1 Topic by 1985.camaro.350

  • 1985.camaro.350
  • Newbie
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-16
  • Posts: 3

Topic: Press Bed Leveling Issue

Is anyone else having issues getting the z calibration correct? My bed is not level, it slopes downwards towards the front. This shouldn't be an issue with the auto leveling but mine is not working correctly. Even after running the calibration tool the layer height is taller towards the front of the build plate. You can really tell on the first few layers, anything printed around the middle of the bed will be nice and squished down, adhering well to the bed, but material printed towards the front of the plate isn't. The material printed towards the front is just a thin string of ABS, because the print head is too far from the bed. Hope that makes sense. I have attached a picture of what I am talking about, it is not super clear but you should get the idea.

Anyone have any ideas about this or have a similar issue?

Post's attachments

20150117_094921.jpg
20150117_094921.jpg 4.06 mb, file has never been downloaded. 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

2 Reply by Codum

  • Codum
  • Codum
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: West Coast
  • Registered: 2015-01-17
  • Posts: 38

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

I'd wager that the auto-leveling feature doesn't allow to print on slopes. First thing I would do is adjust the forward bed fasteners.

Solidoodle Press
SolidWorks 2014

3 Reply by 1985.camaro.350

  • 1985.camaro.350
  • Newbie
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-16
  • Posts: 3

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

The screws that you can see under the glass plate? As far as I can tell those won't adjust the bed, they will just loosen it.

4 Reply by Codum

  • Codum
  • Codum
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: West Coast
  • Registered: 2015-01-17
  • Posts: 38

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

You would loosen them to raise the height?? Haven't tried it myself.

Solidoodle Press
SolidWorks 2014

5 Reply by Joshuasmcc (edited by Joshuasmcc 2015-01-26 07:09:41)

  • Joshuasmcc
  • Newbie
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2013-06-07
  • Posts: 7

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

I'm having the sames issue.
I have requested help from Solidoodle and received information that had nothing to do with the issue. I have sent another email with a bit more detail.
Before I start trying to adjust screws has anyone tried the bed screws?

Thanks in advance!

Quick Edit: If i'm looking at this correctly I cannot adjust the height of the screws because of the way the glass is held.

6 Reply by cptskippy

  • cptskippy
  • cptskippy
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: USA
  • Registered: 2014-09-17
  • Posts: 86

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

Joshuasmcc wrote:

If i'm looking at this correctly I cannot adjust the height of the screws because of the way the glass is held.

I have the same issue and you cannot use the screws to adjust the bed.  If you loosen the screws then there isn't enough clearance for the glass to fit back in as it will hit the screws.

I have tried replacing the metal standoffs with springs that allow lowering the bed however the bed mount has curled up metal on the front and back underneath the bed that prevents the bed from being lowered more than ~1mm.

I tried removing the standoffs and springs entirely from the back and just screwing the bed directly to the mount.  Again because of the curled up metal, the bed pitch wasn't enough to correct the issue.

7 Reply by Joshuasmcc

  • Joshuasmcc
  • Newbie
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2013-06-07
  • Posts: 7

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

Thanks for the insight skippy!
I still have no update from Solidoodle as of yet.

Has anyone taken a look at the marlin firmware specifically the Auto level code? I'm wondering if this isn't something I could modify through the code instead of physically.
One would think that the probe would pick up the slope or could we possibly be battling a Z axis backlash.

Sorry if i'm throwing a ton of stuff out there, just want to touch all bases before something drastic is done.

8 Reply by Joshuasmcc (edited by Joshuasmcc 2015-01-28 05:17:16)

  • Joshuasmcc
  • Newbie
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2013-06-07
  • Posts: 7

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

I spent this evening disassembling my Press and have found the reason the bed slopes toward the front. It is caused by the injected plastic chassis being incapable of holding perpendicularity with the weight of the bed.

At this point i'm hoping that someone much smarter than myself can solve this through the software as I do not see a simple way of altering the chassis, because even if I can create some sort of adjustment for the bed I do not believe it would hold through the temperature changes during a normal print.

This injection molded chassis is a joke!

This has been a disappointing blow in my faith with Solidoodle. I guess when purchasing my Press I assumed it would be along the same quality as my SD3.


EDIT:  I forgot to mention as I have not seen it anywhere online. The Z axis is an actual Acme screw and Acme nut, for mine I had about 0.5mm backlash.

9 Reply by thatdecade

  • thatdecade
  • thatdecade
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-08-21
  • Posts: 63

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

My bed slopes forward too, but the auto-bed leveling compensates during a print.  It is more work by the z-axis during a print, raising / lowering the bed as needed.  Doesn't seem to affect print quality.

Not sure why the z calibration didn't work for you.  Have you tried sending the reset commands (M502 and M500) and re-running calibration?
http://www.soliforum.com/post/81156/#p81156

10 Reply by Joshuasmcc

  • Joshuasmcc
  • Newbie
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2013-06-07
  • Posts: 7

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

Thanks for your input thatdecade.

I've ran the calibration program and do not have a problem with the distance. The problem falls on the Y axis. The consistency along the entire range of the X axis is perfect in the center of the bed, however when it comes to the Y axis it prints well above the offset distance towards the front of the bed and towards the back of the bed it smashes into the bed. It is as if the bed compensation probing  does not work for the Y axis but works perfect for the X axis.

11 Reply by byshop303

  • byshop303
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-28
  • Posts: 14

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

thatdecade wrote:

My bed slopes forward too, but the auto-bed leveling compensates during a print.  It is more work by the z-axis during a print, raising / lowering the bed as needed.  Doesn't seem to affect print quality.

Not sure why the z calibration didn't work for you.  Have you tried sending the reset commands (M502 and M500) and re-running calibration?

This is my experience as well. There's a visible dip in the bed from front to back but I have not seen it affect my prints so I haven't tried to remediate it.

12 Reply by seven2099

  • seven2099
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-03-03
  • Posts: 101

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

Same exact issue. I've come from this thread: http://www.soliforum.com/post/93329/

where I've replaced the glass with perfboard for much better adhesion, however it made me realize there's a serious flaw with the aluminum heatbed.

I've taken the whole thing apart and there's no way to adjust the bed height at all height sufficiently to make up for the problem. If I take a level and measure the base of the bed, its perfectly level around all edges, however if I measure the heated aluminum portion, one side is higher than the other, and on top of that it has a 3 degree slant to the front. (x and y axis off)

The bed has no way to adjust the overall heated bed's height, which is a major problem. For now I've managed to compensate a bit for it, by using some of the left over perfboard pieces under the heated bed to make up for it, however now my perf board or glass doesn't fit under the glass slot anymore in order for it to be level

So its either, finding a way to fit the perf board now that its a lot less severely slanted both in the x and y axis or simply go back to printing on painters' tape on the bare aluminum.

I'll post pictures soon to show you what I mean

13 Reply by dylantep991

  • dylantep991
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-03-24
  • Posts: 21

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

Has anyone found a solution to this? My auto level is working but not nearly enough to compensate for the droop. with bed leveling the first layer is squished in the middle and about 2 or 3 mm too high when printing in the front.

14 Reply by seven2099

  • seven2099
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-03-03
  • Posts: 101

Re: Press Bed Leveling Issue

Apprently the solution is tightening some screws on the back portion of the bed that will hold and compesate for the droop.

Another solution is to install some support beams that are screwed in from the sides of the bed to the base in a diagonal pattern, and with a bed level, ensure that you have a flat surface with no incline.