked on the control board). If both ends are secure, you may have to replace the wire, which will be a bit of a pain, so you might try other suggestions before replacing the wire. In fact, I suppose a bad or poorly adjusted stepper driver might account for these symptoms, too. Here's a page on adjusting stepper driver current. A stock Robo3D R1+ uses what that page calls manual current control.

 

Thank you so much Rod Smith, but where would I put in the G code? Im still super new so I dont know if I wanna go with MatterControl or repitear.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

Most slicers offer an option to set the start g-code, which is sent at the beginning of each print. My version of MatterControl is pretty old (version 1.7.5), since I've long since stopped using it; but it's under View->Settings; then select Printer and Custom G-Code. There will be a panel marked Start G-Code; enter the M565 command there and observe the results. There should be a similar option somewhere with just about any slicer. Try a Web search on "slicername start g-code" to find directions on where to set it. If the printing is happening too high, adjust the M565 value down (more negative, most likely); if it's printing too low, then increase the value up (less negative, most likely). If it's very badly off, you might need to adjust it by 0.5 (mm) or more; but changes of 0.02 (mm) or so can have a significant impact on printability, so it may take a while to fine-tune this. Mine is currently set to -1.02, but this is using a different control board and firmware, so it may be measured in a different way and therefore not very relevant. My very old MatterControl configuration had a value of -1.35, but I don't recall if that was working well or not. A tip: Try using MatterControl (or Pronterface or whatever) to home the printer (via a G28 command), then try to slide a piece of paper under the nozzle of the printhead. If the Z offset is correct, you should be able to feel just a little resistance with the paper. If you can't fit the paper under the nozzle because it's so close to the bed, then the Z offset is too close, and if the paper moves without any resistance, then the Z offset is too far. You can type a new M565 command at the console, re-home, and try again until the paper feels just a little resistance. This approach is likely to be quicker than trying to adjust it in the start g-code and printing -- but you'll need to either type M500 to save it to memory or set the value in the slicer's start g-code. (The latter will override the former on a per-print basis.)

Unfortunately, the Robo3D R1+'s bed probe isn't all that precise, so the optimum can vary from one print to another. This can be very annoying. Many 3D printer owners use LCD control panels, which enable adjusting this value mid-print. This should be possible with a live USB connection to the printer, too, but I've never gone very far with doing that, so I can't offer much guidance on how to do that.

 

Figured seeing it would make it easier then me explaining it

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

If i were to add auto bed leveling, would I also need to do that other fix you were talking about? Also if you could send those to me, Ill pay you for it

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

OK, I see several issues here, some of which are more serious than others:

• It seems as if your X endstop is not triggering, or is triggering late, resulting in that horrible grinding noise when the printer tries to home the X axis. This could be caused by a bum switch, bad wiring, or something else.
• There are some wires hanging below the hotend's nozzle. Once you get the printer actually printing, these will end up dragging across your print, damaging it. Find some way to get these wires up above the bottom of the nozzle. One way might relate to the next point....
• You've got what looks like an E3D V6 hotend cooling fan mounted weirdly in front of the hotend assembly pointing straight down (or up). I suspect the intent is that this work as a print cooling fan, but it's a very poor position for that. There are lots of designs on Thingiverse for more sensible print cooling fan ducts. It's not critical that you fix this right away, although if the hanging wires connect to the fan, removing it will also fix that problem.
  
• The main question about which you're posting is the print head moving up when you try to start a print. On an R1+ model, this would most likely be caused by a Z-probe/Z-limit switch activating prematurely. There are two of these switches in the R1+, one on each side of the X-axis gantry, near the Z lead screws. I had problems with this on my printer because the two Z axes would get out of sync with one another, causing the X-axis gantry to tilt, and therefore causing one or the other of the switches to trigger when the printer tried to probe the bed. The short-term solution was to turn off the printer (or disable the motors) and turn one of the lead screws to make the X gantry parallel to the bed. The long-term solution was to replace the limited 8-bit control board with a better one that supports auto-leveling the X-axis gantry. (I believe there's a feature in Marlin 2.x that would enable doing this without a motherboard swap, but I dislike Marlin enough that I didn't look into this in any detail.) All this said, it looks like you've got an R1, not an R1+, and I don't recall offhand if the R1 has the same sort of bed probing that the R1+ does. Thus, it could be there's some entirely different cause. Even if your printer has the same sort of bed probing as mine, it could be that the cause is different in your case. As with the X-axis grinding, for instance, it could be that a switch or wire is bad.

As a sort of meta-comment, it might be worth opening the printer up (turning it on its side and taking off the bottom panel) so that you can examine where all the wires converge on the motherboard. Given that you've got at least a couple of problems that could be caused by wiring issues, it's conceivable that some wires have worked loose from the motherboard, so you might need to re-connect them. Note that one wire connects to a cooling fan in the case's bottom, so you'll have to remove that to fully remove the case bottom. Don't just yank the bottom away once it's unscrewed; pull it out gently until you can unplug that fan's wire.

Also, this problem has nothing to do with setting the Z offset, as I suggested you check in an earlier response. That sort of problem can result in the printer printing a fraction of a millimeter up to a millimeter or two away from the bed, but it's not likely to be up several centimeters from the bed, especially not when you've set a Z offset of -0.1 in your start g-code, if I caught that correctly.

 

Jesus, if it has That many problems, i might as well just sell it

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

Most of those problems are easily resolved. Aligning the X-axis gantry (if that's what's causing the failure) takes but a few seconds, and that's your biggest immediate problem. Fixing the X endstop may take some more sleuthing, but the actual fix will probably be very simple. The fan is more of a weirdness than a problem, and moving the wires up above the print nozzle will take just a few seconds and a twist-tie.

One thing to keep in mind is that 3D printers, at least at the price point of the Robo3D R1 series, aren't appliances like cell phones, 2D printers, or toasters; they don't "just work." Instead, you're buying a hobby. 3D printers require careful calibration and they break frequently, thus necessitating TLC to get working again. To be sure, some are better than others. I gather that Prusa machines are pretty reliable, but I've never owned one and so can't comment from personal experience -- and the Prusa i3 Mk3S+, which is closest to the Robo3D R1 in size and design, cost $749 as a kit or $999 pre-assembled. Even new, the R1+ was only about $500. There's some truth to the adage that you get what you pay for.

 

So what should be my approach, or in better words what should be my resolve checklist?



Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk