Calibration problems

[adam.k7]

I just finished assembling my mk3. This is my first 3d printer. The self-test passes flawlessly, but the calibration fails as soon as the z axis gets near the bottom. I've tried re-tensioning / detensioning the belts and moving the pinda up / down. I am out of ideas on where to looks for the problem.

If it helps, here's a video of the failure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZWOcVFbscg

Any suggestions on what part of the printer should be redone would be greatly appreciated.

[jeffrey.b5]

The pinda probe on my MK3 has a dim, red LED that you can see if you look at the top of the probe. It is illuminated when it is away from the print surface and turns off when it gets close. Does your probe illuminate when it is away from the print bed? Does it turn off when the probe is close to the print surface?

If I have my extruder raised away from the print bed (100mm), the pinda probe red LED is on. If I place a metal tool or the spring steel sheet within a couple mm of the bottom of the pinda probe, the LED turns off.

If this isn't working, maybe you have a bad probe or it isn't plugged in to the correct location on the controller board.

[moojuiceuk]

Have you aligned the PINDA as shown here, using a cable tie as a reference gap? :


If you have done that, can you show a close up picture the nozzle & PINDA with the bed, without the paper in the way? Does the PINDA ever light up?

[vincent.g9]

From what we can see, it seems like your hotend is not fully seated in the extruder body.
http://manual.prusa3d.com/Guide/5.+E-ax ... g=en#s8196

[Olef]

Your E3DV6 hotend is incorrectly located in the extruder body. It is too low down which means your PINDA is also way too low. This will cause failure to calibrate and at some point it will crash and probably damage your printer. Do not use it until this is corrected.

Strip your extruder down until you can redo the instructions from http://manual.prusa3d.com/Guide/5.+E-ax ... 10?lang=en Step 17 and pay particular attention to all of the photos in step 17, 18, 19 to get the hotend seated correctly.

You're not the first to have this issue so don't worry, just take your time with the assembly and make 100% sure your work is identical to the photos. Good luck!

[timothy.g8]

I made the same mistake with my hotend being too low. This causes the XYZ callibration to fail.

An appendix in the manual would be a good case for this. Step by step how to remove the back half of the extruder, adjust your hotend, and reassemble all while the wires remain connected. Wizardry!

Back to Step 18:
http://manual.prusa3d.com/Guide/5.+E-ax ... g=en#s8196

[timothy.g8]

Luckily it wasn't too hard to fix.

I just had to remove the front fan. The two screws behind that exposed the hotend. I was able to reseat the hotend and put it all back together with the wires still connected.