life adjust Z - my way  

Re: life adjust Z - my way

what's the print and travel speed and flow rate?

i am trying to optimise the print a little more. the starting and ending corners seems to have better prints (where the extruder goes back and forth very quickly)

Re: life adjust Z - my way

...
there's seems to be a strange beeping noise at the end of it?
should be a little melody that reminds you that the print is ready... but the sound quality of the prusa is very awkward.
there are some beeps in the middle of the print as well (to remind you that you might change the adjustment value to try another setting that you can compare with the first half of the print).

@marcin: with the MK2S it is easier to align the probe up- and downwards... but it's easier to move it accidentially as well.
so it might be that you've previously pushed the probe up- or down without intention.... or even that the probe hit an upcurling part at the print and dislocated itself a tiny bit.

I see. but somehow mine didn't make any beeps during the print itself..

😯

Re: life adjust Z - my way

@yangyan.z
make sure that you use the 4th version of the calibration surface.

if your printer is ok (which means that your "buzzer" is connected as well through the ribbon cable to the rambo board), you should hear some sound in the middle of the print and 4 notes at the end of the print.
this is provided by the M300 commands inside the gcode file.

about the settings you've asked: open the *.gcode file with a text editor. i've used my simplify3d tool to generate this *.gcode and all the settings are stored inside the file as remarks, starting with a semicolon.

Re: life adjust Z - my way

@yangyan.z
make sure that you use the 4th version of the calibration surface.

if your printer is ok (which means that your "buzzer" is connected as well through the ribbon cable to the rambo board), you should hear some sound in the middle of the print and 4 notes at the end of the print.
this is provided by the M300 commands inside the gcode file.

about the settings you've asked: open the *.gcode file with a text editor. i've used my simplify3d tool to generate this *.gcode and all the settings are stored inside the file as remarks, starting with a semicolon.

this explains everything.
no wonder my cat prints was printing in air. despite saving the live z axis setting

Re: life adjust Z - my way

I was having a variety of issues, not sticking, in and out of calibration, z height inconsistency, bed level,etc etc. I read the info on my printer shipped March 7, 2017. 3 days prior to the official rel of mk2s. I wondered what portions had been rolled into my build as i bought the printer assembled to facilitate faster rollout. I have the new rods, bearings 3.0.10 firmware. nozzle etc. In investigating the built as I found one of the reasons for the ( http://www.prusaprinters.org/original-prusa-i3-mk2s-release/ Better LM8UU mounting on Y axis.) I found 2 of the 3 zip ties were broken, which only showed up when printing. Once repaired everything works swimmingly, and the code provided by Jeff is spot on.

Thanks to all

Re: life adjust Z - my way

@marcin: with the MK2S it is easier to align the probe up- and downwards... but it's easier to move it accidentially as well.
so it might be that you've previously pushed the probe up- or down without intention.... or even that the probe hit an upcurling part at the print and dislocated itself a tiny bit.

Thank you for your help 🙂

Re: life adjust Z - my way

As for those beeps/buzzes...

(This is a n00b question)
Can I remove the just thsee M300's so it doesn't beep?

M300 S440 P500

Anything else special I need to do?

-Jef

Re: life adjust Z - my way

no problem, if you are bugged by the "beeps", just remove the lines starting with M300.... or disable them by adding a semicolon at the beginning of the line (so that it would be treated as a comment).
you should find the M300 line at 8 lines inside the calibration_surface_PLA_75x75@200um_v4.gcode.

Re: life adjust Z - my way

Many times i use z offset. after every print i have to raise the Z-level. I am now at -1000 what did i make wrong that i have raise every print my z level?
I calibrate it with the V4 but after some print and material change i have to raise more donwards.

I use the latest firmware.

Did you have an idea Jeff?

Re: life adjust Z - my way

Thank you very much for this post!

This completely solved my problem!

I wasn't sure how much to adjust the offset to. At first, I thought 50um seemed like a large number but it didn't have any effect on my print quality but after reading this post, I tried 300, things improved, 400, much better, by 500, my lines were very square and I stopped getting random blobs.

Two thumbs up my friend!

Re: life adjust Z - my way

Many times i use z offset. after every print i have to raise the Z-level. I am now at -1000 what did i make wrong that i have raise every print my z level?
I calibrate it with the V4 but after some print and material change i have to raise more donwards.

I use the latest firmware.

Did you have an idea Jeff?

the problem is, that the sensitivity of the probe is a function of mainly two parameters:
1 - the temperature
2 - the supply voltage

so if you print a longer time with your MK2(S) and the temperature of the probe rises, it'll trigger at another point as if the temperature of the probe is at a lower temperature.
this effect is especially severe if you print inside an enclosure.
the actual (3.0.11) firmware has a build in temperature calibration.... but this doesn't help much, because there is no temperature sensor at the p.i.n.d.a. and the firmware can only guess the temperature.
have you done such a temperature calibration and activated the option inside the calibration menu ?

so it's always a good idea to raise the extruder at least 10cm above the printbed and let it cool down before the next print starts.

the second point is that the sensitivity is dependend on the +5V supply voltage (from the rambo board). this supply voltage should be stable... but in some cases isn't. especially when you feed your raspberry pi through the +5V from the rambo board, or if you use a toshiba flash air card (which draws much more current than a normal SD card).

but not only the sensitivity of the probe might influence the height at which it triggers. there might be mechanical issues as well, if the probe isn't fixed securely for example (personally i don't like the new MK2S probe holder... it makes it easier to adjust ok, but it makes it also easier to mess up a previous well aligned setup by accidentially applying force at the probe (e.g. when the probe hits a printed part)).
so if you encounter that a steady increase of the z-level is nescessary, check that the probe is well fixed. it's well likely that its shaft is sinking during time, due to the steady movement of the extruder body.
sometimes it's a good idea to fix or mark the height of the probe at the holder with some loctite thread sealant or even ordinary nail varnish.

Re: life adjust Z - my way

I turned the temperature calibration off because it brings the problem too me that I have to recalibrate the live z.

I solved the problem like you wrote. Takes the z axis to the top of the printer and preheat my bed before I start the print.

And there a saw another thing. I preheat my bed to 110c and when I start my print from the card the temperature falls to 102c back.

I will start another topic don't wanna spend here off topic 😉

But thanks for the help.

Re: life adjust Z - my way

This should be the go to thread for Z Cal. I have a slightly modified method that works well for me. Repeating it here to help the new comers (if they make it this far in this thread).

The method I use is as follows:

1) Get it roughly correct.
a) Set Live adjust Z = 0.00. Make sure PINDA is above nozzle tip by <1mm but above.
b) Do a Calibrate Z. (Head must be clean of drips and lumps).
c) Do a Home. This leaves the head at Z=0.15mm
d) Use Setting -> Move Axis X and Y to get in the approx center of the print space. DONT TOUCH Z.
e) Put a piece of printer paper under the head. Printer paper is approx 0.1mm
f) Wiggle the paper while adjusting "Live Adjust Z" (in settings) until the paper just starts to drag on the paper.
g) Back off a bit (50) on the Live Adjust Z"
2) Get it dialed in real well.
a) Print using "Calibration_surface_PLA_75x75@200um_v4.gcode" found in Jeff's "Life Adjust My Way" Thread
b) Repeat until you have a nice test print - all stuck together and one nice clean sheet.

This takes a little while, but is worth the effort. Once the first layer is good - the rest follows.

Hope this helps.

Re: life adjust Z - my way

After a head rebuild (thermistor failed) I recalibrated following the previous post suggestions but couldn't even get the calibration square to stick 🙁

I have cleaned the bed with alcohol, then acetone, then a scotch pad and even 800 grit wet and dry, to no avail

Is it new PEI sheet time? I am wondering if I have damaged it...

This is using PLA, I have never managed to print anything with ABS since just after the printer was new

Chris

Re: life adjust Z - my way

2 questions:

are you sure that your extruder (hotend) is assembled properly ? remember that everything (nozzle, heatbreak etc.) have to be assembled when hot (best @ 300°C).

what's acutally the height distance between the tip your p.i.n.d.a. and the tip of our nozzle ?

Re: life adjust Z - my way

Thickness of the strap of a small cable tie? As in the assembly instructions?

Goes through all the calibration steps ok?

Chris

Re: life adjust Z - my way

Thickness of the strap of a small cable tie? As in the assembly instructions?

Goes through all the calibration steps ok?

Chris

yeah, should be ok. personally I prefer to use a credit card (approx. 0.7mm).
have you checked your extrusion ?
how much did you lower the probe with the Z live adjustment level (-0.999) ?

by the way: which thermistor did you use as replacement ? genuine prusa one, or one from e3d ? maybe you need a different setting for the thermistor when you compile the firmware.

Re: life adjust Z - my way

I touched the nozzle down (using a piece of office paper, just dragging) and lifted it 50 so the Live adjust is -.650mm

The thermistor is a genuine one from Prusa but I should mention I also fitted a blue silicone boot from E3D to protect the hot end from the
next meltdown ?

This shouldn't have made any difference surely?

I have tried a couple of different spools of filament but am now at a loss what to try next

Chris

Re: life adjust Z - my way

I touched the nozzle down (using a piece of office paper, just dragging) and lifted it 50 so the Live adjust is -.650mm (touched at -.700)

The thermistor is a genuine one from Prusa but I should mention I also fitted a blue silicone boot from E3D to protect the hot end from the
next meltdown ?

This shouldn't have made any difference surely?

I have tried a couple of different spools of filament but am now at a loss what to try next - even the strip on the front left edge of the bed barely sticks, very easy to get off and it didn't used to be.

Chris

Re: life adjust Z - my way

hmmm.... difficult to say where the problem might be.
anyhow, if you use a blue sock, it's recommended to do a pid calibration, using this way (not the routine that you can access through the calibration menu, it's not exact enough).