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Solved Zebra Plate versus auto-leveling

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Chuck Glenn, Sep 17, 2015.

  1. Chuck Glenn

    Chuck Glenn Member

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    It looks like after about my 3rd print ever, that the hot extruder tip is actually melting tiny holes into the zebra plate during auto-leveling, and then thinking the surface is slightly lower than where it actually is. As a result, the extruder head just scoots around in direct contact with the surface (unable to extrude anything).

    Can I auto-level while the print-head is cold (but the bed is up to temp)? And then can I disable auto-leveling when the actual "print" button is pressed?

    Thanks.
     
  2. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

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    I don't know how to set it up in MatterControl, but I was able to do it in Simplify3d.

    I'm sure some others on here have done it with RepetierHost and Cura as well, but don't know the specifics.
     
  3. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    In the startup Gcode move the M109 S[temperature] ; set the extruder temp and wait to the very end. That should probe and home and all that before it does the extruder heatup.

    If that doesn't work then I'd advise posting on the matterhackers forum as they'd know more.
     
  4. Chuck Glenn

    Chuck Glenn Member

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    Okay, so I have this:
    G28 X0 Y0 Z0 ; home all axes
    G1 Z5 F5000 ; lift nozzle
    M109 S[temperature] ; set the extruder temp and wait
    G28 X0 Y0 Z0 ; Home Z again in case there was filament on nozzle
    G29 ; probe the bed


    and it sounds like I should change it to this:
    G28 X0 Y0 Z0 ; home all axes
    G1 Z5 F5000 ; lift nozzle
    G28 X0 Y0 Z0 ; Home Z again in case there was filament on nozzle
    G29 ; probe the bed
    M109 S[temperature] ; set the extruder temp and wait


    I'm also wondering if I can make it safer by inserting a command to wait until the extruder temp LOWERS to a certain point before a subsequent print. Is there any command like that available?

    THANKS
     
  5. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    sure just use an M109 command with a low temp, so add this to the very beginning of the Gcode
    Code:
    M109 S30 ; make sure extruder is 30 degrees before continuing
    M104 S0 ; turn off extruder
    
    30 should be fine if you're indoor, but if it's in a hot area like a garage you might set it to 40


    Also your gcode looks correct to me
     
  6. Chuck Glenn

    Chuck Glenn Member

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    Okay, just to make really sure this will do what I want, if the current temp is 210-ish, and gcode executes "M109 S30" it will wait for the temperature to go DOWN to 30 before continuing?
     
  7. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    right, it waits for it to stabalize at the specified temperature based on stabalization requirements.

    here's what you full code would look like
    Code:
    M109 S30 ; make sure extruder is 30 degrees before continuing
    M104 S0 ; turn off extruder
    G28; home all axes
    G1 Z5 F5000 ; lift nozzle
    G28; Home Z again in case there was filament on nozzle
    G29 ; probe the bed
    M109 S[temperature] ; set the extruder temp and wait
    
    I also removed the X0 Y0 Z0, since I think that's a bad way to home
     
  8. Chuck Glenn

    Chuck Glenn Member

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    This is simply not working. After all that, it is still just sliding across the pad not extruding anything. Oh well. I will go back to the glass and glue-stick method until I get some more experience with this thing (and bank some more patience).
     
  9. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    make your Z offset much larger than before, you don't want to be too low on the plate.

    Also open terminal and make sure it's not spitting out errors
     
  10. Tom Finzel

    Tom Finzel Member

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    My Zebra Plate is on it's way so I tried this gcode and it works perfectly. Thanks!
     
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  11. Chuck Glenn

    Chuck Glenn Member

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    If your experience is like mine, the auto-leveling will never work properly with the zebra plate.

    I pretty much gave up and I just use glue stick now. With a window scraper tool to remove the dried-on glue from the glass, it isn't too bad.
     
  12. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    Upgrade marlin to 1.1.0 and use the mesh leveling.

    Better on every printer
     
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  13. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

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    This is pretty accurate. My R1 is failing in other areas but the mesh bed leveling did at least result in good 1st layers prior to the other issues cropping up.
     

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