Mesh Range High... Frame or Bed?
Hi All,
What is a acceptable mesh Range on a 500 bed? I was hoping for a little better.
Upfront info:
-Bed Temp always are 110C (for Tilt and mesh runs).
-Range is not much different with cold bed (but always run tests at printing temp)
-Z-Tilt is done every time I run a mesh run just to make 100% certain that be is level
Just to test, I reduced the area of the probing inwards a little more to exclude the edge of the bed and removed mesh_pps so that I could see actual probe calculations. Made very little difference.
Not sure if looking at the shape of the mesh if this is frame issue. Seems more like a bed warp, but the is a brand-new bed.
Any advise?
29 Replies
I have the same problem with myself. New Ratrig 500 printer. I've been fighting with it for a month and I feel like throwing it away... The first layer keeps coming out ugly. The frame is set up as in the guide. Does not bring any results... Caret printed anew from pacf. All things being equal. Please help
Have been able to improve. Seem to be in the region of a range of between 0.280 - 0.310
Really trying to get below 0.200.... Any suggestions or is this just the bed?
Have applied every I think I understood in the below video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7ZTq2dDTkM
3D Printers & a Whiteboard
YouTube
RatRig V-Core 3: How to Get a Square Frame
This video is for those who struggle getting bed meshed with their RatRig V-Core 3.
Please feel free to jump to the chapter you are interested in.
0:00 Intro
1:05 about the v-core 3 frame and bed leveling
8:26 what to take care of in the building phase
9:17 the right square
10:09 build tips
16:50 adjusting the frame according to your bed mesh
...
One other thing I don't understand is why when I do a Z-level is the two front Z's very close to 0 on the mesh (small tolerance), but the rear z is always higher than the front?
Should all 3 not be zero?
If I could also only get rid of the ocean in the middle and the pond to the right.
@raymond_uae Today I ordered a bltouch, we'll see if it changes anything. But I looked at my pei and the magnet. You can see the concavities on the magnet 🙂 I wonder how Ratrig will solve this
When you sent the above I thought to myself, why have I not double-checked this. Here is a "Woodpecker Engineer" square. (you can go read up on their precision)
And well.... exactly as per the mesh, I have light coming through where the "Ocean" and "pond" is..... Video is taken from the same side as the picture above
Funny thing is, your bed had the same thing..... When did you purchase yours?
Very funny. I ordered everything from the official ratrig website. You should report it to them immediately, I wonder what they will say
absent-sapphire•13mo ago
i thought it was kind of stupid at first, but...i shimmed mine (for a different reason) with painters tape. you could give that a try.
@aruizramon Sure, lots of people do that. But this is a manufacturing defect of the product, Ratrig should replace it 🙂 I wrote them a message, we'll see what they respond to it
Now I'm taking the magnet off, it may turn out that it is defective and has an uneven surface. We'll see
Mehhh. I have bad news.... The magnet has been removed. The problem lies in the aluminum countertop. It's simply crooked, it was poorly made... After almost two months of fighting with this printer, I'm starting to regret buying it.
That not great... I suspect mine is the same.
Seems like we recieved roughly the same time...
Report this to them immediately, it will prevent you from using the printer. What does your first layer look like?
Not bad, but it can be better. Mesh compensation is doing its best
Dropped an email to Ratrig with videos and all tonight. Let's see how they respond.
@raymond_uae Can you show me how your first layer turns out? Mine, despite the settings, is tragic.
Or maybe I have something wrongly set in the clipper? Can you tell me what exactly you have set to make this work?
variable-lime•13mo ago
If I see it right the "wavy" patter is in y dirction? If so try to loosen one y rail and then tighten it one screw after another. then repeat on the other y rail.
variable-lime•13mo ago
Rat Rig
01. Linear Rail Set Up and Installation
This guide will instruct you on how to prepare and install your linear rail to your chosen aluminium extrusion.
variable-lime•13mo ago
I had great inprovements when redoing my linear rails.
I also think your z-offset is too small
Will try a first-layer print again in a day or two and post it here. Busy with a 28-hour print
I second what @fritzphantolon is saying.
My Y-Rail process:
- I loosened my one y-rail totally.
- I also remove 3 of the screws on the rail block and only had the 4th a little tightened (want to make sure my block was not slightly offline).
- Then started with the gantry on one end and tightened the first screw close to the gantry.
- Next, Move the Gantry to the middle of the bed
- Now continuing from the first screw I tightened, I start tightening all the screws in the direction of the gantry.
- Then moved the gantry to the end and continued to tighten rail screws (not so tight that you strain. They only need about 1.2nm which is not much but just so that you feel they won't come loose).
- The last item is to return the 3 screws to the block and tighten them all.
- Now check rail is running freely.
- Repeat on the other rail
My X-rail also needed adjustment:
- Here I brought the bed closer to the gantry, and heated to 110C (I print ASA and use 110C often).
- Leave it for about 30 minutes to get gantry warm.
- Then loosened all the crews on the x-rail and did the same process of working from one end to the other and tightening (excluding removing the block screws as in this case it makes no sense and what too hard to strip down EVA).
This x-rail process removes a lot of bowing.
This was my method which worked for me and solved some of my issues.
variable-lime•13mo ago
And don't use a cordless drill or any other powertool to tighten the rails. Tighten everything by hand.
Agree
So, new Bed should be on its way soon and then we will try again (First without the heater mat and magnetic print surface installed).
Will get a base mesh directly on the aluminum bed (in cold state)
So Ratrig also gave you a positive review of your problem. Great 🙂 I wonder when it will arrive
Not sure when I will receive it, but well impressed with the interaction with Ratrig. At the same time, they have updated the installation documentation to help future builds.
What do you mean by documentation? Regarding Ratrig, it looked a bit worse from my side. At first they wanted to send only the aluminum table and gave me a 50% discount on the magnet. Which is generally not a fair solution, because I had to take it off to prove the manufacturing defect. After one of my emails, they decided to send me the full set, table, heating mat, magnet and pei. Is that how you solved it too?
Basically, the same process as you have described. I pointed out that the documentation was misleading and also the "3rd Party" videos on their site. I also have my stream of my build on YouTube so was easy to point out that the documentation was different when I was building.
Further to this I have also sent them many mistakes in the documentation and hope they will update. Especially as they now say to leave the bed heater and magnet off until the "Commissioning Stage" in which you are supposed to check the level of the bed mesh before applying anything to the bed. What they failed to advise in the updated document was that the bed thermistor still needs to be connected to get to that step in the commissioning document, in which Klipper/Mainsail is happy with the configuration and allows you to do motor moves and then mesh (plus a few other images that are going to require updating).
Overall, while they did also go with the 50% discount option.... when I sent the long email with all the "Evidence", they did see my point and came back with the full replacement. So both you and I had a good influence on changing our outcomes. While I see their point of view in my interaction with them, they have stood by their values and listened to the client. Then they reassessed their corrective actions. This is what is most important to me.
Will continue to promote Ratrig as a great company.