1

Hello guys,

I just did a routine manual calibration of my build plate with a business card and realised i’ve been doing that since the start since its much quicker and I never seem to get the auto calibration to work. I’m sure i’ve tried it more than 10 times with me fiddling with the front screw, turning it as little as possible and getting stuck somewhere in between “too high” and “too low”. What has been your experiences with the Zortrax M200 and how do you guys calibrate?

2

I have the exact same problem with auto calibration. Too high… too low, with the smallest increment of change on the screw my clumsy fingers can muster. I just do the manual calibration. My printer is brand new.

3

I’m using the auto system. Did it 3 times so far without issues. First time was a bit slow and had to turn the same knots a couple of times but got it in the end.

It sounds like you turn them too much at the time if you experience that you have to turn clockwise and then anticlockwise etc.

whats your experience with maintenance. Any routines?

4

Yes it’s possible I turn the screw too much but I’m sure that’s the smallest increment I can manage. Sometimes I wasn’t sure if it moved at all but all of a sudden I need to turn it in the opposite direction. My calibration screws are kinda faulty I forgot to mention. They only release in one direction (up). When I want to make the build plate lower, I need to compress the spring and turn the screw from there. I guess that’s my issue.

5

Maybe people like us have too clumsy fingers. But actually it’ll be better if the height detected by the nozzle is shown on the screen. Then at least we know if it’s 1 mm too low or 0.01 mm too low. It seems like it is highly sensitive.

6

Well. It sounds weird. I have pretty shaky hands myself. At first I turned the knot a whole lot, and when it told me to turn the other way I started turning less and less for each time until I barely touched it.

I have to admit the first time I got it; it might have taken a good 10-15 minutes, but afterwards, it got easy (probably because it was pretty levelled already)

Also, the display tells you to unscrew all the knots at the start of the calibration. Don’t do that; it will only make it harder.

7

We have 3 Zortrax M200 which we use frequently and also move around a lot (customers, exhibitions etc), so we probably calibrate more frequently than most users.

I’ve tried to auto-calibrate on several occasions, but it’s quite slow and laborious, so I prefer to do it manually using a business card to check the distance. Then I check the result by doing an autocalibrate just to make sure all the measuring points are within tolerance. Takes about 15mins. The longest part is waiting for the extruder to heat up.

8

Sadly for me auto-cal. doesn’t work after manual cal., but I think I will give it a try again tonight since some of you are having success with it. I hope Zortrax will look into improving this function! The whole point of auto-calibration is to make it easier and faster for the users, not slower and more difficult. Seriously needs a visual aid on current bed level. It could even do the nozzle touching the whole time while the user adjusts the build plate to the perfect height indicated on the screen, that would be so awesome.

9

For me it was just getting the feel for the knobs, we have 5 M200’s in the shop and 1 of them travels with us frequently. Also depending on who is taking the parts off the bed, I average 1 calibration a week on the printers that do not travel and the one that does gets calibrated as soon as we get onsite and again back at the office. I have one machine that I have to compress the springs while adjusting the knobs, that is a pain in the rearend, but it works. Keep playing with auto calibrate you will learn the machine’s temperaments and get it down to under that 5 minute mark outside of heating the head!

Tom

10

I have that exact same problem with the spring screw knob! One knob is fine. One can only be released up and one knob cannot turn either way. I guess practice makes perfect, and in some cases the screw needs to be changed. Probably have to DIY.