1 Topic by sdemaio

  • sdemaio
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  • Registered: 2017-02-05
  • Posts: 10

Topic: Da Vinci Mini (w) Bed / Z Offset / Calibration

Hey Guys,

I have a question, or 20, on my situation. The screws in the middle of the bed on my da vinci mini were not flush with the surface of the bed, nor would they seat any further, so all my prints were turning into disasters.  I have since added a piece of glass on top, raised the Z Offset by exactly the width of the glass (3mm) and the tape I have used to hold it in place (1mm) and have been having on and off (mostly off) success with printing.  I'm finding most prints simply stop after about an hour or two, for no apparent reason, and what they leave seem to be perfect starts to a print.  It stops, I find it, press the button, it acts as if it's going to continue and then just stops, lifts and presents me with the unfinished masterpiece.  I have very few successful prints out of this thing and many unfinished, wasted prints.  I have to admit I am now questioning my decision in buying it.

BUT - I'm not giving up on it yet.  I have found that regardless of raising the Z Offset, trying to calibrate doesn't seem to want to take into account this difference in height, as it starts by smashing down the bed by lowering too much, then fails.  I wish it would simply be intelligent enough to detect where the bed currently is and calibrate off of that (or take into account the difference in Z Offset and not attempt to lower to where the stock aluminum bed is, smashing the bed down), but I don't seem to be so lucky.

I can only think that the constant failed prints are a result of this somehow, though everything seems fine when prints start - it's not ripping the tape or seem that it's pressing too hard at all, nor is it too far away from the tape.  I'm at a loss as to what to do at this point.  I could simply remove the glass, put back the Z-Offset to 2.17 (where it was originally) and calibrate, hopefully successfully, but then I have the issue of the screws again and the sloppy prints that it produces when it doesn't get caught up on the build up around them and fail.  I can't be alone in all this frustration, am I? I either got a dud (bed), or they're all that way and others are having to deal with this too.

Any advice from someone experienced in this would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

2 Reply by Christoffer

  • Christoffer
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  • From: Sweden
  • Registered: 2017-02-02
  • Posts: 4

Re: Da Vinci Mini (w) Bed / Z Offset / Calibration

How much is the screws sticking up? Perhaps a thinner material such as a layer of BuildTak would be enough to smooth out the area enough for builds to work?

If that fails, then perhaps using Dremmel tool to grind down the parts that is sticking up and then put on BuildTak or similar.

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In any case, I had issues with my Mini W just apparently freezing in mid print. Happened at random, usually an hour or two into the print. I narrowed it down to the printer monitor in XYZWare, possibly in combination with using WiFi.

I had not had that error again after I stopped using the printer monitor (the side panel showing temperatures etc) or better yet simply close down XYZWare as soon as the object has been transferred to the printer.

3 Reply by NiliusJulius

  • NiliusJulius
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  • Registered: 2017-02-08
  • Posts: 2

Re: Da Vinci Mini (w) Bed / Z Offset / Calibration

I also have the problem with the screws sticking out ever so slightly. I put a piece of buildtak on top of it, but this also gives very small bumps in the buildtak surface. I have not really had a lot of issues with it, but I can imagine it isn't very good for the larger prints.

For some reason it also looks like my bed is not completely level, but I don't think there is a way to level it on the da vinci mini?
Whenever the printer goes over the right hand side of the bed, it starts to ever so slightly touch the previous layer, while on the left hand side it works flawlessly.