I restored to factory and my z offset is way off. How to fix?
The LCD menu on the printer will let you adjust it.
I create a part (you can use anything … TinkerCad is pretty easy) maybe 30-40mm diameter and just one layer thick (e.g. if using .25mm layer height then make the part that tall). Bring it into Cura and slice it and print it, then inspect the quality.
You want a nice 1st layer with no gaps in the rows of filament. Gaps means it is either under-extruder or too high.
On the other hand, if it is over-extruding or if the extruder is too low it will squish the filament too flat … and the rows will push up against the other rows with the nozzle more-or-less plowing up the adjacent row. Instead of a flat layer of filament you see rows of filaments with little ridges between them where the filament had to get pushed up.
Tiny little adjustments of .05mm or maybe .1mm … ESPECIALLY if lowing the z-offset. You don’t want to lower it too much in a single adjustment and end up driving the nozzle right down onto the bed and scratching it.
Once you find a good offset, record it somewhere safe. If you update firmware, this is one of the settings that will be lost and you’ll want to be able to re-enter it. (The other settings it the E-steps for your extruder’s feedrate (e-steps = number of steps to extrude 1mm worth of cold filament).
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There is a way to do it through the gLCD display while your printing a test disk or test square that is one layer height. I don’t recall where it is, but it makes the job of determining the correct z-offset go a lot quicker. Poke around the menu system after you start a print.
If the printer is currently performing a print-job, clicking the menu button/dial brings up a different menu then you see if it is not doing a print. One of those options is ‘Tune’ … and you can find the z-offset adjustment there.
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