For the position of the nozzle relative to the bed, the axes are (+ / -):
X = right / left
Y = back / front*
Z = up / down*
The Z position is usually a open loop control based on the movement of the stepper motor(s). The initial position of the bed is usually set either by a limit switch (a microswitch) or be an autoleveling sensor (Usually a BLTouch) any of these can go wrong.
*. For printers that move the bed rather than X carriage, so + (=‘up’) means moving the bed down. Usually the Y direction is done by moving the bed, so + (=‘back’) means moving the bed toward the front.
Oops - yes, you are quite right - the Z axis. Sorry.
With this printer, the bed only moves in the Z axis. It is CoreXY though.
This is so frustrating - one problem is solved and another raises its head. I’m not sure whether it is the sensor that has died, or something on the motherboard. I hope it’s the sensor. I’ve ordered a new one, in the hope that that is the problem.
Welcome to the world of 3d printers - they need a lot of maintenance work, they’re not exactly consumer level plug and play devices (more like plug and pray).
Invest in a multimeter to help diagnose problems (it’s best to get one that has an audible contact indicator).
What type of zero point sensor does the machine have on the Z axis?
Have you checked for broken wires and loose connectors (they sometime vibrate loose including from the motherboard)
Incidentally I have successfully changed 2 motherboards on our printers, so if you need to do that just ask for some tips to save you a shed load of hassle.
Yes, I’m beginning to appreciate that. It’s quite hard work. And at the moment more difficult to diagnose problems than with an inkjet.
I have a few multimeters, so that’s OK.
I’m not sure what make the sensor is - it is marked as Tronxy XY 08N - 6-38V. But I suspect strongly that it is made by someone else (all 5 motors are labelled Tronxy, but presumably are just standard motors from somewhere). The wiring all looks OK. It plugs into a small board which effectively connects it to a ribbon cable to go down to the motherboard. I haven’t had a look at the M/B yet.
Many of the projects that you find online for 3D printers do seem to be making things for 3D printing - either that or office tidies and stuff like that. I did print a dice tower for my granddaughter (who otherwise tends to clear the board when she throws the dice). And a few other things, not related to 3D printing or offices.
The person for whom I maintain 10 3D printers (at least when my sacroiliac joints are functioning normally) runs a business making tools for needle felters… “Mum’s Makery”.
(But yes, for her printers, I’ve printing cooling ducts that increase the surface quality and precision of the printed pieces.)
Amongst others, I’ve also printed:
A complex bracket system and control panel to motorise her hand cranked carder.
Parts for the brass cup & nitride ball vibration isolators.
Brackets for cable support for the HiFi.
Support pieces to repair an Apple laptop charger.
A bracket to stably hold a drink bottle to my belt while walking (so it doesn’t flop about or fall off).
Of my friend’s 10 printers, 2 are down at the moment, it was 4, but her partner managed to get 2 of them working again. Reliability is not one of their strong points! On average at least one of them is in need of fixing or adjusting at any given time, most commonly though all it needs is a reconditioned hot end fitting - on average they run 12 hours a day, so frequent blockages can be expected, even when feeding them with high quality material like ColorFabb PLL*.
When the pain in my pelvis has subsided enough to be able to lift a printer, I’ll go and fix the other two.
*. PLL is polylactyllactate - this is the result pf polymerising lactic acid, it’s often incorrectly called PLA (poly lactic acid) but in fact it’s a polyester and not a polyacid.
I could buy about 8 or 9 of the Tronxy printers. I didn’t expect it to be cheap, but that seemed rather steep. Total filament weight would be about 800 grams or so - call it a kilo, so £20.00 or thereabouts.
It may be possible to produce a polyacid based on condensation of lactic acid and oxalic acid or glycolic acid, but a polyacid based on lactic acid alone isn’t possible.