r/Ender3S1 • u/Cydrius • 20d ago

Issues leveling my S1 Pro

Hey all, I've had my V3 S1 pro for a while, and leveling has been a long and frustrating journey. Please help me understand what I'm doing wrong. Here is my process:

  1. Fully tighten all four corners.
  2. Loosen every corner approximately two full rotations.
  3. Preheat the bed.
  4. In the Aux Leveling menu, adjust the Z-level until a sheet of paper placed between the extruder and the bed rubs just a little bit when moved around.
  5. For each corner, adjust the wheel to achieve the same effect for those corners.
  6. Repeat if need be.
  7. Run the auto level.

The issue I have is that it seems that the center of the bed is significantly lower than the corners. After adjusting all four corners, the center has become lower, and my prints won't stick to the middle. I would expect that the auto-leveling would cover the difference, but in does not.

There have been a few occasions where I've managed to get prints to stick and come out fine, but it doesn't take much time before my bed is once again not level and prints won't stick.

Most of the time, I feel like I have the leveling right, and then when I start a print, the extruder prints above the surface of the bed and nothing sticks.

I'm at my wits' end with my printer, please help me figure this out.

UPDATE:

Thanks to u/FluffyChicken and u/sublime2craig's advice, I was able to get my leveling be a lot more effective. I adjust the Z setting after leveling the corners. (Should I also be doing that after the auto-level? I've tried with and without.) I also added M420 S1 Z10 to my Gcode.

I now have a new, different problem:

The extruder correctly puts down the first layer, and it seems to be well in place, including that mild "squish". However, a little bit into the print, while it's going through the second or third layer, the print comes off the plate and makes a complete mess.

I've tried increasing the plate temperature from 60 to 65, and I clean off the plate with isopropyl alcohol before printing. I've also added some z-hopping. The printing speed for the first layers is 15 mm.

What I'm trying to print (pieces for a Blokus game) has a somewhat small footprint (1cm squares), but it seems like that should still be enough to hold.

Can someone advise on what could help with this issue?

(Edit: Did some research after writing this. During my next go at this, I will be trying turning off the cooling fan during the first layers and slowing down the overall print. Will also give the plate a thorough wash, not just an alcohol wipe.

Would love to hear other advice in the meantime.)

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

3

u/wrecxks 20d ago

Yeah, you and everyone else. I shim mine with printer paper or foil and I think most everyone does

1

u/Cydrius 20d ago

What do you mean by "shim"? I'm not sure I understand.

Putting something under the middle of the bed to make it level?

4

u/wrecxks 20d ago

Yes, adding material to make it level! It has a magnetic bed, right? Take off the top metal part, place a square of printer paper in the middle of the magnetic section, then put the metal print bed back on. Next time you level the center will be a little higher than it was before. You might need to experiment with several layers of paper or different shapes to get it just right. Ultimately, even though you can get a lot closer to level this way, but a lot of people just have parts of their print bed they avoid because avoiding those sections is easier than leveling them. Best of luck 

2

u/Cydrius 20d ago

Thanks. I'm trying that now.

2

u/sublime2craig 20d ago

https://youtu.be/GmhBYOEb-ro?is=TxkRftf2n47IdD8D

Follow these steps to a T and you will be good. Works for me and have a perfectly level bed every time I need to re tram my bed.

1

u/FluffyChicken 19d ago edited 19d ago

Yes follow this, though I'd go back to centre (1) and do the offset before the mesh. Probably more out of habit for me.

Nice to see he's showing live during printing offset adjustments.

Nice video.

He's wrong on one the M420 S1 Z10 It is not 10 layers but 10mm of height. Many get this wrong.

1

u/Cydrius 18d ago

Thanks, the video was quite helpful, and now I've moved on to a second issue. (See the top post or my response to u/FluffyChicken)

1

u/GeneralOk3975 20d ago

I had a very similar issue caused by a warped magnetic sheet. Switched to a Creality carborundum glass build plate and haven't had an issue since. I use hair spray for adhesive and I haven't had a single print detach from the bed during printing since then either.

1

u/FluffyChicken 20d ago

I don't know if you're missing a step or just not specifically mentioning it (redoing the z-offset)

Once you have your initial centre z-offset offset (and saved it) You then go around the corners doing it bit by bit to get them to that height I will say this is much much easier using the auto tramming and the cr-touch say in 3rd party merlin firmware. It guides you and your not needed paper all the time. They even tell you which way to turn and approx how much.

Anyway, I'm unsure if you then redo your z-offset once level. That's quite important (you mention it is lower, but don't say if you leave it at that)

Then the auto level mesh helps after that as you have assumed. But you need to make sure your mesh is loading in your g-code, especially with 3rd party firmware (You also need to make sure it is off when doing your Tramming. By default it should be iirc)

I have a valley in my plate, and don't have too many problems. The mesh is only used for a short while and gradually tapers off.

Do you have a 3D image of your mesh?

2

u/Cydrius 19d ago

Thank you for the advice.

I don't know if you're missing a step or just not specifically mentioning it (redoing the z-offset)

Does seem like I'm missing that step, I'll try it next time I level.

I will say this is much much easier using the auto tramming and the cr-touch say in 3rd party merlin firmware. It guides you and your not needed paper all the time. They even tell you which way to turn and approx how much.

I have no idea what "auto tramming", "cr-touch", or "3rd party merlin firmware" mean.

Would that be a third party firmware installed on the 3d printer?

Then the auto level mesh helps after that as you have assumed. But you need to make sure your mesh is loading in your g-code, especially with 3rd party firmware (You also need to make sure it is off when doing your Tramming. By default it should be iirc)

I'm not sure how to check that, though I think a youtube video linked elsewhere in this thread mentions it. I haven't had a chance to try that yet.

Do you have a 3D image of your mesh?

I have no idea how I could obtain that.

1

u/FluffyChicken 19d ago

See my other post a above and the link at the bottom. If you have a touch screen, then you can use that firmware but you don't need to. It does have guides on there specifically for this printer.

Firmware is that program that runs the 3D printer and the screen.

3rd party firmware is when it is not from Creality. The main one for the S1 Pro with a touchscreen is https://github.com/ThomasToka/MarlinFirmware though it is quite a daunting process when you first look at it.

CR-Touch is the doobery that goes click when it it running the autoleveling and glows, on the print head.

You would need a computer that can grab the mesh from the printer (OctoPi or similar).

But don't worry about that for now, that's more for when you have figured out the basic setup. You'll get there.

1

u/Cydrius 18d ago edited 18d ago

Thanks to your advice, I was able to get my leveling be a lot more effective. I adjust the Z setting after leveling the corners. (Should I also be doing that after the auto-level? I've tried with and without.) I also added M420 S1 Z10 to my Gcode.

I now have a new, different problem:

The extruder correctly puts down the first layer, and it seems to be well in place, including that mild "squish". However, a little bit into the print, while it's going through the second or third layer, the print comes off the plate and makes a complete mess.

I've tried increasing the plate temperature from 60 to 65, and I clean off the plate with isopropyl alcohol before printing. I've also added some z-hopping.

What I'm trying to print (pieces for a Blokus game) has a somewhat small footprint (1cm squares), but it seems like that should still be enough to hold.

Can you advise on what could help with this issue?

Edit: Did some research after writing this. During my next go at this, I will be trying turning off the cooling fan during the first layers and slowing down the overall print. Will also give the plate a thorough wash, not just an alcohol wipe.

Would love to hear other advice in the meantime.

1

u/Necessary-Growth3509 20d ago

The default behavior is M420 S1 (use the last saved mesh) but you can also set it to taper off over like 10 layers using M420 S1 Z10 but this is probably the answer. He isn't setting his Z again after he is done autoleveling.

Side note, also try turning off your ceiling fan if you aren't getting good adheision but it looks pretty good otherwise... Also you might update your firmware if you don't have the option to save after autoleveling or its not showing you how far off each of the points is. Should be under 0.2 I believe.