Is probing speed configurable, or am I missing something?
I just assembled my second Original Prusa MK3S+ and got it running this week. The first thing I noticed is that the probing speed is much faster (like 2x or more) than the first MK3S+ I purchased. Neither of them were upgrades, they were both purchased within about 4 months of each other. Using 7x7 grid on both as well, and even the same gcode files. Is there a reason that the new printer would probe so much more quickly?
The only thing I thought could be different was the firmware (first printer was on 3.10.0, new one came with 3.10.1). But I just upgraded the first to be 3.10.1 (specifically 3.10.1-4697, same build as the new one) and it still probes slowly.
Any ideas?
RE: Is probing speed configurable, or am I missing something?
I think you will probably find you have one printer in 'Normal' mode and one in 'Stealth' mode. I just checked out the MBL time for each mode and 'Stealth' takes a lot longer...
Cheers,
Tim
RE: Is probing speed configurable, or am I missing something?
Thanks for the idea Tim, but both printers are in normal mode. Everything I can find within the printer menus are identical. Firmware versions are the same, MBL settings are the same, print modes are the same, even using the same gcode files.
Here is a video of the new printer:
Here is a video of the old printer:
RE: Is probing speed configurable, or am I missing something?
Thanks for posting videos, which clarify that the speed of travel between the probe points seems pretty similar but the actual probing movements (Z-axis) take much longer.
Have you tried doing some simple Z-axis movement tests on the two printers? e.g. time how long to takes to move the Z-axis from top to bottom or over some other fixed distance. That's quite easy to do if you have OctoPrint and would reveal if it is a general Z-axis problem.
Cheers,
Tim
RE: Is probing speed configurable, or am I missing something?
Your older printer is doing 3 or 4 'taps' at each testing position. The newer printer is only doing one 'tap'. Transit speed between each test position is the same. Takes longer to do more taps. I believe there is a place in the settings where you can specify the number of taps.
RE: Is probing speed configurable, or am I missing something?
Your older printer is doing 3 or 4 'taps' at each testing position. The newer printer is only doing one 'tap'.
That's not correct - if you watch the videos carefully you can see (and hear) that both printers are doing 3 'taps' (you can configure 1, 3 or 5 'taps' in the printer's settings).
However, the new printer has only a little Z-axis movement between 'taps' whereas the older printer looks to have much more. I'm not sure what influences the amount of Z-axis travel that the printer decides to make during MBL, but my logical guess is that it is influenced by the signal coming from the Super PINDA probe.
So, it might be worth checking the Super PINDA probe height on the old machine (compared to the new) and that the probe is not loose.
You may have already done that, in which case I am out of ideas at this point.
Cheers,
Tim
RE: Is probing speed configurable, or am I missing something?
Tim is correct, both printers are doing 3 taps. Like I said, everything in the menu configurations are identical, including grid size, number of probes per point, and magnet compensation.
I did talk with support about this, and apparently the newer printer almost appears to be probing as if it has the older PINDA v2 rather than the SuperPINDA. The older, slower printer is probing at the same speed as basically all of the printers at the Prusa office. He was stumped, and hadn't seen this sort of thing before. So I'm also out of ideas.
The good news is that I haven't noticed any consistency issues, I just wish I could make both printers probe quickly. It's not much, but it shaves off about a minute of standing around to wait for the first layer to start printing.
RE: Is probing speed configurable, or am I missing something?
Based on Prusa Support saying it is 'behaving like it has PINDA', it occurred to me that there is a different firmware version for the MK3 (PINDA) vs. MK3S/MK3S+ (SuperPINDA). Is it possible that the old MK3S+ printer is running the MK3 firmware instead of the MK3S/MK3S+ version. Both versions have the same build number.
Just a thought!
Cheers,
Tim