I have a Wilson II 3D printer that I had a worn out extruder nozzle so I replaced it. For reasons unknown to me, I have been unable to get/set the Z-axis The issue is this: When I start a print job, the machine goes through the initialization process with a G28 home all axsis, then a G29 bed leveling and these apparently have no Z-axsis issues or bed crashes. When I send a print job, the initialization completes leaving the head about 40mm above the bed and close to the X-axsis near it’s max right position. The object code kicks in, moves the X-axsis to the 0 position, then starts to lower the head towards the bed. In normal operation, the head movement in on the Z-axsis should stop slightly above the bed (approx. 0.5 mm or so) then start squirting filament. My problem is that the head stops at approx. 20mm above the bed. I’ve tried messing with the Z-axsis offset both in the code and setting an offset with the control panel. None of this works or changes the Z-axsis to go lower than 20mm from the bed.
I’ve expended all my limited knowledge of 3D printer mechanics and have had no luck. Now, I am in a position to PAY someone to take a look and see if it can be fixed. I will deliver the machine to any reasonable location if someone wishes to take a shot at fixing it for a reasonable price or hourly rate. If interested, email me on this site and we can go from there.
Sounds like there’s a stray G92 or somesuch in your code.
Couple of things to try and report back.
manually home all axes and then run M114 (get current position).
Check your start.gcode and end.gcode, and your print job g code files for G92 commands.
Look in your slicing program for any pre/post run code (I can’t remember what it’s called)
You might want to post your question on reprap.org forums (general, since Wilson II seems to be abandoned by the developer) and/or reddit.com/r/reprap as well.
Was this condition a result of changing the nozzle, or did this not ever work correctly? I have a rep rap based printer and though tuning it can be pain once done and the proper setting are written to the appropriate configuration files, it prints very nice prints.
Updating the appropriate files is important for the proper settings to persist through reboots and power cycles.
It worked very nicely for more than a year. Print quality was deteriorating so I decided to replace the nozzle. The issue arose immediately after I installed the nozzle. I can’t imagine what I might have done in replacing the nozzle and don’t suspect it is related.
That being said, since it performs a bed leveling and home function correctly, it would appear to be software/gcode related as opposed to mechanical.
Edit: Use the M502 command, then the M500 command using Pronterface or Octoprint, this will restore the EEPROM values to stock. Then recalibrate probe offset.
You might want to also try loading the Marlin firmware for the Wilson II (If the developer provided it).
I am guessing the auto mesh bed leveling values are messed up.
I’m not familiar with “auto mesh bed leveling”. I have the original Marlin firmware that came with the printer. Will reloading that reset/fix the “mesh”? “recalibrate probe offset” - as in running G28 G29 codes?
SUCCESS!! I executed G28, G29, then M114. M114 returned
X:14.98, Y:204.99, Z:1.86 - seems reasonable positioning… I
then executed M502 and saved with M500… I then
executed a print of a test box that came with the Marlin code
and it behaved as expected (i.e. after the AUTO HOME
it went to just above the BED and began printing!)
Although the print had some issues… the fact that the head
didn’t stop 20mm above the bed verified these actions taken
corrected the issue!! THANKS to all those who offered
suggestions!!