Problems with leveling / General questions

[rubberbudgie]

Could someone please assist with some issues I am having with my A30?

1. For some reason manual leveling doesn't seem to save settings anymore. The procedure I use is to first enable heated bed. Then I go to the middle position and adjust height using the LCD, then go to position 1 and adjust level with the leveling knobs, then go to 2,3, and 4 and do the same and then press OK. But as soon as I go back to leveling and choose middle position the nozzle will be too low and will dig into the bed. I have tried factory resetting the unit but still no good. It might be related to the next issue possibly.

2. What is the correct procedure for adjusting/leveling the Z-axis screws? In trying to fix the above issue and adjusting the z-axis it now makes a clicking noise as it goes up the Z-axis and makes a grinding noise sometimes about half way up.

3. I have purchased an auto-leveling sensor but the only instructions I can find results in the nozzle scraping lines into the bed. Surely there must be some english language instructions available.

4. Given that the A30 is basically a CR-10/CR-10S clone, how similar are they and would guides/instructions for the CR-10S be relevant to the A30?

[_kaktus_]

Hi


On most of your problems you will find solutions in this forum.

Jamming of the Z axis mechanism is a mechanical problem.
I suggest you check the geometry, you can also increase the current for the stepper motor.
Adjustment is done on the stepstick module.

[dogmatic69]

If you want to manually level the bed I would suggest you get a vernier. I am also not convinced the pre-heating is required. I don't bother with doing that. I do heat the nozzle though as usually there is a hard piece of plastic sticking out the bottom, not for "growth" due to heat! Just compensate with a slightly larger start gap.

mapra-q1-digital-caliper-0-150-ip67.jpg (57.76 KiB) Viewed 14378 times

1) use the knobs to level the bed according to the frame.
Move the bed all the way to the front and measure the distance from the top of the bed to the top of the frame on each side. Make them even
Move the bed all the way back and do the same for the back.

IMG_1422.JPG (245.11 KiB) Viewed 14378 times

2) Keep repeating step 1 till its as level as you like.

3) using the same method make both size of the gantry level ( I find I need to do this every other print as it does not hold level whilst off)

IMG_1423.JPG (341.76 KiB) Viewed 14378 times

Once you have done this your bed will be perfectly level. you can move your head and bed around with the nozzle very close to the bed to confirm. If you still having spots touch and gaps in other areas you have not done the above correctly.

If you still have issues and are really sure the steps are completed correctly, your machine my be out of wack. Then you will need to loosen it all and realign the actual frame.

[apak]

I rather level it to the X grantry. In my experience, there is a little misaligment in gantry, and one side could be lower than the other one (1 mm or so)

So if you level to the gantry, will have better results.

[dogmatic69]

Good luck with that.

As I mentioned in my post the gantry does not stay level for more than one or two prints. You should use something that is known to be level and does not move, hence using the actual frame.

[apak]

mine does, it just unlevels 1 mm from one side, so its nor a problem at all.

Level gantry with two beer cans, move Z so it adjust, then level and stays leveled for ages. Don´t need to do anything for days

[MPKRVA]

I assembled my A30 a week ago and have been having the exact same problem as the original poster. When I follow the manual leveling procedure (set the height for the middle (pos 5) using the LCD, then leveling the 4 corners), after finishing and double checking all corners, when I return to the middle, the nozzle is lower than it was when I set it and it hits the bed. Then if I go back and check the corners, I find there is now a couple mm gap that wasn't there before. So I go around and around again and maybe get it level. However, after the system homes and I start a print, the nozzle is right back to digging into the bed again.

I followed dogmatic's great walk through and leveled the bed against the base frame. Then made sure the x-axis gantry was level to the bed. Then I followed the manual leveling procedure. Same results. Seems to me the that there is a motor control issue or the bed is warped.

Any other tips from anyone?

[MPKRVA]

Hopefully this will help the next person who sees this - the issue for me was not the bed leveling. It was the the GCode that starts the print that comes on the SD card that ships with the A30. It is for a completely different model and when you start a print, it is attempting to lower a bed by 15mm in the Z direction. On the A30, the nozzle is what moves in the Z axis and so it was trying to send the nozzle 15mm through the bed. My super plate coating is ruined, so I hope this helps someone else. I'm not a GCode Expert, but this is a start code I found that seems to work for me: https://www.geeetech.com/forum/viewtopi ... 8efd3d53f1

[m1klos]

Hi all,

My A30 arrived yesterday (this is my first 3D printer ever, sorry if i use the wrong terminologies), and I have the exact same problem as OP, adjusted nozzle level is not saved by setting it in any of the 5 positions and pressing ok. Is it a false impression that leveling can be done through adjusting the nozzle height on the five positions, not only by adjusting the tray with the 4 knobs?

[William]

Hi, I think you still need to adjust the height of the hotbed to adjust the level.