Different Z lead screw travel between MK4S upgrade screws and Core One kit — 2 mm mismatch
 
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Different Z lead screw travel between MK4S upgrade screws and Core One kit — 2 mm mismatch  

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Albert Lozano
(@albert-lozano)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE:

Instructions:

Calibrate Z.

Use the display to raise Z to around 50-60 mm and take your measurements.
(See image)

This post was modified 1 day ago by Albert Lozano
Posted : 25/02/2026 11:21 pm
Jürgen
(@jurgen-7)
Noble Member
RE: Different Z lead screw travel between MK4S upgrade screws and Core One kit — 2 mm mismatch
Posted by: @albert-lozano

Instructions:

Calibrate Z.

Use the display to raise Z to around 50-60 mm and take your measurements.

The comment in the image, "gap will increase as you go higher", is important. There may also be a fixed left vs. right difference due to tolerances in the frame and chassis. To separate it from the effect of unmatched thread pitch, I would do this measurement twice, at two different heights of the bed, say 10 mm and 110 mm below the nozzle. Then the change in the left vs. right discrepancy over 100 mm travel can be determined.

Posted : 26/02/2026 6:36 am
1 people liked
gb160
(@gb160)
Honorable Member
RE: Different Z lead screw travel between MK4S upgrade screws and Core One kit — 2 mm mismatch

That approach is good for the front 2, but not any good for the rear leadscrew.

Posted : 26/02/2026 4:35 pm
Lynn
 Lynn
(@lynn)
Estimable Member
RE: Different Z lead screw travel between MK4S upgrade screws and Core One kit — 2 mm mismatch

There is another common  and related complaint that seems to fit this thread. That is loud and scarry rubbing and vibrational sounds the core one produces when tranvsersing the full range of the Z-axis.

In my case, I was attempting to groom my mk4s to coreone+  upgrade to eleminate those noises when I noticed the front lead screws were tiled backwards with the bed at the bottom and tilted frontwards when at the top. I didn't attempt to measure the lead screw pitchs, but it was visually obvious that the bed tilt changed over the full range of Z travel. My bed is tilting along the y axis, not the x. 

To me the most likely explainatations that fit both of these observations is that the lead screws are  rotating at differnet speeds, one or more of them are slipping poles, or the lead screw pitchs are not the same. In any case this definely a design or manufacturing flaw that prusa needs to address. 

 

 

Posted : 26/02/2026 11:04 pm
Albert Lozano
(@albert-lozano)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Different Z lead screw travel between MK4S upgrade screws and Core One kit — 2 mm mismatch

 

Posted by: @gb160

That approach is good for the front 2, but not any good for the rear leadscrew.

In that case the best is a digital clinometer

Posted : 26/02/2026 11:44 pm
1 people liked
Jürgen
(@jurgen-7)
Noble Member
RE: Different Z lead screw travel between MK4S upgrade screws and Core One kit — 2 mm mismatch
Posted by: @lynn

[...] I noticed the front lead screws were tiled backwards with the bed at the bottom and tilted frontwards when at the top. I didn't attempt to measure the lead screw pitchs, but it was visually obvious that the bed tilt changed over the full range of Z travel. My bed is tilting along the y axis, not the x. 

To me the most likely explainatations that fit both of these observations is that the lead screws are  rotating at differnet speeds, one or more of them are slipping poles, or the lead screw pitchs are not the same. In any case this definely a design or manufacturing flaw that prusa needs to address. 

I think you are misinterpreting this. The tilting lead screws are due to lateral forces which the black trapezoidal nuts exert on the screws. This is a common alignment issue in the Core One, because the assembly instructions do not ensure that the lateral position of the nuts agrees with the position defined by the smooth vertical rods that guide the heatbed. But it is easily fixed:

  • Drive the heatbed all the way down.
  • Loosen the six M3 screws which attach the three trapezoidal nuts to the heatbed (two per nut). This lets the nuts find lateral positions that are in agreement with the smooth rods.
  • Probably the lead screws will already have straightened and centered when you loosened the M3 screws. If they are still a bit slanted, center each top end with your fingers while you fasten the corresponding M3 screws again. Do not overtighten the M3 screws; the nuts are plastic (POM).

This should give you smooth Z movement without lateral strain and push on the lead screws. If the Z drive still "groans" during longer moves, it needs to be lubricated. Apply a bit of the lubricant that came with the kit to the lead screws.

Posted : 27/02/2026 5:24 am
gb160
(@gb160)
Honorable Member
RE: Different Z lead screw travel between MK4S upgrade screws and Core One kit — 2 mm mismatch

 

Posted by: @albert-lozano

 

Posted by: @gb160

That approach is good for the front 2, but not any good for the rear leadscrew.

In that case the best is a digital clinometer

Agreed 100% 👍

What was the outcome with yours? Did you contact Prusa?

Posted : 27/02/2026 8:16 am
gb160
(@gb160)
Honorable Member
RE: Different Z lead screw travel between MK4S upgrade screws and Core One kit — 2 mm mismatch

If the Z drive still "groans" during longer moves, it needs to be lubricated. Apply a bit of the lubricant that came with the kit to the lead screws.

Although this is the best approach, I hate the fact that soon after lubrication the screws are then a magnet for dust and other airborne contaminates.

Posted : 27/02/2026 8:20 am
mnentwig
(@mnentwig)
Honorable Member
RE:

Frankly, I don't see why anybody would want to use an inclinometer. It needs to be absurdly precise to show small errors, e.g. better than o.o5 degrees for 200 µm offset over the spindle spacing (that is, pi/180*atan2(0.02, 300)). Having two digits after the decimal point is still a long way from being accurate ... The only advantage I can think of, it doesn't distract the user with needless worry about "small" errors that may be "totally negligible - really", still clash inconveniently with marketing language. Do your own math 🙂

To confirm the relative alignment between the three screws,

- home and move the print bed up to Z=0

- move the print head near each of the spindles and turn it manually (against the resistance of the Z motors) until the print bed is perfectly parallel, relative to the head plane. A playing- or business card serves as ad-hoc feeler gauge between print bed and nozzle to set consistent distance at all three spindles, within +/- 0.5 motor step if working accurately.

- run the print bed down near (but not touching) the bottom and use a suitable object e.g. a capped bottle to confirm that the distance is still consistent near all three spindles.

This post was modified 55 mins ago by mnentwig
Posted : 27/02/2026 9:41 am
gb160
(@gb160)
Honorable Member
RE:

 

Posted by: @mnentwig

Frankly, I don't see why anybody would want to use an inclinometer. It needs to be absurdly precise to show small errors, e.g. better than o.o5 degrees for 200 µm offset over the spindle spacing (that is, pi/180*atan2(0.02, 300)). Having two digits after the decimal point is still a long way from being accurate ... The only advantage I can think of, it doesn't distract the user with needless worry about "small" errors that may be "totally negligible - really", still clash inconveniently with marketing language. Do your own math 🙂

To confirm the relative alignment between the three screws,

- home and move the print bed up to Z=0

- move the print head near each of the spindles and turn it manually (against the resistance of the Z motors) until the print bed is perfectly parallel, relative to the head plane. A playing- or business card serves as ad-hoc feeler gauge between print bed and nozzle to set consistent distance at all three spindles, within +/- 0.5 motor step if working accurately.

- run the print bed down near (but not touching) the bottom and use a suitable object e.g. a capped bottle to confirm that the distance is still consistent near all three spindles.

Using the nozzle just throws in another variable (whether the gantry is sitting perfectly flat) so I don't think that's a good method at all.

Using an inclinometer in this application is over the entire length of the screws, where Z is calibrated, and somewhere close to the top...showing around 0.3 degree tilt where a within tolerance leadscrew is compared to an out of tolerance leadscrew.

It's a quick test that shows repeatable results.

This post was modified 40 mins ago by gb160
Posted : 27/02/2026 9:56 am
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