1 Topic by david.tucker

  • david.tucker
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Topic: Mini W auto calibration

I'm having issues with calibrating the bed on my DaVinci Mini W printer.  Normally when you run the bed auto calibration routine, after you lower the detector, the printer will home the z axis, then detect on the corner of the bed, then home and detect again.  Presumably this is a check to make sure that both the z limit switch and detector are working correctly.  I'm assuming they are looking for a change in motor steps between runs.

Anyway on my machine this cycle does not happen just once but keeps going for a very long time, eventually either erroring out or finally catching and then running the rest of the calibration routine.  The question is why?

I'm assuming either my z axis limit switch is buggy, or my detector switch is buggy, but it is possible that the motor driver is borked or the coupler on the z threaded rod is loose.  I was hoping someone else may have an idea of where to start looking.

2 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: Mini W auto calibration

Sounds like you already have a good list to work with. We are going to to ask you to check all those anyways. So it would save time and guessing to knock out everything you can possibly think of first.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

3 Reply by yizhou.he (edited by yizhou.he 2018-09-24 19:44:44)

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Re: Mini W auto calibration

Da Vinci auto calibration routine only works when your z-offset is within a relatively small range, which does not make a lot of sense. I have been play with it on Da vinci Jr and mini, never get it work 100%, it fails 2-3 times for every 10 prints after I play with z-offset and finally get it work.

Sometimes it is my fault that I didn't clean up all the debris from the print bed or reapply the glue evenly on glass bed, but the point of auto calibration is to save my time, not add more babysitting to the print bed. Other times, I can not figure out what's wrong with it, I power off the printer and power back on, it will work all the sudden.

It is a lot easier to level your print bed manually, and then it will stay leveled for a month or so, I just send the print file and go do whatever I want to do, it will print nicely and reliably. And with small adjustment, it is good for another month or even longer. With automatic calibration, I have to watch it and make sure first layer is good before I can let it do the rest of the printing.

I think other brand auto bed leveling works better than Da Vinci, but they also require good cleaning of print bed and nozzle(for FSR based sensor), manual bed leveling is still my first choice.

(Da Vinci 1.0, Jr. 1.0 RAMPS, miniMaker) X4, (Creality CR-10S, CR-10 mini, Ender-3) X4, Anycubic MEGA X4, Anycubic Chrion X1, ADMILAB Gantry X2 (MonoPrice Maker Select V2, Plus, Ultimate)X4--Select mini X1, Anycubic photon X4, Wanhao duplicate D7 X1.
iNSTONE Inventor Pro X2, CTC Dual X2, ANET-A8, Hictop 3DP-11, Solidoodle Press, FLSUN I3 2017X1

4 Reply by david.tucker (edited by david.tucker 2018-09-24 21:36:48)

  • david.tucker
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Re: Mini W auto calibration

It’s possible the z offset is wrong, I have been sending all sorts of odd commands to the printer.

As for manual leveling, unfortunently the mini/nano printers have a fixed bed with no leveling screws.

One thing I noticed is the limit switches are just loosely fitted in and can move around a lot. There optical so in theory that is ok since nothing touches them but it seems all to easy for a bump or vibration to move the switch.

I may try a dab of hot melt glue to lock them in place hopefully it will be easy to peel that back up if needed. In any event having a loose limit switch can’t be good for repeatability.

5 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: Mini W auto calibration

To be honest having an XYZ machine can't be good for....  Well anything. Sorry I had one nuff said.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

6 Reply by yizhou.he (edited by yizhou.he 2018-09-25 20:39:14)

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Re: Mini W auto calibration

I use removable double sided tape to lock the optical endstop in place. Hot melt glue should work too.

Jr. and mini all have fixed bed, the bed are fixed by three screws, and add soft washer of different thickness under the bed allow some flexibility to slightly adjust bed level with the screw. The adjustment is not as convenient as bed leveling screw other printer equipped, but it will be more stable once you get the bed leveled. combined with adjustment of z-offset, you should only need to adjust two screws to get the bed leveled.

I guess it might be easier if you can make miniMover to adjust the auto calibration data manually. smile

(Da Vinci 1.0, Jr. 1.0 RAMPS, miniMaker) X4, (Creality CR-10S, CR-10 mini, Ender-3) X4, Anycubic MEGA X4, Anycubic Chrion X1, ADMILAB Gantry X2 (MonoPrice Maker Select V2, Plus, Ultimate)X4--Select mini X1, Anycubic photon X4, Wanhao duplicate D7 X1.
iNSTONE Inventor Pro X2, CTC Dual X2, ANET-A8, Hictop 3DP-11, Solidoodle Press, FLSUN I3 2017X1