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Answered *READ ME* My ROBO doesn't auto level correctly!? FAQ

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Ben R, Feb 24, 2015.

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  1. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    The squiggles indicate you're way too high.
     
  2. Vader1974

    Vader1974 New Member

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    I am still trying to get a handle on this stuff. Just when I think that I have it dialed in, she kicks me in the teeth.

    Please have a look and let me know your ideas.

    IMG_7719.JPG The top one is the bottom of my last "calibration box", the bottom is one of the first. Does it look like I am still too high with my z offset?

    IMG_7720.JPG This is the top of my last "calibration box", it has little bumps and is not very smooth.
     
  3. Stephen Capistron

    Stephen Capistron Active Member

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    Your z-offset seems pretty good to me.

    The bumps in the top are commonly called pillowing. This is a result of not enough top layers being printed. You can increase this in the software, aiming for 1+mm worth of a top surface is a good starting point.
     
  4. Vader1974

    Vader1974 New Member

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    Thanks. Here is the spool holder that I printed. The one on the right was printed at medium quality and the one on the left at high. Disregard the unfinished post on the left one (my computer shut down while printing and me sleeping). Overall I am pretty happy with these two pieces.
    IMG_7724.JPG

    Can I assume this is about as good of a print as I can achieve with the robo or will upgrades help (e3d hotend).

    When printing one of the spool holders I noticed that the raft and part did not print properly in the upper right section of the glass. Can I assume that the right side of my x axis is too close to the glass? See picture.
    IMG_7723.JPG

    Thanks.
    Brian
     
  5. Jason Vyff

    Jason Vyff New Member

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    So I'll apologize in advance for an extremely noobish question. Just got my printer a couple days ago and have been doing some test prints and my z offset seems to be keeping the extruder slightly too high off the glass. So in matter control, my z offset was set to 1mm and I set it to .85 to try and get it closer. It almost appears that it had the opposite affect. Do I need to set the z offset higher to make it closer to the printing bed? I plan on trying it when I get home from work tonight, but thought it's be best to ask the experts ahead of time.
     
  6. Vader1974

    Vader1974 New Member

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    I am a total newbie as well so take anything I say with a grain of salt. Changing to .85 should have brought the nozzle closer to the surface. Did you save the change before trying to print again? Also did you start a new print or just continue the original. I do not think that when I did not save the change or start a new print any of the changes actually went into effect.
     
  7. Jason Vyff

    Jason Vyff New Member

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    I did save the changes before starting a new print. I'm going to go through and make sure everything is level again. I noticed that the right side seems to like to lift up a bit more than the left so the switches aren't engaging together. I adjusted that the day prior but will try that again to see if it helps. All the other steps seems to be good, but it starts printing too high and doesn't get a good adherence to the bed. Then part way through the print, it'll start to curl and the whole print is messed up after that.
     
  8. Ben R

    Ben R Active Member

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    If you're using matter control and your changes don't seem to be making a difference, its because they arent.
    there's a bug where it does not pass the new changes to the slicer. It just keeps using the same old settings over and over.
    Its maddening.
     
  9. Jason Vyff

    Jason Vyff New Member

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    Well, I'm slowly getting closer, but I noticed something as I've been watching the beginning of my prints. The left side of my outline is generally squiggly, but the right side has a nice "smush" to it. When I'm printing the calibration cube, it's not filling in the bottom left side well either.

    So as I was watching it do the 9 point calibration, I saw the the first point (front left) taps the bed and looks good. 2nd (front middle), 3rd (front right), 4th (middle right), and 5th (middle middle) all tap the bed and set correctly as well. But the 6th (middle left) and 7th (back left) don't come down and make contact. Then the 8th (back middle) and 9th (back right) touch the bed properly as well. So I'm guessing that it thinks my printing bed has a back left to front right slant to it.

    In addition to that, my right Z screw (not sure of the technical term for it) always need to be adjusted by hand before starting any print since the leveling switch on that side always seems to have a gap compared to the left. So I've been leveling the right switch to match the left but not sure why or how it continues to drop about 2mm after each print.

    Any thoughts?
     
  10. Ben R

    Ben R Active Member

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    are you leveling the switches with head homed to the centre?
    I can't figure that one.
    are your switches working? because youre not autoleveling. hit up a M119. Send M119 in a terminal. then change the position of one switch at a time and ensure they're working
     
  11. Jason Vyff

    Jason Vyff New Member

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    Yes, I move the head to center and then level the switches. I sent the M119 command and z was triggered initially. So I checked and the right side was too low again. So I manually turned it to bring the switch up. M119 then showed z as open. Lowered the right again to trip the switch, z is triggered. Brought it open to make sure it showed open. Manually turn the left so the switch lowered and z was triggered. So it looks like my switches are both working.

    So with the head centered, I leveled the switches again. Started to print the 25mm test cube but level point 6 and 7 again don't get anywhere near making contact with the bed. It's about 15mm from the glass on each of those. But as soon as it checks the 8th spot (back center), it drops all the way down and makes contact again.

    I also noticed that after I cancel the print during the initial loops and the head resets to the left, that the right switch is then way to low and is leaving my z triggered when checking with M119.
     
  12. Ben R

    Ben R Active Member

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    what you're describing certainly sounds like your x axis isn't level... so.. since you seem to have a handle on that.
    check that your platten is not deformed in some way. if one of the magnets isn't seated properly you may be too far out of level to auto level. Check your platten/y axis to make sure everything is reasonably level there.
     
  13. Stephen Capistron

    Stephen Capistron Active Member

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    Make sure all Z components are well lubed; white lithium grease is good.

    Make sure the black plastic piece that hugs the nut is snug and not sliding down as you go.
     
  14. Jason Vyff

    Jason Vyff New Member

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    Thanks for the advice. I re-seated the printing bed to make sure the magnets were sitting properly and all is well there. I manually set the print head in matter control to just a paper's width above the glass at dead center on the x and y axis and then moved the planes to check all 4 corners. The nozzle is nearly exactly the same distance from the glass at all positions and doesn't ever scrape the glass or create a gap as it's moving, so the bed it level. I lubed the end stop nuts so they are running smoothly as well. And lastly, checked the end stops to make sure they weren't loose on the nut either. They are both quite snug.

    I called tech support this afternoon, they recommended trying to remove and reset up the printer in matter control to ensure no glitches with the computer connection. They also recommended upgrading the firmware, but I had already done the upgrade on Friday. The new firmware seems to help a bit, still misses the two points during calibration frequently, but when I can get it to hit all 9 cleanly, my calibration cube as well and my spindle holders then printed pretty well. But it's only about 1 out of 5 attempts that will hit all the auto leveling points clean. The other 4 still missed middle left and back left every time.

    If re-adding the printer to matter control (and maybe re-installing matter control entirely) don't help, I'll be setting up an appointment with one of the engineers to work through the issue.
     
  15. TommyFilth

    TommyFilth New Member

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    Good info here, thanks for the post.
     
  16. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    How do I do this with simplify3d?

    I am getting very inconsistent results.

    I homed it raised it 2mm lowered it slowly until a sheet of paper fit under it. that was 0.8

    So I set simplify3d's Z offset to -0.8 went to print.. printed in mid air. changed it to 0.8 instead. same result.

    Tried -0.5 and printed a PERFECT cube of 20x20x20.

    So I go to print another thing ( didnt change settings ) prints way high same settings. go to print again.. too low won't extrude. Why is mine different every time with the same settings?
     
  17. Stephen Capistron

    Stephen Capistron Active Member

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    I don't use S3D so my comments will be a bit generic. G code is case sensitive so double check all of that. When people do the paper level trick it is usually done with the printer off.

    1. Put the paper on the bed, slide the carriage all the way over to one side and manually turn the rod on that side until it just touches.
    2. Slide the carriage to the right and turn the right side until it just touches.
    3. Repeat one or two more times until the nozzle just barely touches everywhere across the bed.

    The limit switches can be a little fussy, when you run G29 does it make contact everywhere?

    If you think it is a software issue, S3D has live support.
     
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  18. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yea, probably an intermittent switch problem more so than a software one.
     
  19. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    Is there a post that explains how the auto leveling actually works? I don't fully understand it.

    Also what is the Z offset for? without the z-offset is it exactly nozzle on glass? so your raising it up to the width of a sheet of paper to get a good first layer?

    Also I noticed in simplify3d in the scripts there is this.
    M565 Z-1.1; set the offset for auto-leveling mechanism

    If I change the Z-Offset in simplify 3d's options tab this value in the script is not updated. is M565 a Robo specific command?

    On one of my other printers my bed is a pain in the butt to level so i get it close and then use S3D's z-offset option to adjust how close it is on the first layer.

    So maybe simplify 3d's Z-Offset and M565 are conflicting?
     
  20. Stephen Capistron

    Stephen Capistron Active Member

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    So the 9-point autolevel measures the plane of the glass. There are some crazy videos out there of people propping one side of the bed up by an inch and printing evenly on that incline.

    The z-offset is needed to take into account the extra rotation of the z axis rods need to make to get the switch to trigger. The x idler and motor mounts need to move up off the switches some distance for them to trigger. This is the offset.

    I know nothing about S3D.

    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=vRy3eRt4rVAi2LgSZGuteQ&bvm=bv.93990622,d.b2w
     
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