Bed Leveling / Sensing on Dual

The official subforum for discussion of the installation and use of the official M2 Dual Extruder upgrade.
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scampa123
Posts: 195
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 4:00 pm

Bed Leveling / Sensing on Dual

Post by scampa123 » Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:22 pm

Has anyone setup a sensor for bed leveling with the dual extruder setup? I really want to get my printer setup with one of these sensors to auto compensate for the level of the bed and Z height. I know the new models have some of this, but I have an existing M2 setup as a dual extruder and would like to have this functionality.

I do not print on a regular basis, so when I do it always becomes an exercise of resetting the Z, then leveling the bed. I'd like something that does this for me so I can focus on printing the items...

Thanks!

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insta
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Re: Bed Leveling / Sensing on Dual

Post by insta » Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:34 pm

You can't auto-tram the bed on a dual.

Go to a Rev E. spider and be done with it. Those things hold level really well.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org

scampa123
Posts: 195
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 4:00 pm

Re: Bed Leveling / Sensing on Dual

Post by scampa123 » Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:05 pm

insta wrote:You can't auto-tram the bed on a dual.

Go to a Rev E. spider and be done with it. Those things hold level really well.
Thanks Insta, I'll see if they still sell them!

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insta
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Re: Bed Leveling / Sensing on Dual

Post by insta » Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:56 pm

They do :) You might have to go through support@makergear.com first.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org

scampa123
Posts: 195
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 4:00 pm

Re: Bed Leveling / Sensing on Dual

Post by scampa123 » Wed Jan 31, 2018 3:54 pm

insta wrote:They do :) You might have to go through support@makergear.com first.
Hey Insta,

Anything else I need to know when it comes to this and the dual?

It seems like it is not just changing the spider, but also the Z Endstop, which for me is located at the top of the unit, which will now be on the bottom.

Additionally the Quick Start app seems to help setup the Z and level the bed. I'm assuming after running that I'd just set the second extruder's height by heating up the bed and both extruders and basing it off of the left extruder (the original way)

Anything else you can think of?

Thanks!!

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insta
Posts: 2007
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Re: Bed Leveling / Sensing on Dual

Post by insta » Wed Jan 31, 2018 5:07 pm

It depends on how comfortable you are hacking the firmware (to enable dual extruders & thermistors, but without setting the Z_HOME_DIR to downwards). You can make the spider home upwards still -- and it works well for the v4. You get it close enough with the bumpscrew then release & re-clamp the hotends to set them level. Do this after the bed itself is leveled.

Here's some commands I'd use in your case to manually level the bed. If you think of the 4 levelling screws as 1->4 clockwise from 0,0 (so front-left is 1, back-left is 2, etc), loosen the lockscrews and all the leveling screws as far as they go except #1. This should put an obvious tilt on the bed. Without the second hotend installed, do a manual bed leveling:

Code: Select all

M84
G28 X0 Y0
G1 X15 Y15
G28 Z0
Repeat the "G28 Z0" command while adjusting the endstop screw until the hotend is good enough, then slide a piece of printer paper under it and loosen the clamp to let it drop to the bed. It should not be a big change -- 1mm or so at the most. Tighten the clamp and don't loosen it again for the remainder of the process. Screw #1 is now set.

Code: Select all

G1 Z10
G1 Y235
G1 Z0
Tighten screw #2 until the hotend passes the paper-drag test.

Code: Select all

G1 Z10
G1 X190
G1 Z0
Tighten screw #3 until the hotend passes the paper-drag test.

Code: Select all

G1 Z10
G1 Y15
G1 Z0
Tighten screw #4 until the hotend passes the paper-drag test.

Code: Select all

G1 Z200
M84
G28 X0 Y0
G1 X103 Y125
M84
G28 Z0
This code will lower the bed most of the way down, kill all motors, home X & Y, move them to the middle of the bed, disable the motors again, then pull Z to the top. From here, you can push the bed and X carriage around by hand to hit the 4 corners again and tweak the final distance on the screws. Never change screw #1 or loosen the hotend while doing this. After you pass the paper test on all 4 corners, tighten the lockscrews.

Install the second hotend, push it up into the holder, clamp it down.

Code: Select all

G1 Z200
G28
G1 X103 Y125 Z0
Slide a piece of paper under the hotends, loosen both screws so they drop onto the paper, tighten both screws up. Done! The process will take like ... 4 minutes.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org

scampa123
Posts: 195
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 4:00 pm

Re: Bed Leveling / Sensing on Dual

Post by scampa123 » Wed Jan 31, 2018 6:11 pm

Thanks for all the details!

What is different about this method vs using the setup tool Makergear provides? (besides the obvious point that it is manual)? Is there some reason why their recommended way won't work for me?

I'll change the Z to the bottom, I'm not worried about that and in the end it will be easier than tweaking the bolt which is never fun..

Thanks again!

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insta
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Re: Bed Leveling / Sensing on Dual

Post by insta » Wed Jan 31, 2018 6:50 pm

The software doesn't understand homing upwards, as far as I know, but otherwise there's no reason not to.

If you go to bottom homing, you may have to bend the lever for the endstop they send to make it engage earlier.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org

scampa123
Posts: 195
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 4:00 pm

Re: Bed Leveling / Sensing on Dual

Post by scampa123 » Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:09 pm

insta wrote:The software doesn't understand homing upwards, as far as I know, but otherwise there's no reason not to.

If you go to bottom homing, you may have to bend the lever for the endstop they send to make it engage earlier.

Ah maybe something changed in the software then since you last looked at it. It seems, today, it is setup for homing upwards.

Thanks again,

-S

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