A Tale of Two Enders: Bed Level Ender 3 Fix

8/13/2019  – USED ENDER Printers back in stock!  I’ve

8/13/2019  – USED ENDER Printers back in stock!  I’ve bought 3.. they help you fix ’em!

Ender 3 Pro  $185.00 OBO!

Ender 3 $155.00 OBO!

Ender 5 $249.00 OBO!

CR-10 259.00 OBO!

REPLACE those bad XT60 Connectors before your Ender 3 catches fire! https://makersteve.com/2019/04/16/safety-first-replace-those-bad-xt60-connectors-ender-3-fix/

See how I stencil!

https://makersteve.com/2019/04/16/up-your-3d-printing-game-with-stencils-and-a-vinyl-cutter-go-cricut-go/

Check out my walk through on Dehydrating PLA Filament – IT WORKS!

https://makersteve.com/2019/02/03/dehydrate-your-pla-filament-ftw/


UPDATE:  

I want to include my latest improvement on this post.  I currently at 8mm x 20mm springs and have found they are more consistent that the stock springs provided by creality.

Here is the video:

Here are the spring I recommend:

8mmx20mm Springs (Orange/Yellow)
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Wm42Fc
eBay: https://ebay.to/2UkgAer

You can see my installation in the Ender 3 Pro Build below :


A month or so ago, I bought two Creality Ender 3 Printers.  Overall, I still love em.  They have been printing non-stop and I would still highly recommend them to anyone just starting out or looking for a entry-to-commercial duty FDM printer.  They are beasts and both are going right now.

Right now this printer is $194.00 on eBay with free shipping!  Best consistent deal I have found.

Of the two, the one I built seems to have more issues than the one my son built, we will call mine “The Bad Ender”.  On the left one, the base is not level (even though I loosened it all up) and it is just a tad more finicky.

Initially, they would both print and print again without adjustment. But after a week or so, The Bad Ender, would require that I manually level the bed, on the fly, at the start of each print. Not a big deal unless I don’t pay attention. This week, I decided to solve that and this post will document that so that other benefit.

Tools you will need

A spirit level

Or a digital level, I use a DXL360S

Parts you will need

M4 nuts.

Or an assortment of Metric screws and nuts use this link.

It never hurts to use a little Loctite Blue – medium strength – threadlocker!

This is a pretty simple fix takes about 10 minutes.

Here are the two after a pretty big print..

IMAG1216

Here is how I lay out my clips so the print head will not hit them.IMAG1690

What I learned is the bed would not stay stable between prints no matter how gently I removed the build plate.  After some research on the Facebook Group,  I learned you can stabilize the bed with 4 M4 nuts.

If you want an assortment of Metric screws and nuts use this link.

Here is how you do it.

Spin the four adjustment wheels off, capture the four springs and gather four M4 nuts.

IMAG1663

Flip the bed upside down to see the exposed screws.

IMAG1664

Put and M4 nut on each screw.

IMAG1665

Tighten them all the way down.. IMAG1666

Snug them up.IMAG1669

Replace the bed with the sprints between the base and the nuts.IMAG1670

Another view.IMAG1671

And another…IMAG1672

Put the leveling wheels back on.IMAG1673

All the way around and tighten them up.IMAG1674

Take a look at the nozzle and make sure the bed is below the nozzle before trying to level.IMAG1675

A little more than that… IMAG1676

Just about right.IMAG1677

Level all four screws until the bed is level, this will keep you from damaging the print surface.IMAG1679

Check the level of your print surface.IMAG1680

And verify your gantry is close… that is good enough for government work.IMAG1681

Verify level of the bed, again.IMAG1682

Good enough…IMAG1683

Even better.IMAG1684

Use the paper leveling method IAW https://makersteve.com/2018/03/24/manually-leveling-your-creality-cr-10-or-cr-10s-or-just-about-any-marlin-based-3d-printer/IMAG1685

Hit all corners.IMAG1686

And again.IMAG1687

Last corner and do it one more time, all the way around for posterity.IMAG1688

And get back to printing!

I have been able to print repeatedly without adjustment since I made this fix.

Let me know if this helps or hurts!


There is a ton of other useful stuff on Makersteve.com and more coming every week.

Be sure to check out my Ultimate Build Guide for Creality Ender 3

If you find this useful, please consider purchasing products through any of the links on the page, it’s free to you and I get a little something for my time.  Or, just go shopping at Amazon or Ebay  or Gearbest.

You can also support me through Patreon with as little as a dollar a month.

Or buy me a Ko-fi!

Happy Printing,

Steve

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