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Figuring out differences between Creality Printers
I am thinking of getting a 3D printer for general tinkering and as I've very interested in the MicroscoPy project. The printer mentioned in the project is "Creality Ender 3 Pro printer with a metal extruder and a BLTouch auto bed-leveling sensor", which when I looked was out of stock. However, it's not clear to me that I need to get this particular printer. My understanding is that Creality makes decent printers for the beginner so I was focusing on those (other suggestions welcome). I wanted to stay at \$200−\$300. I'm having a heck of a time figuring out the differences between different models. A simple comparison spreadsheet seems hard to find. I've seen this at various sites

Creality3d Upgraded Ender-3 V2
Creality Ender-3 S1 3D
Creality Ender-3 S1 Pro
Creality Ender-3 Pro

Part of the problem is that I think different sites (Amazon, Creality) use slightly different names. For example, the last two printers I listed might be the same printer.
I realize any information given here will be quickly out of date as new models are introduced, but perhaps links to comparison sites or review sites would serve a larger audience. Or perhaps even documents on how a newbie to 3D printing can get started.
Again, my end goal is the project I mentioned.  I'd like to get a printer that is as least as good as what he's using (feature-wise): "Creality Ender 3 Pro printer with a metal extruder and a BLTouch auto bed-leveling sensor"

I would suggest going to the official Creality website because, as you pointed out, different sites will use different wording. Be aware that Creality has different series of printers (Ender 2, 3, 5, 6; CR 6, 10, 30) and different variations within that series (Pro, Plus, Max, Neo, V2). This is probably the main cause of your confusion.

Also, not all iterations are numbered: there are at least half a dozen different Ender 3 without any extras that differ by production months.

Don't look at the typical auction and Eastern webshop sites (as these are flooded with clones and different versions) and go directly to the official Creality website and browse the printers there. Order your printer at a respectable seller nearby or from a trustworthy online printer store in your country. I'd probably vote to close this question as this is close to a recommendation question which are not allowed and summing up all the differences is something you could do yourself by using their official website.

Thank you all. I'm focusing on Ender-3 V2 and Ender 3 Pro, both about the same price. Still trying to figure out the differences....

Most of that project uses Lego.  The rotary table and gears would be the most demanding 3DP parts.  For that project, any perceived benefits of the bed leveling and metal extruder over the normal models might be offset by the learning curve required to take advantage of those upgrades.

@DaveX Yes, it's quite an involved and expensive project. The legos alone are over $50.  But if it's fun and I learn a lot, it's worthwhile. I've been thinking of a 3-D printer for some time but put it off due to thinking "what's the practical use?". This project provides a practical use. Thanks for the info on bed leveling and metal extruder. I was coming to the same conclusion on bed leveling. I'll have to research what are the pros of a metal extruder!

@Dave -- for tech stuff, I like deciding on the budget first, and then getting the best you can get for that budget.  If you are looking for an opinion, then  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yFd4Df6Sow talks about the differences and costs.

I'd like to get a printer that is as least as good as what he's using (feature-wise):

Then you need to modify one yourself, a basic Ender 3 could be the base machine. But the all metal hotend and auto bed-levelling are not stock for it or the Ender 3 pro. They're addons of dubious value which need to be purchased and installed.


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How is the Prusa typical orange surface created?
Photos exist where the orange controller of Prusa printers is shown.
In most photos, it looks as if the surface is somewhat rough.
Here is such a photo:

It sparkles a bit, so I would assume that it's not perfectly even.
I do not own such a controller or Prusa printer, so I would like to ask if somebody could show a close up of what this surface really looks like and perhaps give me some information about how it could be re-created.
Thank you very much!

That texture you see is from the build surface, all prints you see are printed with the plane you see downwards.
There are several options to create such a surface finish. From texture coated heated beds to magnetic flexible build surfaces.

Thank you. I am a really newbie at this. I have a Kobra Max with 45 x 40 x 40 cm build size. Could you perhaps recommend a specific texture coated heated bed or build surface for that size? I actually really need 37 cm x 37 cm, so a smaller surface would not suit unfortunately.

@tmighty Smaller will always fit, larger sometimes!

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Rough surface coated PEI textured build surface to fit Anycubic Kobra Max?
I have an Anycubic Kobra Max. It has a bed size of L430*W410.
I would like to print a rough surface as shown here:

To do that, I need a coated PEI build plate, and I need to print the surface pointing towards the build plate.
The coated PEI build plate that is shown in the photo was designed for an Ender 5.
I would like to know if somebody could point me to such a solution for a Kobra Max as I don't know what would be needed to "fix" it on the build plate.
Here is the full data for the product shown in the image just for clarification of what it shows:

Ender 5 Plus 3D Printing Platform
Double-Sided Powder Coated Without Magnetic Foot Base
3D Printing Build Surface 377x370 mm/14.8x14.5 inch
Size: Only Double Powder Plate 377x370mm

From your description, it looks like you would need a magnetic sheet for the Y-axis carriage. Could you [edit] in a link to the product you are looking at purchasing so readers can help find a solution?

Considering that the PEI coated build surface is smaller than your actual build platform size you should be able to fit the build surface onto the build platform at the expense of a smaller print surface area. In the past I have secured sheets of glass with Kapton tape (very thin high temperature resistant electronics tape), but glass is stiff and rigid. You might be able to use tape to tape the build surface corners to the build platform. However, from the website: supplied without magnetic platform side B, the plates are coated on both sides so you can save one side for flawless parts while you need the other side. The performance may not be good without the soft magnetic base to maintain flatness. Do not recommend using them separately., so you need to get a magnetic platform to use this surface according to the seller.
This makes sense, as the sheet is thin, and some filaments warp (by shrinkage) considerably, the sheet may deform. You could try to use double sided high temperature tape, but that defies the the purpose of the build surface, you need to get it off easy and bend the surface to release the print. Therefore, a magnetic base is required.

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Are magnetic hotbed plates interchangable?
The Anycubic Kobra Max comes with a glass plate.
I need to use a textured PEI plate for my Kobra Max.
As I understand it, the PEI plate needs to be used on a magnetic bed plate.
Currently, there is no hotbed with a spring steel magnetic plate available for it yet.
I am still a complete newbie at plates.
Could I use an other magnetic plate for this, or do they have to specific to a certain printer (apart from the size of course)?

Usually the build surface is not the magnetic part, it is just a flexible steel PEI coated plate, so yes you could use a magnetic build platform sourced somewhere else.

Currently, there is no hotbed with a spring steel magnetic plate available for it yet.

Actually there are solutions, note that complete build plate and surface systems are sold for the size of your printer, e.g. look into manufacturer BuildTak.


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What brand of Black PETG filament is *glossy*?
Polymaker Tough PETG Black, although not labelled as "Matte Black", is not as glossy or shiny as PLA Black and I consider it Very Dark Grey/Matte/Satin.
What brand of PETG Black is glossy or shiny and also has high quality (and preferably available on Amazon)? Does a brand specify its "blackness" - glossy/matte/satin?
Should I use XTC-3D resin on Polymaker Tough PETG Black to make it shiny and hide lines & imperfections, but will it still appear Very Dark Grey? What color can I add to XTC-3D to make it blacker?

Can we reword your question to be something more like "how do I find a glossier black PETG?" or something similar? A "what brand...?" question is likely to be closed as off-topic very fast but I think you have a legitimate "question behind the question" here that can get you useful answers.

This question as originally stated is pretty far off-topic: asking for product recommendations. We don't give answers of that form on this site.
However, in general PETG is very glossy unless it's been specifically modified to be matte. If you're getting matte-like outcomes, it might be that your temperature is too low for the material and speed. PETG (at least as it's used as a marketing term) is not a single material but a whole class of materials with different thermal properties, so some brands need to be printed hotter than others. Many materials come out "matte" (and also have layer adhesion and brittleness properties) if the temperature you're using is only borderline for the speed you're printing them at. If you can't go higher temperature on your printer, you could try slowing down and see if that gets a surface more to your liking.
Now, as for specific product recommendations, we can't do that, but I can recommend the Filament Librarian's FilamentColors site as a way to get real photos of a huge library of real materials, which might help you select one with the surface sheen you want.


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Should I be worried about the lead in brass nozzles?
I've read a couple articles recently about brass nozzles and found out they contain some lead. I've been 3d printing stuff for about a year and haven't really been mindful of this and so haven't washed my hands and stuff after every print or changing of the nozzle. I've never eaten or drank anything out of something I've printed to clarify.
Is the amount of lead brass nozzles enough to warrant stricter hand washing?

Only if you're printing items for handling food, in which case you also have other more significant concerns to address.

No.  Leaded brass is around 2 % lead and the wear is negligible. How much has your nozzle worn?
If your nozzle has worn from 0.4 mm to 0.5 mm over that year, there's maybe
$$
((.5 mm/2)^2-(0.4 mm/2)^2)*3.14*1 mm*(8.73 gm/cc)/(1000 mm^3/cc)*0.02 = 12 ug
$$
of lead that has worn off. The lead exposure from that year of wear is very low compared to the allowable $50ug/m^3 air/8hours$ limit from OSHA/NIOSH.  If the 12 ug had remained suspended as dust in your $1m^3$ printer enclosure and you breathed it for 8 hours/day, OSHA would be fine with it.
And most of the abraded nozzles would have been encapsulated in your parts rather than released into your environment.
If you were doing the machining on the nozzles, it might be more of a concern.

That is why even printing parts for food use is no issue with brass nozzles.


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Outer horizonal lines when inner model changes from infill to solid
I have a Creality Ender 3 Pro with only the touch sensor and filament guide as upgrades. I'm using the Creality Cura-based slicer. It prints absolutely beautifully for the price, but I'm having a small issue with the outside of the model in large prints when the inside of the model transitions from infill to a solid layer. I'm getting a protruding line around the outside for a few layers. As you can see in the photo, when the inner layer is all infill, it looks great, but when it gets to the broad flat layer, there's a little extra protrusion and the outside. It doesn't seem to happen in smaller prints. I've been searching and tried the suggestion of turning off combing and that didn't help. Has anyone else run into this issue? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

It looks like you have a little bit of over-extrusion. When the infill is less than 100%, the walls can easily fit around it, but when the layer is all filled, the few % extra extruded material has to go somewhere and that is what pushes your outer wall outwards.
Maybe you can try to set "Outer Before Inner Walls". if that exists in the creality slicer or try cura itself.

Thanks! I'll work up a test model that doesn't use as much filament and give that a try.

A solution for over extrusion is to lower the e-steps per mm for the extruder in the firmware. There are various tutorials around for dialing in the exact e-steps per mm of filament.

Thanks. I'll give that a shot. I tried the print outer layer first and it didn't help.

What's interesting, though, is that on the other side of the wall is infill, not a solid surface. It's not that the area on the other side of the outside wall is going from infill to a solid flat surface, it's that further in from the wall, the model is changing from infill to a solid surface. When I get home, I'll post a photo of the layer in the slicer that's causing the issues.

This is in the Prusa slicer I use at work, but just to give an example, this is the model I worked up to test settings. This is the layer where I get the artifact. It's still infill behind the outer wall, but inside, it transitions to a solid layer.
https://imgur.com/a/K3kSmEl

I'm wondering if it's an issue that when most of the layer is solid, it's slowing down and that's when the over-extrusion becomes more of an issue.

Yeah, Your screenshot totally disproves my point. I have no idea what causes it. I never have this issue and I use cura a lot. Try cura with the default settings maybe?

It's weird, too. I've done a ton of dialing everything in with 2 cm cubes and they are printing dimensionally accurate within 0.04 mm or so.

Just to see if it does have something to do with overextrusion still, I'm printing another test model out having backed off a touch on the steps/mm for the extrusion.

It's really weird. Backing off the steps/mm didn't change anything. I thought I'd try the Prusa slicer and that didn't make a difference, either.


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Which material can be used to print a drop protector?
I would like to print a custom version of something akin to this rugged case that was originally created using injection molding:

The outside consists of a material that is a bit softer than the main body.
It is used to protect the electronics against drops when the case falls onto the floor.
Unfortunately, I don't know which material this is, and I don't know which method I could use to measure its softness.
I would therefore like to ask if anybody has experience with such a softer outer hull and can tell me which material could be used when I want to 3D print it.
I would like to use this case in a hospital environment.

TPU or TPE
You are looking for a Thermoplastic Urethane or Theroplastic Elasomere. Both are types of FDM printable synthetic rubbers, which can be used to create such flexible buffers. However you need to properly design your casing with the correct thickness and hardness of the material in mind - you can not just take the dimensions and design from an over-molded material.
Most flexible filaments need to be printed hollow to achieve good protection for the part. In some cases, you might want to use a foaming TPU/TPE that expands and creates cushioning voids, allowing to slow the part falling down to a slow enough speed to protect sensitive circuits.

Thank you. Can you please tell me which possible pitfalls you might see?

@tmighty, the obvious pitfall is printing it solid.  TPU isn't like foam rubber -- it doesn't compress much.  A good fall protector is as much about picking the correct infill as it is about the overall shape.

Also, not every printer can handle these materials well, and you may need print much slower (as low as 25mm/s) than you are accustom.

I do it a couple of ways.
I use TPU which is pretty good for impacts and either make it thick or stiffen it with another filament as an inside or outside shell.
But TPU is what you want for this project because it's flexible in the way you need it to be.

Thank you. Can you also tell me what you would use for the stiff interior plastic?

I have used both PLA and PETG for that. Just a plate of it rather than a full cover. But TPU on it's own is fine as well. I used the plates because I wanted something totally rigid to build a swingout stand with

Case designers usually use TPU for flexibility and polycarbonate for stiffness


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Ender 3 pro Bed won't heat over 85 °C and gives E1 error
We have a brand new 3 month old Ender 3 Pro and we want to print ABS, but, unfortunately the printer trips and gives error E1.
We limited the error to the bed: since when we heat up bed it gets stuck on 85 °C for while and suddenly through the E1 Error. It seems the bed won't heat up over 85 °C.

What is the actual message, is it E1 Heating Failed? If so, E1 is indicating that the hotend heating failed, not the bed!

@OscarI am getting  Heating Failed: E1, Print Halted. The reason I  is because I preheat nozzle by it self and I did not get any error, but when Pre heat the bed by it self I am getting E1 error.

Heating the bed and hotend is not related, unless your PSU is delivering insufficient power, e.g. when in incorrect mode (115 or 230 V). Please describe in more detail the steps you did, how hot the bed is set, how hot the hotend and when they are heating. E.g. through G-code, or the steps you did manually, please do this by [edit].

Be careful printing ABS indoors,  a lot of VOCs are released which are bad for your lungs. Also temps above 240C can cause the Teflon lining in thr ender 3 to release toxic fumes. The bed error is probably due to not enough power in the bed and losing heat to environment too quickly. Closed  build chamber will help


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Is real PETG softened/degraded by acetone?
I can't seem to find any reliable answer to this question. My understanding was always that PETG should be solvent-resistant, including to acetone, but parts printed from the various "PETG" filaments I have range from utterly falling apart (layer delaminations, outright ripping under tension) to deformation and smoothing of corners when soaked in acetone. Parts printed in actual PET are unaffected, as expected.
Is this an expected consequence of the modification to PET that produces PETG, or is it a sign that lots of filament vendors are deceptive and shipping some weird garbage and calling it "PETG"?

Yeah many people have has this problem, this should help a lot https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/p8c85d/which_brands_of_petg_arearent_affected_by_acetone/#:~:text=It's%20well%20documented%20that%20PETG,are%20often%20unaffected%20by%20toluene.

@F.Ahmed: Could you expand that into an answer?

It depends on the brand, and yes it does seem some manufacturers are selling fake PETG , or adding some other material to it

Any cubic filament and ICE filaments seem to be unaffected and are cheap on Amazon

To my understanding all PETG is vulnerable to different solvents to a certain degree.
Despite PET being resistant to acids of many kinds, hence why it is used in plastic bottles and plastic-ware, this does not transfer over.
Nearly all filaments are incapable of handling the stronger kinds of acids, and although I cannot speak for the manufacturers on Amazon, poor quality will inexorably aggravate the thermoplastic more-so.
If it's any consolation, most/any filaments available are not remarkably chemically stable, least of all against organic solvents.

Do you have a source for why PETG would be affected by solvents where PET is not?

Sadly, no. The only sources I can find state that PET is chemically stable, or that PETG is not. You, good sir, have pushed my casual research abilities to the limit!


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What could be the reason of under extrusion on some areas?

When I print the gcode repeatly, under extrusion happens at the same place.
The under extrusion not only occurs on first layer. I noticed the second layer also has some part under extruded, but not at the same place as first layer, because the infill line direction is rotated 90 degrees.
I have tried the following but could not solve the problem:

Delta calibration (leveling)
z=0 gap adjustment
Filament flow calibration

It's a delta printer running Marlin 2.1. Slice with SuperSlicer.
The top layer doesn't seem to have under extrusion. There is even a bit over extrusion at the corner.

It looks like you came across a solution. It is preferred that "answers" to questions be posted separately so future readers can find the solution. Please [edit] your question to remove the "answer".

Please remove your last edit and post this as an answer! You can refer to the answer that helped you solve the problem (and leave that the accepted answer). Thanks!

The most likely cause is that your bed just isn't flat. At least as I understand it, delta calibration is not mesh leveling, and is not there to correct for a non-flat bed, just for skew from the bed not being square with the towers or possibly other errors in the tower configuration.
Without knowing more about your printer, it's hard to know if you could add mesh leveling, but it's really a tradeoff anyway. You may be better to just adjust your Z offset so that the low points are sufficiently extruded, leaving the high points slightly overextruded.

Interesting read: https://www.klipper3d.org/Delta_Calibrate.html Delta calibration is not equivalent to Bed mesh, it is performed prior, so, non-flat build surface is therefor very likely!

I had tried several solutions after asking this question. Now I can't tell how I exactly fixed it. But the most likely reason is that the bed wasn't flat -- I replaced the coated glass bed with a plain glass. Presumably the coating became uneven after cleaning and wiping.

low-spots in the bed
If the bed is lower in some areas, the line is not squished there and more rounded. As a result, a line appears to be "under extruded"
High-spots in the bed
In other areas, the bed might be too high and block the nozzle - the line looks under extruded because it is too thin.
Uneven filament
When filament is uneven and below nominal diameter, those areas create a real under extrusion in the area when that area is fed.


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New Ender 3 E-steps off by 367?
I usually see Ender 3's set at 93 for the E-steps which is still too low, and require adjusting to around 99 steps/mm, but a brand new Ender 3 (base model), running 1.1.6.2 firmware, was extruding at approximately 20% when doing a calibration test.
It wasn't until I set the E-steps to 460 steps/mm that it extruded correctly.
The test file is the same file I use for all Ender 3's so I know there were no slicing errors to blame (flow, etc).
I swapped extruder motors with a working printer to rule out the motor and ensured there was no nozzle clog. It was not the wrong motor (I know the Z motor is set to 400 for example, but this was not a Z motor, it was the proper E motor) and the 20 % extrusion was consistent with the swapped motor.
Clearly, it came from the factory like this. But this is the highest adjustment I have ever heard of.
Has anyone experienced this before?
Thank you!

Hi Benram, I see you're new here, please remind that SE sites aren't forums where you can ask for opinions/experience, SE is all about Q and A's. The question "Has anyone experienced this before?" can hardly be called a question, it can be answered with yes and no, this solicitates for discussion, this is not what SE is about.

a brand new Ender 3 (base model), running 1.1.6.2 firmware, was extruding at approximately 20% when doing a calibration test.

This doesn't mean the esteps are wrong. There is no physically possible way the actually-needed esteps value can be off by more than a few percent from the nominal value of 93, which is linked to the motor step size and extruder gear diameter.
If you're only getting 20% of the desired extrusion, your extruder is broken (likely the tension arm is physically broken or the spring is missing or incorrectly installed or of the wrong length) or you have some sort of blockage in the hotend causing the extruder to slip.


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The nozzle keeps clogging, midway through the print while printing with PETG filament
I've recently purchased Creality Ender 3 V2. When I print PLA, I face no issue at all but while printing PETG, the nozzle keeps clogging after the second or third layer. I even tried printing PETG by keeping the fan off for all the layers but with no success. The recommended nozzle temperature is 220 °C - 250 °C and the heated bed temperature is 60 °C - 80 °C by the filament manufacturer. For better adhesion, I'm using a thin layer of glue stick for the bed. Due to the unavailability of a Capricorn tube in my city, I've not upgraded the stock PTFE tube yet.
My current print settings in Prusaslicer are as follows:

Filament: Generic PETG (modified)

Temperature:

Nozzle: first layer 235 °C, other layers 230 °C.
Bed: First layer 65 °C, other layers 60 °C.

Fan:

Disable fan for the first: 3 layers.
Fan speed: min 20 %, max 50 %
Bridge fan speed: 100 %

Retraction:

Length: 3 mm
Retraction Speed: 30 mm/s.

What happens when you print with retraction off?

I've not tried with retraction off.

With PETG I run the nozzle at 250 °C, and all my fans at 100%.  I even added more fans to the enclosure.


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How to configure PrusaSlicer to prevent printing in the air
It is difficult to describe with words what's happening, so take a look at the picture. Somehow PrusaSlicer decides to move and print in the air (blue line), where instead it can continue going from outwards to inward. I understand it wants to print first the outer layer but in this case it is obvious it will not hold that layer.
The final position is shown in the second image.

The final step of that layer:

Any idea how to configure PrusaSlicer to avoid this situation?

The inability to do this is not fundamental, but it's currently a limitation in slicing software, and not likely to change soon.
You can see from this demo that the kind of printing you want is possible. However, it's currently only being done with software to assist in hand-crafting gcode to make the printer do what you want it to do. The hard part is making the slicer automatically figure out that that's what it's supposed to do.
For your needs, just printing from outer loop inward here is not going to suffice. There needs to be overlap, computation to compensate for the fact that extrusion lines will not squeeze out to their nominal width because there's nothing below them to extrude against, and using the overlap in the XY direction to achieve that instead. This is all new stuff slicers have just not been programmed to do.
So for now, you need supports. If you're willing to use Cura, Conical Supports or Tree Supports will let you support this with less waste material and make removal easier. Alternatively you could design your own support into the model and put it just under the hole in the middle, letting the flat part bridge. Or you could make a sacrificial bridge layer so that the first layer is solid bridge all the way across, and cut/drill it out after the print is done.

It uses a certain percentage (up to 50 %) of overlap and spiraling, I can image that you need specific calculations for the slicer in that respect (less volume flow, more lines). So basically the answer still is that you cannot do this with PrusaSlicer. But, this is pretty cool! (+1), thanks for this cutting edge reference released 3 days ago. Note that this works for circular walls, for infill this may not work at all as the just deposited line may not be solidified enough, so there is need for changes in the slicer software.

@0scar: Neat. I hadn't looked into the details, but that's comparable to what I expected from the sketches I'd worked out for my vaporware dream slicer. Basically you need enough overlap to cover the nozzle orifice except for an area that will fill the target extrusion width without exceeding the intended height - and at the same time, to bond well to the already-deposited material.

You'll want to turn on supports, which will create a series of low density pillars in the "floating" area and provide a foundation for the layer that is printing mid-air in your second image.
Another option is to create a hollow support cylinder perhaps a half millimeter larger diameter than the hole in the floating layer. This creates the support for the inner diameter and allows the printer to create bridges.
The former method will use more filament and take longer to print but provide a better under-surface than the latter method.

Thanks for your comment, but if the printing starts from outer layer and go inwards, there won't be need for supports, I don't think support in this situation are inevitable.

@IcoRe Unfortunately you are wrong, that will not work. In the end the circles will never have support and the little overlap between the walls is not enough to hold the next line. Furthermore, the infill itself will sag as it isn't supported either. You should change the print orientation (90° or 180° rotated) or support.

@0scar: It actually will/does work. There's a full control gcode demo published just a few days ago, and I've been sketching out groundwork for slicing to do this right on and off since a year or so ago. It's purely a gratuitous slicer limitation at play here.

@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE this is what I am looking for, what I did try is modify the order of the code manually, and then loaded again into the g-code viewer. it looked promising but I haven't got the time to try it in printing.

There is one way assuming the picture is complete, and that is to print the object upside down from it's current orientation. This would negate the need for any supports or worrying about printing in thin air.
If thats not possible then as Freds answer says, you need supports. If you're printing a run of the same objects you can make a support and insert it into the object at the correct layer and then re-use it for subsequent copies rather than print supports each time.

We don't know the geometry of the complete object, but, nice addition of the reusable support! +1

Indeed the reusable support is a nice one, never thought of that. I tried already printing it upside down, that fixes the problem but also it creates one where it is more important to be "correct" there. I was curious if someone else have a solution for this slicing problem because I also experienced it in other previous models and not always turning it upside down will be an option. But many thanks for your valuable answer.

It isn't universally applicable but I have had success avoiding undesirable sagging in some situations by printing a part in two pieces, one inverted, and gluing the two "bed" surfaces together.
The software I use (Repetier 2.2.4) includes a setting "Cut Off Object Bottom" and accepts a dimension. For some objects it's possible to choose a cutoff point that will produce two pieces without overhangs that can be joined. The image shows a simple example.
Using the cut off option makes it possible to do this without making changes to the model.

How to configure PrusaSlicer to prevent printing in the air

You need either support or change the print orientation.
You cannot print into the air, you can however print lines on top of a prior layer with a certain overlap, or bridge a certain gap. E.g. (screw) holes are often covered with 2 layers over the screw hole so that you use bridging to print (the cutout shows that the hole has a bottom):

After printing you need to punch through the layers to open the hole.
Starting and stopping extruding in thin air will result in deposition of the extruded material on the location the nozzle crosses a prior layer (often seen when support structure pillars have fallen over).
What is used frequently together with support in Ultimaker Cura is the option called Enable support roof, this will create a dense top layer on top of the support interface which allows for pretty good bottom surface of the overhang.
This e.g. results in the following slice:

When applied to a recently printed flanged tube you see that the bottom surface is pretty good (note the concentric lined top surface, first image shows the product with support, second image, on the left a view of the bottom above support layer and right the support with roof layer):

How to configure PrusaSlicer to prevent printing in the air

In PrusaSlicer you should be able to something pretty similar with Interface pattern spacing set to zero:


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Ender 3 S1 fails printing mid ways
I got my first 3D printer, a Creality Ender 3 S1.
I followed the Quick Installation Guide for the initial configuration. I also had to adjust the corners of the bed manually (the very first print ended up as spaghetti).
Now I wanted to try the first print, so I decided to print the "rabbit" that was included as a G-code with the SD card for the printer. I used the filament that was included with the printer.
The problem is that after half of the rabbit body is printed, the nozzle moves the rabbit, and the rest of the print ends like a spaghetti mess and I have to cancel it. This has happened three times now and I don't understand how to fix the problem or what causes it.
Why does the print of the "rabbit" fail mid-way up?
Are there any settings I should adjust? How should I figure out what settings I need?
I used the G-code that was already stored on the SD card, with default settings after adjusting my bed.

When you say "the nozzle moves the rabbit", do you mean that the model is knocked from the surface of the build plate, i.e. no longer stuck?

yes, it is no longer stuck, so it is moved on the plate.

My first thought was that the model did not have sufficient adhesion to the build plate. It seems that you have worked out the problem and things are working out now.

yes, how do I get better adhesion to the build plate? Probably need a good Z-offset for that? It was strange that it was moved after half the print, it sounds like higher temperature was important to not have filament clogged in the nozzle.

There are several things that can improve bed adhesion such as you mentioned good Z-offset, ideal bed temp, glue stick/hairspray, etc. Take a look at the other questions here with the tag 'adhesion'.

I have now got a print of the "rabbit" working.
I did a few things.

Make sure no parts of the printer are loose. I had to fasten the extruder on the X-axis a bit better. (I think this is an important point)
I tried a different filament, AddNorth E-PLA

These alone did not solve the problem.
Then I did these adjustments:

The AddNorth E-PLA filament had a recommended nozzle temperature of 205-225 °C. The default nozzle temperature of Ender 3 S1 seem to be 200 °C. The prints worked better when I set the nozzle temperature to 220 °C (in the beginning of the printing session).

I tried to use the Ultimaker Cura slicing software, instead of the pre-generated G-code file on the SD card. I used the STL file of the rabbit that was on the SD card as input.

After these adjustments, I finally successfully printed the rabbit.

The included filament in the package seems not that high in quality. Changing the filament as you did is really helpful. In my case, the first printing is fine, but the part is very sticky to the surface. Really sticky, like it was glued on the bed surface.


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How to convert a conventional Inkjet printer into a FDM resin 3D printer?
I searched about the subject in this website and could only find this question here asking "if there is an FDM Resin 3D printer", not how to build it.

The idea is to replace the inks for other fluids, such as resin and its hardener (and other fluids) and then add a Z axis "somehow".

The thing is: I couldn't find any tutorial on the subject.
The closest thing I could find was this project here called Oasis 3DP, an open source powder and inkjet 3D printer, but the objects are incredibly fragile.
The other type was this DIY that converts a creality 3D into a ink printer, but it uses homemade nozzles actuated by piezoelectrics instead of a inkjet printer nozzle, and the results aren't as good as a conventional inkjet printers (not to insult the creator this is hella cool still).

If you were looking to do this as a "personal project" for self-improvement, I would say "probably". Otherwise, the price of a 3D printer has come down that even Micro Center is offering an Ender 3 for $99 to new customers.

Such principles exist, but we use metal powder or wire and lasers. If you can cure the resin that is dispensed this is a viable option, but be prepared to a long R&D trajectory.

Sounds like you are asking for a kit.  There isn't one, and there isn't likely to ever be one, because conventional resin printing and FDM printing use completely different approaches to take advantage of respective material properties, and combining them is likely to get you the worst features of both rather than something better.
Additionally, ink jet printing and things based on it inherently get you brittle parts, and attempts to combine this with FDM methods won't fix that.
Without a kit, you are designing this from scratch.  This basically means you either need to be an engineer that can design solutions for all the problems up front, or you will be doing a lot of trial and error with repeated redesigns as you discover new problems -- not that an engineer wouldn't have the same issue without a lot of foresight.


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ABS does not stick AFTER some good layers
Usually I had problems with the adhesion of the first layers, and most questions here and out there are about this issue.
Instead now I'm facing another problem. After "some" (few or even after 10h) suddenly the filament does not stick anymore to the previous layers.
Here an example:

As you can see it completed the rafting very good (not sure if there also some few layer of the object) but then the new layer did not adhere and I had to stop the printing.
Some useful information:

machine: Dremel 3D45
filament type: Geeetech ABS
slicer: Cura
bed temperature: 100 °C
nozzle temperature: 240 °C
layer thickness: 0.2 mm
cooling: OFF
printing speed: 30-60 mm/s (lower value is for top/bottom/walls)
rafting: 0.36 mm base + 1 middle layer + 2 top layer + 0.3 mm air gap
supports: ON

What can be the reason for such a failure?
UPDATE
I had better results (not perfect, though) increasing the temperature to 245 °C and reducing the air gap between raft and object to 0.1 mm.

The air gap is quite large! It is printing in the air with too less material. Furthermore it looks as if the print doesn't have supports as the filament sags on certain areas. Please add, by [edit] if there is support used. You could consider ditching the raft completely, this is an enclosed printer, you could preheat the chamber using the heated bed and use a large brim.

Is it in an enclosure?  Maybe the higher levels are cooling too much.

@Oscar question edited. I used supports and the air gap was the default one. Reducing it led to a better adhesion. And yes, the chamber was already pre-heated. I cannot use larger brim/raft because I'm at the limit of the build surface.

@DaveX yes, the Dremel 3D45 is enclosed.


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Inconsistent Z-height on Ender 3 V2 print bed
I have an Ender 3V2 running a custom version of Jyers Marlin, and using a CR Touch as a Z-stop, and with a heated glass print bed. This is my first printer, and it mostly prints fine except when printing near the edges where some imperfections with bed leveling mess with bed adhesion and have definitely ruined a couple of my prints. The main issue is that the first layer is very uneven, where in some places filament it basically smeared onto the bed whereas in other places the filament is barely touching the bed. What's stranger still is that generally speaking, the infill seems to be more consistent in terms of z-height on the first layer, whereas the walls have much more variation. I've included some photos to illustrate the issue:

This is the entire leveling test I printed (it only tests the edges because the center is fine). This was run without UBL - I verified this as the Z axis motor didn't move during the print (it's only 1 layer).

This is what has been causing me the most issues. In the top right corner of the print, the wall filament basically disappears for about 1-2 inches because the nozzle is too close to the bed. This is pretty close to the top right leveling screw as well. You can also see that only the walls are affected, as the infill is pretty even across the same area.

Kind of the opposite issue in the bottom right compared to the top right, where the walls are printed too high off of the bed and start to string from poor adhesion. Once again, the infill seems to be ok (except in the corner).
Things I've tried:

Leveling with a feeler gauge. Incidentally, I always had issues with the top left and right leveling screws, where the top left screw would always be too high up and would be hard to adjust because the screw would be too tight, and vice versa on the top right where the bed would always be too low and the knob would almost fall off by the time the top right was leveled high enough.

Tightening/loosening belts. Doesn't help much, but I'm also not sure how tight the belts should be anyways.

Enabling ABL/UBL with G29/M420 S1. It just... doesn't seem to work, the leveling print will come out the exact same each time no matter if ABL is activated or not. I guess this probably means it's not an ABL issue, or that if it's an issue with motors etc. it affects the sensor while it's leveling. That's the only explanation I can think of.

Readjusting the frame so that everything is as close to square as possible. There is no wobble so I'm 99% sure that it's right, but I don't have access to one of those square rulers.

The Z screw does not move/wobble when the motor moves, I re-tightened the coupler for the screw and the motor.

I have not adjusted the X axis bar that holds the carriage and moves up and down, because the nozzle seems to be a little higher the further away from the side with the Z screw it is. From other help requests I've read online, it seems that usually issues with the X axis will result in the nozzle moving closer to the bed as it gets further away from the Z screw, which is not the case here. But would it be worth it to adjust it anyways?

Given that this is my first 3D printer it's really kind of put a damper on the experience for me as even though 75% of the things I print are small enough to avoid the problem area, I want to be able to use all of the print bed without issue. Any help, troubleshooting, or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Edit 1: Took off the X/Z carriages and found two abnormalities - not sure if these are causing the issue. The nozzle carriage has a bit of space between the bottom of the X-axis profile and the roller. It doesn't really wiggle during printing, but it could if I touched it; right now, the two rollers on top sit nicely on the profile. Also, these rollers all have a slightly discoloured ring where a little bit of material has been shaved off of the roller. The Z-axis rollers on the side opposite the lead screw are the opposite case, where the rollers have to be forced onto the structure since it's so tight.

You should check the rollers of the X-Z connection as the X carriage itself. These printer are popular but do have issues since the Z-axis is driven through a single lead screw and a a roller system of low quality. As the problems occur at the right side of the bed it looks as if you have gained some play in the X-Z or X-carriage. Please check the rollers and report back by adding a bullet by [edit].

@0scar Thanks for your response, I added an update to the post. Any suggestions or solutions?

Just for anyone stumbling across this thread now: as it turns out, the wheels on the x-carriage (print head) were installed at a slight angle and not screwed in as tight as they were supposed to be, which probably led to some inconsistencies in printing.


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Is my stepper motor driver to blame?
I have a Mooz-2 3D printer from dobot (an obscure chinese brand) that I got from kickstarter. I've done numerous upgrades over the years, including a full-metal hotend, dual z-axis and a custom power supply. However, keeping the printer operational feels a bit like a game of technological whack-a-mole. Almost as soon as I'm done fixing one part of the printer that doesn't work, a new problem appears.
Currently, after I fixed a problem with a shorted limit switch, the y-axis of the printer no longer functions properly. It appears almost as if the limit switch is shorted; it only moves down when plugged into the y-axis port, but works fine in any other axis's port. The other axes exhibit the same problem when plugged into the y-axis port. I've tried re-installing the firmware to no avail.
I contacted the company and they offered to sell me a new mainboard for $220 shipping, which is ridiculous b/c the printer only cost \$300 originally, and the rest of the mainboard works fine.
I know that it's very difficult to troubleshoot online, so this is what I ask: Could the stepper motor driver be causing this issue? It's the only part of the mainboard I can figure out how to replace. Can it cause issues like this? If I can't fix this I'll have to replace the entire printer, as the mainboard and firmware are proprietary.
Comments and suggestions are welcome! I'm a bit desperate here, so I'd appreciate anything that might help.

Is it moving away from the end stop? Have you connected the board to Pronterface (or something similar) over USB and send the M119 command?

@0scar, it only moves away from the end-stop. I don't have access to pronterface, but after continuity testing the pins on the ports for the axes on the controller board, the two pins for the y-axis (and sadly, now the x-axis as well) appear to be shorted to one another. Now both axes exhibit behavior indicating a faulty limit switch when a motor is plugged into the, but work fine when plugged into the z-axis port.


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How can a speaker or active buzzer be connected to the Arduino 2560/RAMPS 1.4 boards to provide alerts in response to M300 commands in the g-code
My Prusa i3 does not appear to have any sound device incorporated.  I've read "Writing G-Code: Audible Alert at end of print" and it seems everything needed to implement audible alerts is built into the G-code syntax and firmware but my rig appears to be lacking the necessary noise maker.

At least on my Ender 3 V2, the speaker is on the LCD control board and not on the mainboard itself.

There is no LCD unit on my printer, nor an SD card reader. It's directly connected to a PC.

I just looked in the Marlin FW pins_RAMPS.h where the pin assignments are located:
      #define BEEPER_PIN        37

Please check for yourself. I assume you run Marlin, but my version is old and may not be correct.
As you mentioned there is no LCD on your printer so most likely this pin is free, just need to find it.
Also, just a warning, use a proper buzzer or beeper module with the onboard transistor. Do not connect a buzzer directly to the signal pin as the current draw can kill your controller.

Possible is this an idea found at the octoprint web site?
https://plugins.octoprint.org/plugins/pwmbuzzer/

Welcome to 3D Printing! Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.

Thanks for your answer but we are looking for comprehensive answers that provide some explanation and context. Very short answers cannot do this, so please [edit] your answer to explain why it is right. Additionally, we prefer answers to be self contained where possible. link only answers are frowned upon (as links tend to rot) & will be rendered useless if the linked-to content disappears. If you add more context and detail from the link, it is more likely that people will find your answer useful.

Hi and welcome to SE.3DP. Unfortunately, our answer is a bit too brief. As already stated, please [edit] and expand your answer, otherwise it will probably be deleted, or converted into a comment. Many thanks.


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Calculate Z-height at a given orientation
Does anyone know a way to calculate the Z-height and support's volume of an object at a specific orientation (specific x, y, z angles)?
I am looking for an Equation/s or a Python code/s, not a slicer software. Thank you.

This sounds more like a question for Mathematics.SE or Engineering.SE.

What do you think about rotation matrices? I think this is perfectly answerable on mathematics or engineering stacks. The rotation matrix calculates the new position of the coordinates of your mesh, so every coordinate is rotated to a new position, what is left is to find the minimum (can be below the Z=0 plane) and maximum Z height, the difference is the height of the rotated object.


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How to find enclosed 3D printer that can host 1 kg filament bobbins?
I'm struggling to find out an enclosed 3D printer that allow to load the common 1 kg filament bobbins. Most of the enclosed ones accept only proprietary bobbins (like Dremel or Flashforge).
Do these bobbins ( = 1 kg) rely on a specific standard I can search for?
How to filter out the printers that match my request when making a Google search?
I'm aware I can "easily" put them out of the machine using a custom support (or even directly in a dryer as I do for my Dremel) but this partially nullifies the advantage of the enclosure.

What makes you think having the filament in the enclosure is an advantage?

@Kilisi because (at least on my machine) if you have to put it outside, you must keep the door open! Hence the enclosure does not work properly to keep the heat inside che chamber.

You could always use a "passive" bowden tube from outside of the enclosure to the input end of your extruder.

Most of the enclosed printers I've seen still keep the filament outside the enclosure, but they also have a specific place where the filament will feed in through a tiny hole, usually with a gasket of some kind. Bowden printers will often even run the bowden tube right up to the enclosure exit. No need to open a door for printing.

Even printers with a direct drive might use a tube to guide the filament on the way in and protect it from cabling or to constrict the movement.

There are standards for spools/bobbins/reels
Looking for standards for spools, I started at Alibaba and then came to an actual European manufacturer or retailer of reels: Häfner. They manufacture reels for wires, which are also used for 3D printers. They helpfully provide a chart of their products from about 250 cm³ to a whooping 98454 cm³ - which is about 250 grams of ABS to in theory 98 kilos. However, typically the largest spool you will find for privates is the  300/20 K type with about 3800 cm³, which is more than enough to get a 4-kilo reel of PLA onto it. At times you might find something in the order of 8000 to 10000 cm³ for a rather heavy 8-kilo spool, though that is industrial sizing.
As this single offerer shows, spools are very varied, and the hub diameter of them is not standardized, but the boreholes only come in very distinct sizes.
However, some of the items that are sold as 3D filament spools are actually welding wire spools, for which standards exist, such as this dictating "2‐1/32 inch" arbor holes.
Scale of spools is dependant on the market
Typical enclosed consumer FDM machines are small.
But spools below 1 kilo are not useful for mass-production of large parts and even then, 3 kilos is a sweetspot for handling between ease of moving and time spent changing spools. So industrial machines usually take larger spools - or propriatory cannisters/cartridges with a spool.
One of the big ones is the Stratasys F900. It has a print-volume of 914 x 610 x 914 mm and takes "up to 500 cubic inch" cartridges, apparently the largest size of FDM Filament cartridge offered by Stratasys. For the record: 500 cubic inch weigh about 8 kilos in ABS, and about 10 kilos in PLA.
Modification of existing printers
It is almost trivial to modify an existing printer that takes non-proprietary spools to allow taking in filament from the outside without keeping the door closed. A piece of PTFE tube can easily take the position of the spool inside the machine to guide the filament into the machine-mounted intake. The modification might only need a single small hole in the door for the tube or its fitting to get into the machine.
This way you mount pretty much an adapter for larger spools, but you bypass for example automatic filament detection with the spool unless you also open the door and slot in a "disk" of sorts that contains the RFID with the configuration of the mounted spool.
A random example setup, mounting the "outer intake" in an angled block at the center of the former door:

Nice find, it seems my favorite Dutch filament OEM uses these spools (up to 8 kg!).

@0scar those or at least some that are of the same construction or make - I am not sure Häfner makes them or retails them either... but it shows the variation of designs used.

@0scar also, seems Stratasys offers that sizing for PVA XD

I never buy bigger than 2.2 kg spools, to me the perfect balance between size and time it lasts, but indeed, the bigger the volume the larger the nozzle the faster the spool needs to be changed, hence the selling of 4 kg and 8 kg spools.

QIDI Tech makes a series of enclosed printers, which would narrow your search a bit. I own an X-Max model which has an internal spool spindle as standard equipment, along with an "ordinary" external mount. The internal spindle will take a standard one kilogram spool. It's considered good practice when printing moisture sensitive filament such as nylon to have such an environment.
With respect to search terms, it's fairly difficult to identify a phrase that would collect the information you require.


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Are IDEX printers able to make gradients?
I know that a single mixing nozzle with dual filament input can blend them in order to make gradients. I also know that IDEX means you have two independent nozzles and you can make objects with different materials (or colors).
But I don't understand if an IDEX printer can still "mix" (on the layer of course) the two filaments to create a gradient. My common sense says it's not possible, but I didn't find a proof of that.
I'm NOT interested in a mixing nozzle as most of the time I will need two different kind of filaments. The gradient with IDEX is just a "nice-to-have" feature. Not mandatory, but I would know before choose my next printer.

There's much better ways to get gradients or indeed full colour pictures that only require one nozzle

@Kilisi it would be useful to add a link to some resources then

Just commented because it only touches the question tangentially, and I don't know if the resources exist as far as I know it might be just my lot

Consider the task from the creation reference. An IDEX printer requires the slicer to direct each nozzle to a specific location of the model while it is being created. No true gradient could be accomplished as it would require both nozzles to be in nearly-instant-extrusion proximity.
I suppose one could create a matrix of colors in a manner similar to that of RGB LED color displays, but that's a severe stretch of the imagination. It would require perhaps a strong understanding of full g-code control to place the individual lines. Additionally, there would be a limitation to two colors and the combinations thereof, although with the bi-color Quantum style filament, results might be interesting.


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How to keep model flat in resin printing?
I am having some trouble with model adherence to my print bed. As shown in the attached photo, my model is pulled away at the sides leaving it bowed even though it is designed to be flat. Other than this "bowing", the model is of good quality.
The model is printed solid on an Anycubic Photon M3 Plus with Anycubic 3D Printing UV Sensitive Resin. My print settings are:

Bottom layer count: 6
Bottom layer exposure: 22 secs (also tried 30 secs and 40 secs with the same results)
Normal layer height: 0.05 mm
Normal layer exposure: 2.5 secs
Off time: 0.5 secs
Z lift height: 6 mm
Z lift speed : 360 mm/sec
Z lift retract: 6 mm

The bed is aligned. Could anyone suggest what is wrong and what I could try to remove this "bowing" effect?

It looks like the top of your model (The lowest part in the picture) is wider than the bottom (The part in contact with the build plate).
This means that there is a substantial lip with nothing under it to support it, or to attach it to the build plate.
If I remember my rules of force correctly (and I may not) this means that the force excerpted on the part of the object furthest from the build plate is the square of the force on the part nearest to it that's touching the build plate.
By 3D printing standards this is quite a big number. You either need to angle the model to reduce this force (Draw a triangle from the corner to the big touching the base plate, and angle it so that the triangle is as shallow as possible, or to add additional material in to make that angle as shallow as possible.
I would suggest that you don't place your model flat on the build plate, instead angle it at maybe 30 and use heavy supports.

Print orientation
Your model is pulled up from the FEP film with a huge force. It releases from the film first at the corners, then progresses to the center. The force bends the model down as it is still flexible, so it creates a bent item.
This can be mitigated by reducing the area that you pull at. Commonly, you'll turn the item so the area is minimized, and you also might want to angle the item. This will cost some material in support structure, but you reduce the force on the part that can deform it in printing.

If the peel action bends the layer, wouldn’t it make it happy face shape, because the center gets sucked down relative to the rest of the layer, and peeled last? Here in the photo it is sad face shape.

@ChinchillaWafers the forces are strongest on the edges, it pulls there first.

It's most likely that your bed does not mechanically reach the correct position before the printer starts curing the resin. Many printers and slicer software allow setting wait_time_before_cure to e.g. 6 s (I don't know about your printer/slicer). That means that once your bed has presumably reached its position for curing, it waits another 6 s to settle mechanically. If your slicer software does not allow to set wait_time_before_cure (or similarly named) but your printer can handle wait_time_before_cure, you can use the open source tool UVtools to do that. (Edit: I just saw a discussion so it's basically possible with your machine even though not optimally so.)

It's much less likely that your FEP has become less transparent towards the edges of the vat. You could fix that by putting a new FEP on.

Bottom layer exposure: Once you increased wait_time_before_cure, you can go with something around 7 s.

Z lift speed: 360 mm/sec: if the printer could achieve the acceleration necessary, it meant that your bed could jump within less than a second to the top of the rails :-) Set it to something in the order of 50 to 80 mm/s.

Peel force is very unlikely an issue with this 3D model and orientation on the print bed. We have printed 1000 s of similar models flat on the print bed, so orientation is likely ok.

Leveling of the bed seems ok as the peeling happens on all sides symmetrically? If it wasn't symmetrical, bad leveling might also have an influence.


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Which software would be best to model these types of parts (needed for cubicle repair)?
I'm in need of printing some replacement parts for cubicles, and the image included with this post contains most of the parts we are need of replicating.
I read this helpful infographic on different 3D software packages and their use cases for 3D printing but am not sure which category these parts falls under. Would it be better to use Fusion360/OpenSCAD or Blender? We don't have the original measurements; we have the original parts and would be working off of pictures of the parts themselves.

I'd suggest just ordering replacement parts from the manufacturer, but knowing how obscenely expensive the panels are to begin with, I can't imagine what pricing is like on parts!

I’m voting to close this question because Recommendation questions are explicitly off topic. Your usecase however demands a CAD suite, you want to re-model the parts. You can take calipers and measure the parts.

Thank you for your answer. In future, where should I post if am looking for recommendations? I appreciate your help!

Generally speaking, these "which product" questions aren't usually a good fit for stack exchange sites, and I'm loath to answer them. But I will say that Blender tends more towards artwork/sculpting-type models, and CAD products tend more towards engineered to specific measurements/tolerances -type models. This looks more like the latter. Also looking at these, I'd expect a better result on a resin printer. An FDM/filament printer should still be able to produce the shape, but I'm concerned about the strength of some of those fine clips.

Resin might be too brittle though. You might need to use an intermediate "molding" process to make it with a properly used plastic.

You should use whichever software you're competent with. They will all do it.
Doing it from scratch without knowing the software is going to be a big learning curve. If thats the case you're probably best to use something like FreeCad as it's strength is in parts modelling.
Much more to it than just modelling the parts though, you need to be asking if these gadgets are actually suitable for 3d printing. Otherwise you can draw them, print them and then watch them fail.


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Resin forming thin layer on bottom of vat (sludgelike)
I have just bought the Anycubic Photon Mono X and I am having some trouble. I was wondering if anyone else ever had this issue.
The resin seems to be hardening on the bottom of the vat after I cleaned it and tried to do a print. This sometimes happens as well if I leave the resin in the vat overnight. I usually keep the temperature in the room around 70 F, I am not sure if that matters.
Here are my settings:

Layer Height: 0.03 mm
Bottom Layer Count: 6
Exposure Time: 4 s
Light-off Delay: 0.5 s
Bottom Light-off Delay: 0.5 s
Bottom Lift Distance: 8 mm
Lifting Distance: 8 mm
Bottom Lift Speed: 180 mm/min
Lifting Speed: 180 mm/min
Retract Speed: 240 mm/min

I don’t store the printer open. It’s not exposed to any UV from light or windows. I'm not sure about the resin settling on the ground as I shake it before every use

Are your prints failing or coming out badly?

this happens when you print and the resin does not adhere well to the lift platform. This way the print stays at the bottom.
The first layer builds up between the FEP sheet (bottom of vat) and the build platform. If you are lucky, the connection to the build pltform is stronger than the FEP sheet. A couple of things affect the adhesion to both surfaces:

FEP sheet tension (don't tension too tight, not too loose)
FEP sheet cleanliness (lightly coat with silicon grease)
build platform cleanliness (clean with alcohol)
build platform height (should be exactly on the bottom of vat at home position)
build platform alignment (should be exactly flat compared to bottom of vat)
lift speed (lifting too fast with a big print can make the print come loose from the bed)
cure time (curing the first layers too short can make the adhesion worse)


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Do I have to warm up the hotend for replacing pneumatic couplers on brand new Ender 3?
I have a brand new Ender 3 v2 that I have not assembled yet. I've seen a lot of people saying the stock couplers break very soon so I already bought new couplers.
Now every video online says I have to warm up the hotend before changing. Some say it's because of the filament being melted in. Some say it's because of expansions and contractions. I'm not really sure what the reason is and I want to know if I need to warm up my printer before changing the couplers or not. Given that it has never been used before.

I've never warmed the hot end the three times I've changed the hot end coupler -- and of course, there's no warming to do for the corresponding part at the extruder end of the Bowden tube.
That said, however, I didn't change a coupler until I had several tens of hours on my Ender 3, and if the coupler is installed with a methacrylate thread locker ("Loctite") heat is a great help in getting the first move on the locked threads.  I don't know any reason heating the hot end would cause problems, as long as you keep your delicate fingers away from the actual nozzle and heat block (and to a lesser extent, the heat break fins).
If the machine has filament or Bowden tub jammed in the coupler, you might find it easier to free them with the nozzle hot -- otherwise, the filament may be bonded to the cold nozzle.

Thank you. That's interesting. I have seen it mentioned multiple times that the stock couplers are only good for a short time. The reason I'm hesitant to heat it is because like I said it's my first time and I'm afraid I'll mess things up. Changing it right now when it's still not assembled seems safer.

@PouriaP: I would avoid making unnecessary changes to a printer you're not familiar with. Reseating the PTFE tube after taking it out is actually something that requires some care not to get wrong, and while you can learn it, you're likely to frustrate yourself making a bunch of gratuitous things to get wrong and have to fix while prepping your new printer rather than waiting til servicing them comes up naturally to figure them out one by one. The tube itself will need to be changed at some point, or you might decide to convert to all-metal or go direct drive, when you'd open it anyway.

OK so no replacing them it is.


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Flashforge Adventurer 3, filament problem
I have just bought my son a used Flashforge Adventurer 3 and the man who sold it to me said he had a bit of trouble with the filament starting to come out before it touches the print bed but if you just grab the filament with a pair of tweezers right before it hits the bed it prints fine.
Does anyone have a way to fix the problem I'm a 3D printing virgin and it is being delivered today so I don't want it to be a problem for my boy.

Are you referring to the oozing or priming prior to the laying down the first layer?

Most printers ooze material when heating up (no extruder rotation). Usually this is related to the left over amount of filament left in the nozzle/heat break. Tweezers are effective to remove the oozed material. This can also be deliberate, then it is called priming (extruder rotates).
You can retract filament after printing your product (in your end G-code script), this will reduce the amount of material it oozes during warm-up of the next print. If it is part of the priming, you could improve your start G-code to optimize priming (different location and height). Furthermore, you can also swipe at the beginning (adapting start G-code in your slicer).


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What are the potential continuances to a print of setting the retraction to 0 in a slicer?
I have a moderately sized model that includes 4 thin towers off approximately 6 inches each in height as its final element, each tower is less than 1/4 inch in diameter.
These towers consistently fail to print. They begin printing normally but after about 4-5 inches the filament begins to deform in the extruder (Stock ender 5, no modifications), and to slip. It appears have been chewed up by the constant movement back and forward during retraction (which is particularly intense on these towers).
I've tired reducing the speed and the extrusion level, but it hasn't resolved my problem.
Other than stringing, what would the potential consequences be of setting the retraction to 0?
I ultimately printed my model in several pieces to avoid retraction between the towers, but I'm looking for future reference.

Other than stringing, what would the potential consequences be of setting the retraction to 0?

You're right to ask this, because there's inherently a dual problem. Whatever material ends up outside the model as strings wasn't conjured out of thin air; it's material that was supposed to be somewhere else and didn't make it there because it oozed out too early. As such, you will have corresponding underextrusion right after the stringing, and thus poor bonding, reduced part strength, possibly holes in the model that make it not watertight, etc.
If your printer firmware has Linear Advance (I'm not sure if it's enabled in the stock Creality firmware nowadays), tuning it will reduced the extent of the oozing when you omit retraction, and will also let you get string-free printing with a much shorter retraction length, which might be enough to solve the clogging.
The root cause of your problem is not the number of retractions itself, or the filament gear in the extruder. Well-tuned printers do prints with tens of thousands of retractions with no problem. Most likely it's a consequence of the Creality extruder having very poor grip on the filament, such that, once there's any resistance to pushing the filament, the gear slips on the filament. After that starts, it grinds, and it's game-over; it's very difficult to get it moving properly again, much like when your car gets stuck with its tire spinning in mud.
If this is the problem in your case, increasing the spring tension on the idler arm may help avoid it. Also, you can try to address the cause of increased resistance to pushing the filament. Normally what happens is that, after the material is retracted, it starts to solidify in a somewhat deformed shape that doesn't push as well through the hotend again. Reducing the retraction length helps, but slowing down the retraction can actually make it worse by giving it more time to cool. Increasing travel speed and travel acceleration (increase them a lot! like to at least 3000-4000 mm/s² acceleration and at least 300 mm/s speed) will greatly reduce the time the filament is held in the retracted state, leaving it ready to flow again as soon as you unretract.


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How do I increase the spring tension on the idler arm on a Stock Ender 5 Pro
It has been suggested that I should increase the spring tension on the idler arm, on a Stock Ender 5 Pro, due to a problem with the extruder mangling filament during rapid retractions.
How do I do this?

I only have ender 3 pro but if extruder works the same way you could just unscrew the bolt holding the spring in place and put some washers or a printed bush to squeeze the spring further. If you have one of those extruders with plastic arms then I've heard from some people that they could partially crack after some time, thus releasing some tension. If that's the case you might want to invest in an aluminum one.


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How would I print a non-flat surface using FDM?
So far, I have only printed with SLS printers.
The results were great, but it was such a horrible mess, and precautions took so much time (gas mask, chemistry gloves, etc.) that I am now switching to FDM.
I would like to ask how I could print the following model:

When you look at this from the side, you notice that there is a gap, and I wonder how I could print this. I am not even sure how I could do this with supports.
As you can see, Cura also marks this region red.
Thank you for your any input how I could deal with this.
But I would like to keep this beautiful angle / gap. Having a totally flat would be my last option.
I have uploaded my model here, if you somebody needs it to estimate how to deal with it.

This is a screenshot of the support that Cura suggests. But I didn't understand it as I couldn't recognize anything.

"I am not even sure how I could do this with supports." - Have you tried turning on supports in Cura and looking at the Preview?

Yes, I dit, but I could not recognize what exactely it would do. I mean I saw that it added something, but couldn't make out what it was and if it would work. I have added a screenshot.

The "typical" angle for overhangs that can be printed without support is considered to be 45°, although some printer/plastic combinations can exceed that value. Your angle appears well beyond 45° and is closer to 90° which requires support.
I have printed models with similar overhangs and the support material creates an unsightly underside. This can be mitigated with a dual material printer, using water soluble filament for the support. I've recently seen videos and images of dual material prints in which the second material (support) was PETG. In both cases, a decent underside can be expected.
Additionally one could use a method promoted by Angus of Maker's Muse in one of his videos.
I have used this method with quite good results. It effectively converts an overhang to a bridging situation.
In your use case, consider that your model is a rounded rectangle. Create another ordinary rectangular prism slightly larger than the main object, perhaps two to four millimeters larger. Remove a shape from the inside matching the main object, but create it in such a manner as to have an overlap of one to two nozzle widths.
Unfortunately, I see that you have a double overhang, as the initial rim is horizontal and the secondary is angled. This would mean you'd want to create a single nozzle width rounded rectangle at the point of the slope change.
The angled portion is going to require support or a substantially increased amount of added-in "crutches" of similar design.
For something like this, I'd recommend a plane cut at the point where the angled surface meets the vertical surface. Create two objects, perhaps add alignment pins and then glue it together.
If you print it in ABS, you can then acetone smooth the result and make the glue joint disappear, especially if it is glued together with acetone/ABS slurry.

Images created from OP's model, screen captured via Meshmixer.
The resulting internal faces are perfectly flat, although possibly too thin for alignment pegs.

We would need a print bed which itself can rotate. That would solve the problem quite nicely, wouldn't it? If we need to print at a certain angle, the bed would just rotate accordingly.

I am just fighting my way through Fusion 360. I will try to do it myself :-)

In the non-hobbyist world, there are 3D printers of many variations, one of which includes an extruder mounted on an articulated robot arm. This allows the nozzle to be positioned in nearly any required angle, making overhangs a non-event.

Fusion 360 has an easy to use plane cut feature, if you choose that route.

Thank you! I just managed to do it in Fusion 360 with the help of this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X9q7Q0J-gA


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Why does Cura create this turquoise support structure?
I am just using Cura for the first time.
This is what my model looks like in Fusion 360:

Here is a close-up look:

And this is what Cura creates for me.
I assume the turquoise area is a support structure.
Why does it do that?
Also, I don't understand why it marks the edges as red. I assume this means that there is problem.
Thank you!

Each color has a special meaning:

turquoise: Support (in your case Build Plate Adhesion)
Red: Shell
Green: Inner Wall
Yellow: Top / Bottom

And so on ; you can see them if you click on "Color Scheme: Line Type" on the Preview Interface, and select what you want to see.
The turquoise is your support for bed adhesion (see the Build Plate adhesion tree on your Print Settings interface), the red one is your shell.
Nothing is wrong, please read the doc, it could be useful sometimes ...


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Thermal Runaway E1 Error, Extruder text jumps randomly
Ender 3 Pro, everything is stock except that I swapped the magnetic sheet for a glass bed.
As the tin says, I'll get this error around a half hour into a print:
THERMAL RUNAWAY: E1
PRINTER HALTED
Please Reset

I recorded it in the act, and here's some info I've collected:
The Extruder temp isn't consistent. It's set to 200 °C (Cura default), but will often wander around in the 197 °C-202 °C range.
There are random severe spikes where it will instantly go from 200 °C to 190 °C, then climb up to 205 °C.
About 5 minutes before error, it instantly dropped from 200 °C to 170 °C, then 180 °C, then 190 °C, then chilbed back up to 200 °C.
The error popped in when the extruder was at 190 °C.
See, it seems to jump around in an odd pattern, not just smoothly transitioning to a lower temperature. This leads me to suspect it's a sensor issue.
However, around the time these jumps were occurring, the plastic wouldn't adhere to the plate correctly. Some parts wouldn't stick:

Compare the bottom (printed first) to the top (printed last). A lot of edges are popping up (although the bottom isn't perfect either).
This wasn't an issue until I moved my printer to the basement (from my bedroom) for a 30-hour print. I had it running for ~14 hours straight before my first encounter with this error. The temperate difference between my room and the basement is minimal.
I also leveled the bed before re-trying, which didn't solve the issue.
I am new to this, I got the printer 3 weeks ago. Extensive googling has resulted in many different solutions, but none specific to my printer's temperature situation. I post this hoping to find clarification for myself and provide a concise description of the problem so others down the line can find the solution easier.

Is it the same filament.

@Kilisi yup, nothing changed

I'd try another filament, it might have gone bad. I've had lots of filament issues with my ender 3 pro, but no mechanical/electrical ones yet

@Kilisi hmm.. I'll give that a shot

Usually this is due to a wiring issue to the thermistor (or, less likely, thermistor itself may be damaged).  Check the integrity of your wires everywhere, especially at the thermistor end (easily damaged when cleaning hotends, changing nozzles, etc.).
An insulating silicone "sock" wouldn't hurt either against real temperature fluctuations, but these seem like phantom, electrically-based fluctuations.

What worked for me was switching the voltage switch on the back of the printer from 230 volt to 115.  I had missed the step during the build to switch to my power outlet's voltage.


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Setting Z offset on Artillery Hornet (Marlin 2.0.7.2)
After leveling the corners of the bed and doing a manual mesh bed leveling (both options on the menu LCD) I adjust the babystep Z while printing to get a perfect first layer.
Ideally, I would take note of the optimal babystep Z value and store it as Z offset, but there´s no Z offset option in the LCD menu. The only similar setting I can find is (only while printing) Tune > Bed Z but this setting doesn´t affect anything. If I adjust babystep Z I can clearly see changes in Z height but not with Bed Z.
Does anyone have any idea how to store the babystep Z value? (I´ve already tried adjusting the babystep Z and then selecting the Store Settings option but that doesn´t work) Or maybe how to store my Z offset value through Pronterface?
PS: I recently started 3D printing, I know how to send commands through the Pronterface terminal, but haven´t learned how to modify firmware yet.

There is an option in the Hornet, which is in Motion (so not when printing, just when idle), then Bed Z. I have never used it since I just level manually but if you want to configure it via firmware then you can do it there.
If you want to offset each of the 9 points individually you can also do it on the same menu, select Level Bed instead and it will take you routinely through each point so you can introduce individual Z values.
If you want to do it via command you can use M851. I'm citing the relevant part from the guide:

Start by resetting the Z offset. You can do this with the command
M851 Z0, which will ensure that there is no pre-existing offset to
throw our calculations off.
Home the printer. Use the G28 G-code to trigger auto-homing, which will bring all the axes to the 0 point.
Disable hardware endstops. You can use the M121 G-code to do so.
Disable software endstops. Use the M211 G-code with the S0 parameter
to do so. Place a piece of paper on the bed in line with the nozzle.
We will be using this piece of paper to know when to stop moving the
nozzle in the next step.
Bring the nozzle down slowly until it touches the piece of paper.
You can do this via either the built-in panel or the software of
your choice.
Write the Z-axis value down and run the M851 G-code with it. For
instance, if your Z-axis shows -2.5, run M851 Z-2.5.

[...]
Finally, use the G-codes M120 and M211 S1 to enable the hardware and
software endstops, and run the M500 command to save your settings to
the EEPROM, which will allow your 3D printer to load them back
automatically every time you boot it.

My personal way of keeping the Hornet bed leveled is manually instead of by firmware by having 5 individual files that each have a square at a different position (all the corners + center though I rarely use the latter) and when I notice prints start to look ugly on a certain corner I know I have to use that square to level.
The rule is: if you see spaces between each line, raise the bed. If you see roughness, lower the bed. You don't need to print the whole square either, just enough for you to see the filament fuses correctly as every line is being laid.

(I understand this last point doesn't answer your question per se but I wanted to give you every option available to accomplish your levelling including manual)

You might want to try and adjust it in Marlin itself but it will be a long, frustrating process of trial and error. Alternatively,  if you are using Cura you can download a plug-in that allows you to adjust z-offset. You just have to remember to reslice your model if you print on multiple surfaces with different thickness


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Dual Z Options: Pros and Cons
I have an Ender 3 V2 Neo. I have installed the Creality dual Z-axis upgrade kit (with a second Z stepper motor) and third-party anti-backlash nuts. Only afterwards did I discover that users were reporting Z-axis sync problems developing between power cycles (which I have confirmed firsthand).
One solution I came across is to install a kit which uses just the original Z stepper motor with an additional Z screw and a sync belt connecting both Z screws.
Another solution I came across was using the G34 command to auto-align Z steppers. Then I discovered that to use G34, I would need to upgrade to a third-party motherboard with dual Z stepper drivers.
Both options are about the same cost.
If you have experience with either or both options, I would appreciate your feedback on the pros and cons of each option.

On my old Wallace, I twisted an unpowered Z axis as part of bed leveling.

I have not used ether of the mentioned solutions. However I currently use this  BeltDrivenEnder3

and it the best upgrade I've done for my Ender3 v1 pro. Easy enough to print and assemble and My Ender now has the print quality of a true pro printer.

Interesting alternative. Never worked with PETG though; I'll have to investigate what's involved with that. What's the pros and cons of the single vs dual Z variants (i.e., would I need a new motherboard for the dual Z, etc.)?

I've only have used the "Stock V-Wheels" Variants. Duel z steppers do need a board that has duel stepper support, or you could try a Z splitter cable and up the amps a bit to drive a second stepper in parallel


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What is this called and how do I avoid it? (model frees itself from support structure and warps upwards)
I want to print the following model on my Kobra Max using ABS.
I have uploaded it here.

I have tried it 3 times now, it always results in this:

As you can see, one part managed to break free from the support and warped upwards.
At this point, I had to stop the print process.
The element which broke free really has a strong will to bend.
What could I do in this case?
These are my print settings; bed temperature is 80 °C, and nozzle temperature is 195 °C.

Was it ever attached to that support structure? It doesn't look like it was supposed to be. Rather the support structure is for part of the print that hasn't even happened yet.

@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE, your assessment appears correct. The slicer probably has a parameter to space the support a distance away from the adjacent print, making it unrelated to the main warping problem.

You may want to use TitanX/NiceABS on your printer, which is ABS mixed with PETG and it basically does not warp. Also, all ABS are printed at 230 °C at the VERY least... 240 °C recommended. 195 °C is going to produce SUPER weak prints. Have you read the recommendations printed on the spool or box?

Did you notice that you are printing ABS using A PROFILE FOR PLA?

@FarO Yes, there is no profile for ABS for Kobra Max in Cura. I downloaded the profile from this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37AajqIXLoE I am absolutely new to this and thought it might just work. So I should contact the author and ask him if there is an ABS profile available, right?

@R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE Hmmmm, perhaps I misunderstood what the Slicer produced. At least it looked like it was attached, but perhaps it was not and was never meant to be attached. I will have a look when I try it again. I am just trying it without this brim.

@tmighty then it could have the wrong fan settings: PLA requires full speed, ABS zero except when a layer is too short. Having the fan always on with ABS causes warping.

nozzle temperature is 195 °C.? That is VERY cold for ABS

What is this called

This is called warping.
Warping of prints occurs frequently when you use a filament that shrinks. If the model would shrink uniformly, it will become smaller, like in a scaled version (unfortunately, the print is attached somewhere, which causes stresses in the first layers). But, if (due to the geometry of the print) some part of the model shrinks more, the model warps. It could then bend upwards from the build plate, deform at higher layers or sometimes even crack (e.g. in between layers).

and how do I avoid it?

A high(er) build plate temperature
Not use a filament that is prone to shrink, e.g. ABS is frequently replaced by PETG/NGEN/some other Co-polymer nowadays
Decent adhesion by using everything you can image to get the filament to stick to the build platform:

A rough build plate surface, like e.g. BuildTak or equivalent
An adhesive like glue stick or specific sprays like Dimafix or equivalent
A slurry of ABS and acetone

Use an enclosure to raise the temperature of the build volume
If an enclosure is impossible, use a draft shied (basically a multi layer skirt which creates a sort of a mini enclosure)
Use a raft
Don't use part fan cooling

I tried it again with glue, and it stuck onto the plate. The first layers were fine until approximately a height of 2 mm. Then the model warped again.

Did you use an enclosure or a draft shield? ABS is pretty useless without proper heat management.

0scar listed many good tips. However, don't spare: use an enclosure (4 walls are enough, no strict need to close the top), with glue stick applied on a bed cleaned with soapy water and then alcohol, bed which is heated at 95-105 °C, with a brim of about 5-10 mm, with also a draft shield. Don't start one by one, use all I suggested.

I second @FarO, you need to shield for draft, four walls and an open top will work, the bed is the heating element for the "enclosure". For my Ultimaker I used to put a piece of cardboard in the front opening, top open.

OP uses  nozzle temperature is 195 °C. - far too cold for ABS. 220 or something would be typica.

@Trish I'd rather go at least 235 °C and use some sort of a shielding and proper adhesion spray on a 100 °C bed. ABS is not my "go to" filament, used this years back, PETG seemed much more suitable for me. Recently bought ASA to play with.

True, 220 was the minimum to print it at all...

You are getting warping. It's unusual in this case, as your overall model is relatively low profile. It's the taller stuff that likes to warp.
Consider to edit your post to include the layer heights and also the filament type and filament and bed temperatures. My first instinct is that your bed temperature is too low. There's little harm to be had by raising the temperature by ten degrees or so. Also if your slicer arbitrarily reduces the bed temperature after the first layers, disable that feature. There's no sense to set a good adhesion temperature on a print and later reduce it, yet I've seen slicer results that do just that.
Too cold filament by a substantial amount can also reduce the adhesion in combination with a too low bed temperature.
If you still run into adhesion problems, the Elmer's Purple Glue Stick works wonders.
With the new information comes new responses:
For ABS, 80 °C is on the low end for the bed, but may work. The extruder temp is really low for ABS. I run 250 °C for ABS. Also ensure some form of enclosure, even a cardboard box will help. I've accidentally fed ABS into a PLA profile. The results were surprisingly good, although warping was prevalent and some underextrusion was evident.
If you have a glass bed, you will very much want to use glue stick, as a release agent, not as an adhesive. ABS sticks really well to clean glass, well enough that it will pull fragments of glass from the surface!

I disagree that raising bed temp by ~10 degrees is generally harmless, but for this model it should be fine. On the other hand I completely second your point about slicer lowering bed temp after the first layers being utterly bonkers. If anything you want to do the opposite: start out with a lower bed temp so as not to inhibit cooling of the low layers, but increase it once you get high enough that's not an issue to avoid large-scale warping that detaches the part from the buildplate.

we won't really know until (if) the OP provides specifics

I missed that it was ABS. Increasing the bed temperature should never hurt for ABS. So yeah.

Yeah, first line and I missed it too.

@fred_dot_u I have added the temperatures to the post. Bed = 80 °C, Extruder: 195 °C.

This is definitely warping caused by subpar adhesion to the bed, you can try glue or making the bed hotter as this answer suggests.
Another way of really making sure is to take off the square corner. They seem to be really prone to warping. When I have a persistent issue that is beating the glue stick and bed heat I will add a bit to the design itself to have a rounded edge at the corner. Basically just a flat circle that goes a bit further out where the sharp corner is and just for the first few layers (frequently called mouse ears). Then during post processing I cut it off.

Could you post a screenshot as an example?

@tmighty I don't have a screenshot sorry, but here's a youtube vid of a chap doing much the same thing I just found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU4V2c9OaDQ

ABS is a challenging material to print because it warps. It warps because it shrinks as it cools. The top layers are cooler than the bottom layers on a heated bed, so they become slightly smaller, and flat things turn happy face shape.
The real way to print big flat parts in ABS is with an insulated enclosure, that keeps the temperature up and the top layers don’t shrink enough to peel the model off the build plate. Recommended bed temperature is 100 °C, which many printers struggle with.
I have only been able to get ABS to stick to the bed with “ABS juice”, a mixture of acetone and scrap ABS filament. Wear gloves and mop some onto the bed with a paper towel or brush. Check that your print surface is compatible with acetone, otherwise you’ll have to use something milder, like gluestick.
As well as using ABS juice/glue on the print surface, use a brim. It is an extra, sacrificial layer of plastic around the model on the first layer that can help big flat parts stay stuck down. It is relatively easy to peel off by hand or shave off with a utility knife.
A brim of 10 mm is a good starting point. Nuclear option: if a print or material is really problematic you can pause the print after 3 layers or so and tape the brim down to the bed with wide blue painter’s tape.
If it is cold in your shop, a heat lamp or 100 Watt incandescent bulb near the print can keep the temperature up, if you don’t want to build an enclosure.


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Anycubic Chiron homing issue
The Anycubic Chiron is the third 3D printer I’ve owned, so I’m fairly familiar with the inner workings of them.
The problem occurs when I home the Z-axis. Once the Z-axis sensor gets triggered, the Z-axis motors should stop. However, Instead of stopping, the Z-axis motors go 2-3  mm further after the Z-axis sensor is already triggered. Therefore, the nozzle of the printer is lower than the bed itself. I've had this printer for 2 years, but the problem started last week.
In the video, you can see that the little red light shuts off when the sensor is triggered. You can also hear the motors spin slightly faster after they’re supposed to stop. If you have any ideas to fix this, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Here's the video link.

Hi Christian, welcome to 3DPrinting.SE! Please [edit] your question to add information on how this happened. Is this brand new out-of-the-box behavior, occurring after a while, after a firmware change, suddenly occurred, etc. Please shed some light on the history of the problem.


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XYZ da Vinci 3D printer doesn't want to load filament
My XYZ da Vinci 3D printer doesn't want to load my spool but I still have a lot of filament on it. I took the chip out in both spool and the printer itself and made sure I loaded them in correctly, but it still says that the spool is empty and I don't know what to do at this point.

Proprietary systems have proprietary problems
The XYZ daVinci series is locked down in a way that without both an RFID and the sensor, it does not and can not recognize a spool at all, and thus does not print.
Resetting a spool's chip, according to the manufacturer, risks frying the motherboard.
However, DaVinci offers a special spool holder to solve the issue.

Oh god. And it's $49.99 and out of stock. Absolutely disgusting.


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BLTouch on Bed Leveling check don't move left after point 6
My Setup

Ender 3
BTT SKR Mini E3 v1.2 with BLTouch
Marlin v2.1.x

Problem
Captured it here (short video):

When Bed Leveling, the print head doesn't return left on the X-Axis although in the LCD display it does mark that the X value is modified.
This is a sudden behavior. I've tried to upgrade my firmware from Marlin 2.0 to Marlin 2.1 and the problem still persists.
Auto Home is working properly and I'm able to move the printhead in all directions through the graphical interface after homing.
Disclaimer
I'm very new to 3D printing.

If a printer doesn't move towards the endstops, it could be that there is a problem with the endstop cable, please check the cable and the values of the endstops by hooking up a console and run G-code M119. Please investigate and add this to your question by [edit].