Unresolved Auto-Leveling triggering in mid-air

Well I finally got my first real print on my R1+ to work yesterday and as I was moving onto the second my printer started acting strange. It seemed to start the part alright, but as it progressed it started laying out material too high. By the time I stopped it, it was laying material a good inch above the surface of the bed (and it was only a few minutes into the print, on layer 2 or 3).

Upon further investigation I noticed that during the auto-leveling phase of each build, the printer would work as normal for points (the spots it touches on the platform) 1-3, then on points 4 and 5 it would move and stop in mid air and then move onto the next point. Points 6-8 worked fine and point 9 also stopped in mid air.

I'm not sure what would have caused this, I've made no changes to my settings since my first print. Any thoughts?

I'm using the MatterControl software that came with the printer, with mostly default settings (I only changed small things like build speed and infill %). The software seems to be set to "Hardware Leveling" (as I assume it was by default).

Any ideas?

 

Check your z axis switches and make sure the carriage is level. usual cause is z axis switch not seated

 

So, after testing with a multi-meter, it looks like the switches are operating correctly by themselves, but that the carriage doesn't always push them down all the way for some reason. Does something need to be lubricated perhaps (there was a tube of lube in the box)?

Also worth noting, it appears that the "Home Z" function doesn't do anything now, even when both Z switches are down and triggered (manual control of the Z-axis still works fine though).

 

So apparently the left side z-axis lead screw was WAY out of position relative to the right side. I adjusted the screw manually to align them and it seemed to correct this issue for now. Not sure what would have caused this in the first place though.

Any suggestions for avoiding this problem in the future?

 

Shouldn't zeroing the Z axis between builds correct for those small movements over time? Or are you suggesting that there might have been a significant enough change that happened suddenly?

Does zeroing the Z axis correct for unevenness between the two lead screws at all?

 

I don't mean tilt in the bed, I'm talking tilt along the X carriage between the two Z lead screws (the screw on one side gets lower than the other, causing the carriage to be high on one side and low on the other).

I would have figured that since each side has a limit switch the homing or auto-level would correct imbalances?

 

Is it normal to have the X-Axis tilt go from 0 degrees (exactly level) to 1.5+ degrees over the course of a print? Cause it's happening to me literally every print (and I'm watching the offset grow larger and larger as it prints a part). It's making anything taller than about 2" or so basically unprintable.

I have to manually level the X-Axis after EVERY SINGLE PRINT, this cannot POSSIBLY be normal. The error is occurring WHILE the print is in progress, not due to external forces after. Not only that, but the issue seems to be getting worse and worse with each consecutive print, even in spite of leveling between builds.

I have worked with 3 other 3D printers in the past few years, and none of them have ever had ANY issues like this.

Related media:
Photos of Z-axis offset post-build: http://imgur.com/a/CKlY5
Video of weird texture from resulting prints (and a new, loud, grinding noise while printing):

 

Wouldn't stepper drivers/motors going out be something you would expect to occur over time? My printer is brand new (literally just got it on 9/17/16). If the parts were defective from the start, wouldn't they have just failed immediately, or worked for a while and then just stopped?

 

I did contact them on Monday to help troubleshoot these issues, and they did suggest a few adjustments which I followed (tightening belts, pulleys, etc.), but they have seemed to have stopped responding to my followup emails on this subject (and is it just me, or does their "24/7" support seem to not answer the phone after 5pm EST? Their "press 1 to hold" option just loops you back to the main menu when I've called).

 

I had some issues in the beginning too. 24/7 support is wrong. Period. False.
I have had good luck with email. Just have to be patient and accept that it will take days for email back and forth.
I eventually took my Robo down to San Diego myself (made an appointment) and they worked with me to resolve the issues under warranty. Good people, very small shop, very helpful.
Just realize you have to be patient, and 24/7 doesn't exist.