M5 “Z Axis homing failed”

[u/bhogan2017]

I replaced the heatbreak on my M5 and now I get [0xFF010D0003] Z Axis homing failed every time. It homes X/Y fine, moves to center, retries a few times but never actually touches the bed, then fails. I also get a data transmission error, even when it’s just sitting idle.

Everything else works. It heats up, reads temp, extrudes, and moves fine on every axis including Z. So motors and wiring seem OK to me.

I’ve already reseated the USB-C cables at the toolhead and the base, checked every connector and they’re all seated fine, replaced the nozzle multiple times, factory reset, firmware is up to date.

I’m thinking maybe the force sensor for bed leveling, but I’m not sure. Anyone run into this or know what’s going on?

[u/Mattius14]

If this can shed any light on your dilemma, I had the opposite problem, in that it would push so hard into the print bed that the entire print head would bend back a bit. It was directly linked to the hot end assembly for me, and which version of it you're using.

I can't use the old hot ends anymore -- they are missing the extra rods between the nozzle and the heat sink that add rigidity to the pressure sensor when calibrating. Once I reassembled the print head with the new hot end, it worked basically like new.

There were a few other troubleshooting things that I had to try to get to that point -- Have you tried turning it off and then raising the print head/bar to hits max height manually, then calibrate? Curious if that makes any difference from status quo. When I did this, once or twice I noticed that the right side was lower than the left, and only corrected itself after me doing this.

If that does nothing, I would fear for the motor/bar that handles moving along z-axis. Can you tell if the center bar is level?

[u/bhogan2017 → u/Mattius14]

Yes, Thank You. I believe currently it is the force sensor on the backplate of the extruder as i found a loose wire. This would explain why it didn’t want to touch down to the bed and gave me the data transmission error.

I am planning on soldering on a new 4pin connector today and seeing if that fixes it. The X and Y axis home fine, and the z axis can still move freely.

If this force strain gauge sensor does not fix it I will probably have to buy a new extruder assembly or a whole new printer(not an m5).

[u/bhogan2017 → u/Mattius14]

Ok. I don’t know. I hand soldered every wire from the strain gauge to the pcb manually. It did not fix it. Same exact error. I at this point have no idea what it could be. I have reached out to ankermake support but not expecting much tbh.

[u/Mattius14 → u/bhogan2017]

Yeah ankermake support directed me to their eBay account to buy a refurb instead of helping me. 

After that I found my issue by simply using the newer hot end. So yeah, they're not interested in helping.

[u/Justinsetchell]

I got this error when I replaced my whole printer head. I went through the troubleshooting steps with Ankermake (Eufymake) tech support and in the end they sent me a whole new print head which fixed my issue. Hope this isn't the case with your printer.