Wait, my bed isn't actually *level*?

So I’ve noticed lately that, the further to the right a print is on my print bed, the less “smooshed” the first layer is.

In fact, measuring with my caliper, the right side of this 0.6mm thick disc is indeed about 0.13mm thicker than the left. The left itself is measuring 0.1mm too thick, but I consider that within the margin of measuring error.

On larger prints, there is a definite lined texture on the right, while on the left, it’s nice and smooth (though you can still see the nozzle’s path, which is what I want, right?).

The self-levelling routine is consistently finishing correctly, with light touches to the washers and everything. I also re-seated the bed by taking the washers off, lifting and adjusting the bed, and then tightening the washers to a snug, uniform tightness (I don’t have a torque wrench, so I can’t be uber precise here). I’m using the latest firmware (the one with Cure LE 2.6.66).

Soooo, what is going on here? How do I fix it? My inclination is to increase the Z offset on the printer by a bit, but that won’t help the uniformity issues. :cry:

Thanks!!!

Edit: I just printed another test disc, this time positioned to the far right of the print bed. The measurements and print quality are virtually identical to the other disc: Fine on the left, too thick on the right. I would have expected it to be worse all around if this was a hardware issue. Sooooo, software? Firmware? What’s going on?

Okay, so if anybody finds this on a Bing search (Yes, I said Bing, I’m a Microsoft fanboy. They pay my bills! :smiley: )…

My problems were/are a number of things. I’m still trying to sort them out, but I did the following and achieved some improvement:

    1. Threw away my custom Cura profiles for my filaments of choice. I went back to the Polymaker Polylite profile as a baseline and then tweaked settings from there. I also printed a new Rocktopus exactly as described in the quick start guide so I could compare it to the very first print that came off my printer. Also, I’d gotten in the habit of doing the first layer the same thickness as the others. I’ve rethought that and I’m going back to a .425 mm first layer.
  1. My X axis was seriously off level. About 2 mm on the right side.

  2. I’m tweaking the Z-offset in my firmware. When I first got my printer, it was on firmware V23 out of the box, with Z-offset set to -1.24. I upgraded to V40, and somewhere in there the Z-offset got changed to -1.38. This was wayyyy too smooshed, so I switched it back to -1.24. I think that’s when I started noticing these issues. I’m experimenting with values between -1.24 and -1.38 to figure out where the actual sweet spot is.

So that’s my deal. I’m not 100% happy with what my first layers look like now, but I’m getting there.

Your bed doesn’t have to be level with an autolevel system. The “plane” created by the touch points (at least 3, remembering back to geometry) determines the bed. So the Z lead screws could actually turning constantly throughout the print adjusting the toolhead to be “level”.

Check the discs… make sure they are clean. Any plastic on the discs could affect the conductivity of the autolevel system.


I personally like a solid bottom… So I like more smoosh and use a higher percentage extrusion for the initial layer (150%). This of course makes prints more difficult to remove, so get a good tool to get under prints for removal.

You can also play with the Z-offset for a temporary/quick test for your base. Once you find your sweetspot, save it to your eeprom.

i have this same problem… any help?

it will auto level but it won compensate for it when printing.

I have the same problem and in my case I believe it is due to the bearings on the print bed. There is noticeable play on the right side which is also where I see more lines. Changing the bearings today.