Sorry to liter this board but this might be an issue here too. I’m using an Ender 3 Max though and it loses level after a few layers which might come down to the gantry being lose (!?) I paste below my real questions after some reading here:
“What screws did you tighten for the gantry z axis to remain level!? "
Hi, I’m looking for a workaround if not a fix or at least info on whether i got a dud. The issue as per the title is that I level (align? -whatever) the printer and the first few layers are printed ok, but then the side where the Z axis screw is not located starts to lose height. I then have to manually lower the bed on just that side both front and back again only on that side, that is only two of the four levelers need adjustment. The problem starts happening gradually but gets to a point that i have to adjust a few mms! What’s worse is that if I want to start a second print I need to reset the alignment (level) altogether. Is the way to fix this only to get a second z axis screw kit so the gantry remains stable throughout the print or there’s something i just need to tighten? I have (really bad) mobility problems and would prefer just to tighten a few screws and not assemble/tighten the whole thing. So if you could please point me to the most likely “fix” even if temporary (i.e. having to re adjust every few prints) I’d appreciate it. Thanks!”
If you have a pic showing what to tighten I’d appreciate it since it would save me a lot of literal pain (just thinking about it causes me more pain! 
. Thanks! "
I have no idea what your fix may be but thinking out loud I have a thought for you. it may be that the rollers on the non screw side are too tight and restricting the upward movement causing it to lag behind. Instead of tightening try loosening the free side of the gantry rollers.
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Check the wheels on the gantry, when it is turned off and see if you can rotate them by hand, if one of them is loose then the gantry will be out of level.
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Hey there!
Just a couple questions before moving on, has your printer worked properly in the past? Have you recently changed anything about the printer, modification, firmware, etc. Do you have any pictures that you could upload to show us the problem? The easiest way to upload the pictures is using the cloud like google drive/ or onedrive. Are the problems consistent throughout the print or are they a bit random?
Thanks,
Matthew
Hi, thanks for the replies. I haven’t tried anything but will soon. To answer some questions, on the right side (non screw side), the lower wheel is loose when it’s in home position, when the z has moved a few layers it is the top wheel that’s loose, but at some point neither is loose. The printer is square except for the gantry when it’s near or at the home position. But the right side is higher, which would mean the higher wheel would be loose, however it’s the lower wheel that’s loose; when the gantry is tilted to the right after a few layers, the upper wheel is loose, instead of the lower one which is what I’d expect. Anyways, all this is to say that the printer is square but for some reason one or the other wheels are loose depending on gantry position. Regarding the pictures, I will look on how to add one, but it’d show just the printer and the right side of the gantry either higher or lower than the left side depending on Z position.
Anyways, thanks a lot for your help, hopefully it’s something simple like a wheel out of round or something. But you guys have given me great pointers on how to address this. Thanks!
If you have loose wheels then you have a problem. It can be corrected by readjusting and squaring up everything but a better solution would be a dual Z axis drive. I put a belt drive one on my Ender 3V2 and after I set everything nice and level it has stayed that way. The stepper style is OK but if you move the gantry when the power is off then you will have to level everything again.
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Thanks. Yes, at some point the wheels are loose but not at others. I checked it’s square, though. I will check again.
Re the dual z axis screw, the belt drive implies no stepper motor? I ask because I’ve seen some models that have the second stepper motor and a belt between the two screws. You’re saying there’s one with just the screw and a belt connecting them?
Would it be okay to post the model you bought or maybe send it via private message?
Thanks!
Hey there!
The thing that I immediately think when I read this is that your V-wheels are not tightened properly. This happened to me quite a lot when I still had my ender 3 max and I had to adjust them constantly. I have included a video down below that details how this process is done. One more thing to be aware of is to make sure that you check all the axis, check both sides of your z axis, check the y-axis, and check the x-axis. Even if these axis are off by just a little bit the error can stack and cause some wacky results.
Thanks,
Matthew
This is were the dual Z drive (belt) really shines. It basically eliminates this problem and makes adjusting the wheels simpler once the gantry is levelled.
I absolutely agree with you!
I have switched all of my ender printers over to dual linear rails now! I just ended up getting some cheap ones off of aliexpress, and it was worth every cent! The amount of time I was spending tuning all the v-wheels was just such a hassle, but now the only maintenance I have done is adding a bit of grease here and there.
Matthew
