Wondered if someone can help me level the bed on the Mini. I know the Taz gives detailed instructions, but I can’t find it in the manual for the Mini.
I know I have a problem front to back, because the auto-level works but it must be so off that even the average calculation doesn’t solve the problem.
I get extrusion on the first layer in the back half of the bed but the front gets nothing because the head is too close to the bed. When I do a Z-offset in any of the slicer programs it fixes it for the front, but makes the back lose adhesion because the head is too far off the bed.
I tried following the Taz instructions, but without good pictures, I couldn’t figure out step-by-step how to adjust and calibrate my bed.
Oh yeah, you can also see that when the auto-level function starts in the front left and right corner, it sometimes really flexes the bed down because I think it’s off by almost 1mm.
Edit:
The Mini doesn’t have a bed level adjustment like the Taz. The bed is mounted on flexible corner mounts and the washers are hard mounted to the aluminum bed plate.
Bring your hotend to printing temp and wipe it vigorously with a folded cotton washcloth. Also, flip or replace your wiper pad if there is any plastic residue on it. Make sure the corner washers are clean as well.
I think you nozzle is dirty. The nozzle should just tap the leveling washer.
When the nozzle wipes and taps, what is the hot end temperature?
nopick, you were right. That did the trick. Not sure how often I need to vigorously wipe down the nozzle and hot end, but I suspect there was some reduced electrical connectivity going on between the tip and the metal corners of the bed, which was causing the auto bed level calibration to overly flex the front two corners, thereby messing up the z-axis height of the first layer.
My Mini recently stopped extruding and I was troubleshooting it as such. For some reason, I happened to print 2 small objects on the right side and the left side of the bed. The left side did not print and the right side did. That is when I figured I had a bed leveling problem and ran across this post. I tried all the recommended fixes but the problem did not go away. During bed leveling I noticed the print head was still flexing the bed down on the 2 left bed leveling sensors and not the right sensors. So I took the two left sensors off, cleaned them with isopropyl alcohol and reassembled them. For good measure, I lightly sanded the sensor surfaces with 1500 grit sandpaper. That did the trick. I plan on cleaning the bed sensors with alcohol when I clean the bed.
Thanks to all for the advice and observations. The Mini is whole again and printing away.