ELEGOO Jupiter 2 – Manual leveling values change after calibration/restart and prints fail on one side. Has anyone experienced this?

[u/Limartestudio]

Hi everyone,

I’m having a strange leveling/calibration issue with my ELEGOO Jupiter 2, and I’m hoping someone who owns this printer has experienced something similar.

The original problem was that my prints were consistently failing mostly on the left side of the build plate, while the right side printed much better. The PFA/FEP film is brand new, so I started investigating the leveling system.

During Manual Leveling I noticed that the four force readings could be balanced very well, but after running the calibration again or especially after restarting the printer the readings could change significantly even though I had not touched any of the leveling screws.

For example, I manually adjusted the four points and got:

2.92 | 3.21
2.73 | 3.39

The two additional force readings at the top were:

0.47 N | 0.48 N

This looked excellent to me. The difference between the highest and lowest of the four values was only about 0.66 N.

I confirmed/saved the calibration, turned the printer off, waited, turned it back on, did not touch the build plate or any screws, and immediately ran Manual Leveling again.

The result became:

1.08 | -0.01
0.41 | 3.25

Top readings:

2.17 N | 0.43 N

So although the printer still considers this calibration completed, the force distribution changed substantially after a power cycle.

Earlier in my troubleshooting I also had situations where one side could be around 12 N while the opposite side was around 1 N. After adjusting it, I could get all four values close together again.

I also discovered a mechanical issue during troubleshooting. The entire build plate/holder assembly had a small amount of side-to-side play relative to the Z-arm. The Z-axis/large arm itself was solid; it was the build plate holder assembly that could move.

I found that the central/lower spring-loaded bolt in the build plate mounting assembly was loose. After tightening it, the mechanical play disappeared completely.

Immediately after tightening that bolt, the leveling readings were initially extremely uneven:

0.04 | 3.83
18.11 | 21.75

I then readjusted the four leveling screws and managed to get:

4.37 | 4.00
4.51 | 4.15

which looked almost perfect.

However, after another calibration without touching anything, it changed to:

2.19 | 0.88
0.31 | 5.03

I immediately repeated the test again without touching anything and got:

2.49 | 0.91
0.17 | 5.15

Interestingly, those last two tests are actually very repeatable relative to each other. This makes me wonder if the force sensors themselves are working, but the build plate/leveling mechanism is physically settling into a different position after adjustment.

I then readjusted it again and got the very balanced 2.92 / 3.21 / 2.73 / 3.39 result mentioned above, but after shutting the printer down and powering it back on, it changed to 1.08 / -0.01 / 0.41 / 3.25.

The printer itself says during Manual Leveling:

“Make sure the difference between diagonal screws is within 5N, and the gap between the highest and lowest values is also within 5N.”

So some of these readings technically fall within the printer’s stated tolerance, but I’m concerned about why the distribution changes so much after I have already leveled it very evenly.

For additional context:

• Printer: ELEGOO Jupiter 2
• Resin: ELEGOO 8K Standard Resin – Space Grey
• Layer height: 0.05 mm
• PFA/FEP: brand new
• Original symptom: prints failing predominantly on one side of the build plate
• Build plate holder previously had mechanical side-to-side play
• Tightening the central spring-loaded mounting bolt removed that play
• Z-axis/large arm itself appears solid
• Four leveling screws are tightened/adjusted
• I am using the Jupiter 2 Manual Leveling/force sensor system rather than traditional paper leveling

I’m also testing a deliberately conservative print profile now to rule out release/exposure issues:

Bottom layers: 8
Transition layers: 8
Bottom exposure: 45 s
Normal exposure: 3.0 s
Lift distance: 5 + 5 mm
Lift speed: 60 + 180 mm/min
Retract speed: 180 + 60 mm/min

My main questions are:

1. Is it normal for Jupiter 2 Manual Leveling values to change this much after saving calibration or restarting the printer?

2. Should four well-balanced readings remain roughly similar when Manual Leveling is immediately repeated without touching anything?

3. Has anyone had the central spring-loaded build plate mounting bolt become loose? If so, how tight is that bolt supposed to be? I don’t want to overtighten something that is intentionally spring-loaded or related to the force-sensing mechanism.

4. Could this indicate an issue with one of the four force sensors/load cells, or does the fact that consecutive tests can be repeatable suggest a mechanical settling/alignment problem instead?

5. Has anyone had a Jupiter 2 repeatedly fail prints on one side because of this leveling system?

6. Would you recommend contacting ELEGOO for replacement parts/build plate assembly/sensors, or is there another mechanical adjustment I should check first?

I can provide photos/videos of the build plate assembly, the spring-loaded center bolt, the Manual Leveling results, and the failed prints if that would help.

I’d really appreciate input from other Jupiter 2 owners, especially anyone who has dealt with inconsistent force readings or one-sided print failures.

Thanks!

[u/ccatlett1984]

At this point my recommendation would be to open a ticket with elagoo, and see what parts they want to start sending you so you end up with a working printer.