Frequently bed leveling (live Z adjustment) required. Not sure how to troubleshoot
My printer is more than 1 year old and has printed more than 43000 meters of filament. Like everyone else, I'm sure, I've had to do the occasional calibration routine to keep the first layer proper. For the last month or two a frustrating problem forces me to make gross live-Z adjustments. The problem has been getting worse and is now to the point that I have to make large adjustments every couple days, just to keep my printer running.
For my equipment and print sheet being used, the range of Live-Z adjustment swings between about -1.550 and -1.780. For any given occurrence, I will typically have to change the Live-Z value by about .1. the adjustments go up and down but the final values typically fall within the range listed.
For example yesterday, I had to move the extruder down because the filament wasn't touching the print surface (no squish). This morning I had to adjust the extruder up away from the print surface because the hot end was dragging across the build plate.
I have checked that the build plate and the extruder assembly are tightly affixed and faithfully check for debris under the removable surface.
I'm afraid that I'm having an issue with the Rambo board and I'm hoping that the greater community can give me some things to try. Including maybe how to rule out the board as the problem.
RE: Frequently bed leveling (live Z adjustment) required. Not sure how to troubleshoot
The PINDA is temperature sensitive. Some of us use custom gcode to fix the PINDA temp before bed level. I take extra steps to cool the PINDA, too; just in case I am running multiple sequential prints and the PINDA is already warmer than my desired cal temp.
; cool down PINDA
M106 S255 ; turn on fan
M104 S0 ; turn off nozzle heat
M140 S0 ; turn off bed heat
M860 S35 ; wait until PINDA is less than 35C
M106 S0 ; turn off fan
; preheat nozzle to a low temp, get plastic mushy before driving into the bed with G28
M140 S[first_layer_bed_temperature] ; set bed temp
M109 S175 ; wait for extruder temp
M190 S[first_layer_bed_temperature] ; set & wait for bed temp
G28 W ; home all without mesh bed level
; soak PINDA then level
G0 X50 Y50 Z1 F3000; this is a good PINDA heating position
M860 S37.5 ; wait until PINDA is >= 35C in winter, 37.5C spring/fall, 40C summer
G80 N7 R5; mesh bed leveling
RE: Frequently bed leveling (live Z adjustment) required. Not sure how to troubleshoot
Thanks for you reply. I totally missed all the PINDA temperature related postings. For sure I will be paying attention to this factor.