Advanced EZABL and Printer Troubleshooting
Is the bed level-ish?
EZABL™ can’t work miracles. You need to make sure your bed is as level as you can get it by adjusting the corner screws. When you have EZABL™ working well you may like to consider swapping the springs and screws for solid mounts. You can get the Solid Mounts we sell from the shop or just use aluminum spacers in place of the springs.
If you use printed parts for the bed mounts they MUST be in ABS and I recommend 3 outer walls with 75-90% infill. ABS will hold up to around 105C bed temps before it starts getting soft. We also offer hybrid aluminum/ABS mounts and ABS mounts for select models with extra features on the TH3DStudio.com store.
There’s no magic number for how flat your bed needs to be, but you want any variations to be no more than 1mm across the entire bed. You can check it manually by laying a straight edge (such as a steel rule) across it or using your probe by increasing the number of probed points using the instructions under ‘Measuring your bed flatness’.
You also want to make sure the X gantry is level with the frame of the printer, not the bed.
If you have a particularly warped bed try increasing the probe points in the firmware (located in the EZABL™ settings section towards the bottom of the Configuration.h file).
Are you using a plugin with OctoPrint?
There are many plugins for OctoPrint that are great. However plugins like “ABL Expert” cause issues due to their poor coding and default options that are selected upon installation. Please disable any “ABL” plugins before contacting support.
Also, make sure you are on the latest version of the “EEPROM Marlin Editor Plugin” or our version before contacting support. Older versions are known to break the EZABL™ from working correctly.
3rd Party Plugins for Octoprint are NOT supported in the included product support.
- Please go through the Z guide here: EZABL – Z Axis Troubleshooting
- Also, make sure you match the mount type you are using on the printer to the firmware. For example, if you printed the “OEM” mount then you need to use the firmware from the “EZABL OEM Mount” folder. If they do not match then the kit will not work correctly.
- In addition to that be sure you followed ALL the steps of the installation guide (especially the sensor calibration, Z offset, and the slicer settings (starting code is essential, use the one in the guide)).
- Check your Z endstop trigger: EZABL – Z Not Showing “TRIGGERED” M119 Test
- Whenever you update your firmware it is HIGHLY advised to send a M502 and then M500 to reset the EEPROM. If you do not do this you may have issues with the firmware working correctly. Please note that if you have an EZABL kit this will erase your Zoffset so make a note of what you had and put that in again.
Other things to check for
- If your cold end fan (the always on one) is missing a fan blade or the bearing is failing (making a lot of noise) the high vibrations can affect the sensor.
- If you are getting “slanting” on the 1st layer despite getting a good M48 result (anything UNDER 0.01mm) then this page for the ‘slanting’ issue: EZABL ‘Slanting’ Troubleshooting Guide
- For printers with wheels (CR-10, Ender 2/3, Tornado): Check your wheels on the bed and the X gantry. Make sure they are ALL rolling when you move the bed or X. If they are not you will need to adjust the eccentric nut that is on them. For example, the CR-10 has 6 wheels and 3 on one side have the eccentric nuts. When you move any wheel it should make the bed move. The wheels should NOT be so tight that if you hold the bed and try to move them they do not move, they should be able to spin with some resistance.
- If you have any LED or CCFL lamps near the printer, specifically desk lamps and LED strips NOT powered from the printer power supply, unplug them and see if the M48 is better and/or the 1st layer is better. Some IKEA LED lamps have very low quality power supplies in them that emit EMI that will affect the sensors
- Make sure your Z movement is not bottoming out on the motor mounts. This happens on the CR-10 machines mainly when you do not have the stock glass on the bed. If it is bottoming out you can put the glass back on or use washers to equally shim up the bed to sit higher on all 4 corners.
- Grounding issues can be a huge problem. (How to check for grounding) Some people notice that their sensor calibration changes when they unplug the printer from the USB port and then try to print over SD. This happens because your printer is getting a ground through the USB shielding because it doesn’t have one itself. Check the power cable going from the printer to the wall and make sure it actually has a ground plug on it. Also check the grounding wire going from the printer power socket to the power supply. Having a good ground is essential to any electronic equipment for function AND safety. If you are not sure if your outlet has a good ground then your local hardware store or Amazon sell inexpensive (under $10) testers that you can plug into the outlet to check if it has a ground signal going to it.
- If you have the EZConnect try pulling power from the printer PSU. If you have issues with the AC power in your location this usually will fix issues related to AC power.
M48 Probe Test
To run the test send G28 (make sure your bed is clear) and then M48 P10 X100 Y100 V2. Then send that to our support team with the “standard deviation” that it spits back.