This is absolutely the best guide for the new user. Before they assemble their printer. If I had watched this before assembly. It would have saved me alot of time,upgrades, plastic and failed models.
Thank you - this is the first video I have seen that manages to convey with words how loose the wheels actually need to be. Every other video has said "You need to be able to turn the wheels with force!", and well, all of my wheels now need replacing........ This is extremely useful and comprehensive.
Thanks for doing this. I found a quicker and easier method. My printer is new. I packed it up and took it back to the store and bought a different brand.
Coming back this 5 years later, to say thank you. For the LIFE of me I couldn’t figure out why nothing moved right. All my wheels were either waaaay too tight, or the other way around. My gantry loves you now!
THANK YOU! I've been fighting with my printer for a while now. I thought I have a warped bed, whenever I try to level it the center would always seem to be higher than the corners. I was also having issues with outer edges curling up. Higher bed heat, lower bed heat, clean the heck out of it, none of it stopped the curling. I came across this video posted on a Facebook page and thought I would check my gantry, it turns out the right side was 2mm lower than the extruder side. Followed the video and bam the center hump is gone and no more edge curling. I'm sure this is going to solve most other issues I was having but those are the ones I immediately noticed an improvement in.
Thanks for this. Just got a new Ender 3 Max and this video saved my life. It was not square out of the box and gantry sticking and slipping was very noticeable. (seriously bad elephant footing on test prints). Thanks to you and your guide the gantry is moving smooth as silk and I am getting perfect prints. Again thanks.
I would like to thank you very much for spending your time to make this video and share it with us. I purchased my Ender 3 Pro 2 weeks ago and although it was printing very well, I knew that my X Gantry was about a centimeter lower on the right. I followed this video step by step, and the X gantry is dead-level and rolling beautifully on the Z axis. Your time and work are greatly appreciated by this Ender-er. :D
Cannot begin to thank you enough for this video. My first layer was always perfect, but the next maybe 5 layers were very messy and squished. Followed your video and wow it’s like I have a whole new printer. Was so ready to give up on it, tried everything, even thought it was my bad levelling and almost spent £40 on a BL Touch, but now it’s perfect! Thank you!
Have been chasing my tail for the last week with slicers and settings on my new CR10 V3, looking everywhere for answers. This solved the root of my problems and now I can fine tune my settings in peace. Thank you!
Got my Ender 3 Pro last week and just came across your video, and I'm glad I did. I found that both trolleys were way tight. This is the kind of info that should be part of the assembly instructions. Thanks!
Guys, if you're having print issues I cannot stress how important checking your gantry is. I spent over 48 hours (actual hours working on it) figuring out why my prints were all screwy. Even with an ABL and Meshing, it just was very screwy. Trying your method got me much of the way but when I tightened down the ones on the z rod side, it would distort it. So I did a tad more than over snug. I also ended up replacing the two m4's for better screws that were Philips on the PSU side (the ones that are more easily accessible. I ended up putting stuff on the bottom supports to have both sides of the gantry to rest on so I knew it was even when I tightened then moved it and down a couple times to make sure it held and it's great. I am def gonna look into getting a second z motor on this thing. It seems like it would just be much easier in general. Thanks for the video, it was a tremendous help.
Excellent video. I'm working on it now. I have a 4mm sag on the right side. Watching this video gave me an idea for a drinking game, everyone drinks when you say "go ahead" or "small end". lol, I'm just giving you a friendly hard time. Thanks for the video, I've been searching for a good one and this is it.
Thank you very much. I have been having issues for the longest time after replacing the wheels and not knowing how to reassemble properly. I followed your video and it is now printing almost like new.
Excellent video. I did mine last night on my cr10. I found my wheels where over tight and managed to remove the 5mm differential. Not done a test print yet but very happy. Very frustrated with creality they could of made this so much easier by having the extruder end screws facing out so you didn't have to repeated remove the gantry until you hav it perfect. Ut non the less job done very happy. Thankyou
this is the best video that shows in detail how to fix your x-gantry dd this with both my creality printers and they are so reliable now ( with blt and SKR)
This has helped me so much to start fixing some more recent print problems. I can only assume some adjustments I made to the frame and Z axis skied the X gantry until I took a good look at it from eye level and saw it was definitely not straight. Gonna give it a go this afternoon and hope that fixes my print problems.
Great job. Easy to follow, and immediate results. I noticed my entire bed should look like an alpine slope according to Octoprint's Mesh view, even after increasing the BLTouch grid from 3x3 to 5x5 - re-adjusting the gantry after about 100 hours of printing did the trick! Cheers mate :)
I’ve been putting this off for a year since I got my ender. Finally I wanted to fix it the correct way. I was sceptical but this really worked. No more super tight right springs and loose left. Thanks.
Thumbs up for the good advice, almost went crazy not understanding why my first 7-8 layers were garbage... Have replaced the fitted allen screws on the left side with 4mm hex head screws so it was easier to reach and adjust them while everything was back in place. Thanks again!
Ontop of having a hideously warped stock bed (Ordered an OEM replacement), this made my realize that most of my leveling issues is with an uneven gantry so your video definitely helps!
Thank you. Was following another first install vid then noticed things were not level and paused that to find this. So I had to do the initial build twice but fished the first vid made a point of being careful with stripping. Much appreciated
I'm halfway through assembling my Ender 3 V2 for the second time haha. After two years of headaches, I am hoping this helps resolve some of my chronic print problems.
Thank you for this guide. By following all parts until 13:30, the difference went from 4mm to 2-3mm, but I'm not sure what can be done to further minimize the difference in heights. You mention adjusting the two screws on the left of the X gantry, but those we're touched at all during the rest of the video.
@@TheEdgeofTech What I found is that, of the two right rollers near the power supply, the bottom one spins freely without touching the extrusion. Meanwhile the one above it is fairly tight against the extrusion.
Ok I’ve reinstalled the x gantry with all wheels loosened and that did it, as I tightened them it all fell in place. It’s pretty straight now. Thanks again!
Thanks 1000x. I fixed my Ender-3 thanks to this video. I can now just press Print and it starts printing. Before this video I had to mess for an hour before I could start printing. I had to level it each time. I "rebuilt" my X gantry step by step like he told and I found my issues and fixed it. My rollers where too tight and frame was not square. Now its perfect. There is no such info on Creality official videos. Even my walls top and bottom and left right sides are perfect now. No wobblyness
Starting about 13:08 it mentions that you want your gantry to be no more than 1mm difference on each side, but I don't understand how you fix it? He adjusts the right up and down to compensate, but you can't tighten the slightly snug screws on the left without taking the whole thing off, and then you lose your zero.
Amusingly, I've been getting great prints from my machine even though my X beam has been out by about 8mm from side to side since the day I bought it. It seems like if the bed is trammed properly, it doesn't much matter. With THAT said, it still drove me crazy just looking at it. Thanks for your help, I got it properly levelled now.
You say "go ahead and" a lot. It's an excellent video, but once I noticed it I couldn't unhear it. Either way, the visual guide was superb. Thank you for the information!
Your attention is misplaced. I was completely immersed in the video, visualizing myself doing exactly what he was and trying to understand the logic as he progressed that I couldn't have made such an insignificant observation. Either way, good observation.
Agreed, to the point of distraction, I think I recall at one point he actually said "I'm going to go ahead and go ahead" That said, my gantry was out a little :) so I went ahead and fixed it
Awesome video. Fixed alignment issues with my Ender 3 V2! I did run into my z-rod getting stuck after this video, but I fixed it by feeding it into the stepper motor BEFORE adding the x axis.
Why would you measure the gantry against the top of the vertical rails? They're not precision cut to the same length, their dimensions are arbitrary. Should measure from the base of the vertical rails. The bed is mounted in relation to the base, not the top.
Great video! Just one remark as ( I think ) you did not refer to it explicitly. By loosing up the vertical stands they will be able to turn a bit. This can cause issues in the movement of the gantry as well. Before tightening them up I place a bar on the bed and clamp it to the stand on both sides to assure they are positioned completely straight towards each other. Only then I re-tighten the bolts on the underside. That said, with my Ender 3 and 3 Pro I still experience that the gantry has some up/down movement on the left side, no matter what I try. So decided to go for a dual Z drive setup on both printers now to get rid of that. Ordered the belt driven version and a version with an extra motor so I can do a comparison on what works best for me. The EZABL does a great job in the meantime dealing with slight imperfections but the ultimate goal is a fixed bed and sturdy straight Z gantry. :-) Keep up the good work, it's appreciated!
I have a Chinese copy of the ender 3, it has some minor differences here and there, some screws are in different places, but it ended up working perfectly. Thank you sir!
Hey, at 13:30 you talk about adjusting the X gantry if it has more than 1mm play on the right, and that we should be able to do that because the left gantry screws are only just-past snug tight. I can lift the right to make up the 2mm shortfall, but how do I set it so it does not fall back? Do I tighten the screws on the right? I'll try that in any case. Also you're a legend for this, thanks! Horns up! \m/ \m/
Shoot me down if I'm wrong man but I seem to have fixed it by 1) pushing the gantry up a little and holding the tension, then with my other hand 2) tightening the right screws, 3) removing the top rail and the gantry 4) tightening the just-past snug screws on the left. We'll see if it works.
If you strip those hard to reach button head bolts on the left side of the gantry, you might be able to get them loose with a bit of patience and a set of needle nose pliers. Also make sure the allen key itself isn't stripped. The ones that come with the printer are trash to say the least. I stripped all four of those X-gantry screws. Glad the printer comes with ONE EXTRA. If you manage to get them off and have even more patience, order some M3,4,5 bolts. I believe these ones specifically are M4x16mm button heads but most others are socket heads. I couldn't be bothered waiting an entire day for Amazon Prime one day delivery so I just stuck them back in and tweaked them good with the pliers again. I'm sure that's fine. Probably. Right side ended up being 0.3mm off from the left so I figured it's good enough for the girls I go out with. Appreciate you, this actually helped a ton. Also TIL that you shouldn't use the long side of the allen key to tighten anything. Turns out it can very easily strip them. (This happened on initial assembly, way before finding this video.)
The video (and the written instructions) is very comprehensive, but it is very dense and I'm just not quite sure where the key adjustment is. at 12:31 in the video you say that if it isn't quite right, you need to do the adjustment again. I'm not sure where to go back to. I appreciate your help as this is the thing that is keeping this from working for me.
@@salukitd1 Thanks for watching! It sounds like you need to move the right side up if the left side is higher. Make sure the extrusion is just loose enough to move like it says in the guide. The move it until it's the same distance away as the other side. If it's not, move the extrusion some more until it is. If you hold the left side while you do it, that will help too! Let me Know of this helps you and if you need anything else.
@@TheEdgeofTech Got it adjusted! I'm about .20 of a mm off from right to left (measured with digital calipers). I did an m851 update of the z offset confirmed it with the g1 f60 z0 command. But when I get to G29, it stops on the 6th spot(middle left). Any thoughts? Completely unrelated, but did I see you wearing a Packers shirt in one of your other videos?!
Worked like a charm for me, and my printer is working better than ever. Only thing of note is that the roller on the right side (outside top wheel) is pretty much spinning freely now. I have tried adjusting the concentric nut on the assembly, but nothing seems to get that one wheel any tighter. It does seem to be printing fine none the less.
Sometimes that happens. Just make sure everything is rolling good and nothing is binding. And if you are still straight at the top of the printer with your X Gantry, you are good to go.
@dorygorell9415 yes, although the hardware is a little different, the process was similar enough that I could complete it. Finished as perfectly square.
I've only had mine about a week or so but I'm noticing that no matter how often or how accurately I level it, the right-front side ends up a tad bit higher, which affects the prints. I'm gonna try this out ASAP.
Hello this video looks great! I am wondering how this same fix applies to the CR10 S5? It has 2 z motors and z rods and I am not sure if that changes how I would do this fix?
Were you able to follow this completely on the v2? This is my only real issue left after a few weeks so I am planning to follow this as soon as I have the time after work!
@@TriconPOE I followed every step in the video, and it turned out perfect. The belt tensioner on the X-axis is a bit different from the video, but wasn't hard to get right.
1:40 The entire machine woobles when you touch it. Were the "footing" on your machine also off with not all four pads touhing the surface of the table, when you assembled the machien?
The countertop that it was sitting on wasn't flat. I had that happen a couple times but n other videos too until I noticed it. Lol The machine is solid and square! :)
Thanks for the video, but isn't this method flawed? After I tightened the screws on the right side, and pulled the gantry out to tighten the "snug" screws on the left, they get misaligned again and we're back to square one.But it seems like cause of the design of the printer, there's no other way to do it
Good tutorial but it would really help if you said tight and snug instead of snug everything. I have no idea if you are tightning or leaving it snug until the end when I have to redo everything.
What I don't understand is that you suggest multiple times that using the long end of the wrench increases the risk of stripping out the thread, however, I would have thought the opposite is true. When you use the long end you have less leverage and therefore less torque applied to the bolt than if you were using the short end. Using the short end you have more leverage (because the long end is your handle) and therefore the applied torque/force on the bolt is potentially much higher while applying the same finger pressure - making it significantly more likely to strip out the thread. Perhaps I've miss-understood something?
Good question! We recommend that because the long end has a ball end on it. The short end doesn't. It much easier to strip a screw out with the ball end. If all things were equal and had flat ends on them, it wouldn't matter what end you used them. You just get better leverage with the small end.
@@TheEdgeofTech Depends on where you're concerned about stripping it out. If you're worried about the threads in the extrusion (which are the most vulnerable), then Justin's right. You want the ball end in the screw, and put the tightening force on the short arm. If you're worried about stripping out the inside of the hex head (I wouldn't, you'll destroy the aluminum first) then your explanation is correct. The length of the arm you're pushing on is what determines the actual tightening torque. (I was thinking of this all the way through your otherwise excellent explanation. As an aircraft mechanic, it immediately hit me that it was backwards.) Then I saw Justin had already mentioned it. So, Justin is actually correct, since the only stripping that'll ever occur here is the steel screw threads tearing the softer threads out of the aluminum extrusion. Long arm=lotsa torque. Short arm=notsomuch torque.
You should design a new manual for Creality. I followed their directions for assembly and my x axis rail is not level at all, haven't been able to print because the hot end is too far off the bed on one side. Hope this works...
I followed your build video and I was a little bit more than a mm off and it bothered me so I wanted to be sure it was on so I followed this video. You say "tighten these nuts past snug" to me and every one I asked that means tighten past tight. I did this and I was unable to move the gantry level. Only after going thru this video 3 times did I catch on that those nuts had to be loose so you could move it into position. After doing this and following your leveling video I got near flawless xyz cube first print. I rarely like subscribe or comment on any video but thanks to you I got my ender dialed in almost flawlessly as a noob and right out of the box. Also my ender the pre heat pla temp is 185 and the bed was 50.
I have one mm difference. Do i still have to take the printer apart. I tried to tighten the screws but didn’t make a difference… any advice would be greatly appreciated
Before you want to tighten nuts on upper bar. You must be move the Z gantry up as possible to the top bar before you will tighten the screw. It's will transfer the length at the bottom from between the Z -Axis Posts to the top Length too. If you don't do like that when the Z gantry move up you will got jam or friction cause it's not symmetry.
i had issue with my cr10 clone and fixed it without taking anything appart ...i just converted the one side to 3 adjustable rollers and actually forced it manually to wear it stayed level ...than tightened up all my rollers... not saying this is not a good or proper method,but results are all i want... and after several hours my gantry is still perfectly level with zero play..
Today I was checking my old Ender 3 Pro and noticed, although it printed very well, that 2 of the bed screws on the right were sticking out of the leveling knobs noticeably more which leads me to believe there is a slight vertical parallelogram warp instead of a square cube. I can't be sure what is at the root of the misalignment so I will try a similar rebuild but first step would be to align the bed with the frame & then loosen and rebuild the X Gantry to align it to the previous 2, which are already aligned, for a nice even square.
Thank you for the video, i'll be sure to try it considering i have 0,5cm of difference between the left and right of my gantry... though all this makes me wonder "Why the hell is the Gantry not one solid component to begin with? Why is there so much play, flex, and wiggle room for things to get loose?"
In my opinion, one of the key weaknesses on the E3V2 is the single motor Z-axis. I added a second Z-axis motor and matching screw shaft and the gantry not being square is not much of a problem anymore. Other things are getting the higher tension (yellow) springs, putting some thread locker on the threads and a bit of build-up on the opposite side of the spring. That prevents the adjustment ring from loosening over time. One last thing is to tighten the adjustment ring to the point of binding down the spring, then backing off 2 full turns. This keeps the springs at very high tension, so things are less likely to adjust. One last thing is shimming the bed to get it as flat as possible. Final problem is the damned wheels. They are very soft and eventually wear down. I do not have a good solution for that - yet...
Why couldn't you just take it to machine shop and have them mill the extrusions to be the same length and make the milled surface square with all the sides? That would solve a lot of the variances in the parts as they were delivered, right?
I have an anycubic kobra go and this guide has definitely helped. Ive followed the steps in this guide and my x gantry has been consistent but then i bumped it and it now is sometimes level sometimes its out by 0.12mm at most. Is that going to be a huge problem?? Will it always be so sensitive?
Your videos are awesome! thanks it helps a lot! One thing i saw missing is when to tighten the 4 bolts holding the verticle extrusions which should happen after after the top rail is tightened down (step 53)
This is absolutely the best guide for the new user.
Before they assemble their printer.
If I had watched this before assembly.
It would have saved me alot of time,upgrades, plastic and failed models.
5 years later this tutorial is still great. Solved my issues with my ender 3 v2. Thank you so much
Didn’t realize I had a problem until I saw this video. By far one of the most useful video I have seen. Thanks!
Thank you! I am glad it helped!
Thank you - this is the first video I have seen that manages to convey with words how loose the wheels actually need to be. Every other video has said "You need to be able to turn the wheels with force!", and well, all of my wheels now need replacing........ This is extremely useful and comprehensive.
Awesome! Thanks for watching and I appreciate the compliment!!
Thanks for doing this. I found a quicker and easier method. My printer is new. I packed it up and took it back to the store and bought a different brand.
😂
Coming back this 5 years later, to say thank you. For the LIFE of me I couldn’t figure out why nothing moved right. All my wheels were either waaaay too tight, or the other way around. My gantry loves you now!
THANK YOU! I've been fighting with my printer for a while now. I thought I have a warped bed, whenever I try to level it the center would always seem to be higher than the corners. I was also having issues with outer edges curling up. Higher bed heat, lower bed heat, clean the heck out of it, none of it stopped the curling. I came across this video posted on a Facebook page and thought I would check my gantry, it turns out the right side was 2mm lower than the extruder side. Followed the video and bam the center hump is gone and no more edge curling. I'm sure this is going to solve most other issues I was having but those are the ones I immediately noticed an improvement in.
I just spent long enough following this, pausing, rewinding, double-checking, proceeding, that we are now old friends. My gantry loves you.
I used this guide to rework the X gantry on my Ender 3 Pro. She had wobble on the X gantry, but no more! Thanks for an EXCELLENT video guide!
Awesome!! Thanks for watching!!
Thanks for this. Just got a new Ender 3 Max and this video saved my life. It was not square out of the box and gantry sticking and slipping was very noticeable. (seriously bad elephant footing on test prints). Thanks to you and your guide the gantry is moving smooth as silk and I am getting perfect prints. Again thanks.
I didn't understand why all the steps but I get how it forces everything into alignment. Clever
I would like to thank you very much for spending your time to make this video and share it with us. I purchased my Ender 3 Pro 2 weeks ago and although it was printing very well, I knew that my X Gantry was about a centimeter lower on the right. I followed this video step by step, and the X gantry is dead-level and rolling beautifully on the Z axis. Your time and work are greatly appreciated by this Ender-er. :D
Awesome! Thanks for watching and I'm glad it helped!
Cannot begin to thank you enough for this video. My first layer was always perfect, but the next maybe 5 layers were very messy and squished. Followed your video and wow it’s like I have a whole new printer. Was so ready to give up on it, tried everything, even thought it was my bad levelling and almost spent £40 on a BL Touch, but now it’s perfect! Thank you!
Have been chasing my tail for the last week with slicers and settings on my new CR10 V3, looking everywhere for answers. This solved the root of my problems and now I can fine tune my settings in peace. Thank you!
Got my Ender 3 Pro last week and just came across your video, and I'm glad I did. I found that both trolleys were way tight. This is the kind of info that should be part of the assembly instructions. Thanks!
Guys, if you're having print issues I cannot stress how important checking your gantry is. I spent over 48 hours (actual hours working on it) figuring out why my prints were all screwy. Even with an ABL and Meshing, it just was very screwy. Trying your method got me much of the way but when I tightened down the ones on the z rod side, it would distort it. So I did a tad more than over snug. I also ended up replacing the two m4's for better screws that were Philips on the PSU side (the ones that are more easily accessible. I ended up putting stuff on the bottom supports to have both sides of the gantry to rest on so I knew it was even when I tightened then moved it and down a couple times to make sure it held and it's great. I am def gonna look into getting a second z motor on this thing. It seems like it would just be much easier in general. Thanks for the video, it was a tremendous help.
Thank you so much , this just brought new life to my old printer. The layers go down like butter
Excellent video. I'm working on it now. I have a 4mm sag on the right side. Watching this video gave me an idea for a drinking game, everyone drinks when you say "go ahead" or "small end". lol, I'm just giving you a friendly hard time. Thanks for the video, I've been searching for a good one and this is it.
Thank you very much. I have been having issues for the longest time after replacing the wheels and not knowing how to reassemble properly.
I followed your video and it is now printing almost like new.
Thanks!
Thank you!
Excellent video. I did mine last night on my cr10. I found my wheels where over tight and managed to remove the 5mm differential. Not done a test print yet but very happy. Very frustrated with creality they could of made this so much easier by having the extruder end screws facing out so you didn't have to repeated remove the gantry until you hav it perfect. Ut non the less job done very happy. Thankyou
this is the best video that shows in detail how to fix your x-gantry
dd this with both my creality printers and they are so reliable now ( with blt and SKR)
This has helped me so much to start fixing some more recent print problems. I can only assume some adjustments I made to the frame and Z axis skied the X gantry until I took a good look at it from eye level and saw it was definitely not straight. Gonna give it a go this afternoon and hope that fixes my print problems.
Great job. Easy to follow, and immediate results. I noticed my entire bed should look like an alpine slope according to Octoprint's Mesh view, even after increasing the BLTouch grid from 3x3 to 5x5 - re-adjusting the gantry after about 100 hours of printing did the trick! Cheers mate :)
I’ve been putting this off for a year since I got my ender. Finally I wanted to fix it the correct way. I was sceptical but this really worked. No more super tight right springs and loose left.
Thanks.
Awesome!! I'm glad it helped! Thanks for watching!
Man, this is god damn amazing. Thank you so much!! My left and right measures for the x gantry were WAY off
Man, the canted gantry was driving me nuts. Thanks for the vid!
Thumbs up for the good advice, almost went crazy not understanding why my first 7-8 layers were garbage... Have replaced the fitted allen screws on the left side with 4mm hex head screws so it was easier to reach and adjust them while everything was back in place. Thanks again!
Ontop of having a hideously warped stock bed (Ordered an OEM replacement), this made my realize that most of my leveling issues is with an uneven gantry so your video definitely helps!
Thank you. Was following another first install vid then noticed things were not level and paused that to find this. So I had to do the initial build twice but fished the first vid made a point of being careful with stripping. Much appreciated
I'm halfway through assembling my Ender 3 V2 for the second time haha. After two years of headaches, I am hoping this helps resolve some of my chronic print problems.
New subscriber! I’ve been racking my brain trying to level the x gantry it’s perfect now. thank you so much for making these videos.
Awesome! Thanks for watching!
Wish I had watched the build video before I assembled mine but this was just what I needed. Thanks so much for doing this.
No Prob! I hope your printer is running great now!!
@@TheEdgeofTech Hey thanks, I'm getting there. This video series is great
Not all heroes wear capes, bro. This is just the video I was looking for. Well done 👍
Thank you for this guide. By following all parts until 13:30, the difference went from 4mm to 2-3mm, but I'm not sure what can be done to further minimize the difference in heights. You mention adjusting the two screws on the left of the X gantry, but those we're touched at all during the rest of the video.
Nice work! I would just make sure everything is tight and straight that should do it for you
@@TheEdgeofTech What I found is that, of the two right rollers near the power supply, the bottom one spins freely without touching the extrusion. Meanwhile the one above it is fairly tight against the extrusion.
Ok I’ve reinstalled the x gantry with all wheels loosened and that did it, as I tightened them it all fell in place. It’s pretty straight now. Thanks again!
Thanks 1000x. I fixed my Ender-3 thanks to this video.
I can now just press Print and it starts printing. Before this video I had to mess for an hour before I could start printing. I had to level it each time.
I "rebuilt" my X gantry step by step like he told and I found my issues and fixed it.
My rollers where too tight and frame was not square. Now its perfect. There is no such info on Creality official videos.
Even my walls top and bottom and left right sides are perfect now. No wobblyness
Starting about 13:08 it mentions that you want your gantry to be no more than 1mm difference on each side, but I don't understand how you fix it? He adjusts the right up and down to compensate, but you can't tighten the slightly snug screws on the left without taking the whole thing off, and then you lose your zero.
Any solution to this ?
Seems to have fixed my Z-binding issues on the first 5-10% of my print. Thank you so much.
this fixed the issue that I had about my prints always being slightly tilted on the x-axis. Thank you!
Awesome! Glad it helped!
Amusingly, I've been getting great prints from my machine even though my X beam has been out by about 8mm from side to side since the day I bought it. It seems like if the bed is trammed properly, it doesn't much matter. With THAT said, it still drove me crazy just looking at it. Thanks for your help, I got it properly levelled now.
HAHA Nice! I am glad you were having great luck with it, and that it's now even better! Thanks for watching!
Clear and concise. x gantry is now level.
You say "go ahead and" a lot. It's an excellent video, but once I noticed it I couldn't unhear it. Either way, the visual guide was superb. Thank you for the information!
Your attention is misplaced. I was completely immersed in the video, visualizing myself doing exactly what he was and trying to understand the logic as he progressed that I couldn't have made such an insignificant observation. Either way, good observation.
Agreed, to the point of distraction, I think I recall at one point he actually said "I'm going to go ahead and go ahead"
That said, my gantry was out a little :) so I went ahead and fixed it
Awesome video. Fixed alignment issues with my Ender 3 V2! I did run into my z-rod getting stuck after this video, but I fixed it by feeding it into the stepper motor BEFORE adding the x axis.
Why would you measure the gantry against the top of the vertical rails? They're not precision cut to the same length, their dimensions are arbitrary. Should measure from the base of the vertical rails. The bed is mounted in relation to the base, not the top.
Great video! Just one remark as ( I think ) you did not refer to it explicitly. By loosing up the vertical stands they will be able to turn a bit. This can cause issues in the movement of the gantry as well. Before tightening them up I place a bar on the bed and clamp it to the stand on both sides to assure they are positioned completely straight towards each other. Only then I re-tighten the bolts on the underside. That said, with my Ender 3 and 3 Pro I still experience that the gantry has some up/down movement on the left side, no matter what I try. So decided to go for a dual Z drive setup on both printers now to get rid of that. Ordered the belt driven version and a version with an extra motor so I can do a comparison on what works best for me. The EZABL does a great job in the meantime dealing with slight imperfections but the ultimate goal is a fixed bed and sturdy straight Z gantry. :-) Keep up the good work, it's appreciated!
I have a Chinese copy of the ender 3, it has some minor differences here and there, some screws are in different places, but it ended up working perfectly. Thank you sir!
chinese copy of a chinese product? Classic
A+ video. I'll be spending a sunday getting this done. my ender 3 is a mess.
Old post but hay jim you saved me hours of messing around perfect tutorial,my calibration cube is perfect now .
Great to hear! I'm glad it helped and I hope your printer is printing awesome!
Thanks for sharing this amazing and detailed guide!
I got a new subscriber!
Yo - mine is so sloppy. I’m both excited and dreading doing this.
Hey, at 13:30 you talk about adjusting the X gantry if it has more than 1mm play on the right, and that we should be able to do that because the left gantry screws are only just-past snug tight. I can lift the right to make up the 2mm shortfall, but how do I set it so it does not fall back? Do I tighten the screws on the right? I'll try that in any case.
Also you're a legend for this, thanks! Horns up! \m/ \m/
Hey! Ya, snug down the bolts on the left side a little bit and you should be able to move the right side, but have it stay where you move it.
Shoot me down if I'm wrong man but I seem to have fixed it by
1) pushing the gantry up a little and holding the tension, then with my other hand
2) tightening the right screws,
3) removing the top rail and the gantry
4) tightening the just-past snug screws on the left.
We'll see if it works.
Lol sorry wrote that before I saw you reply 😃
Subscribed!
@@DarrenPauli step 2) what screws in the right ???
Mane so simply explained. Great walk through and much appreciated. This was exactly what I needed to see.
If you strip those hard to reach button head bolts on the left side of the gantry, you might be able to get them loose with a bit of patience and a set of needle nose pliers. Also make sure the allen key itself isn't stripped. The ones that come with the printer are trash to say the least.
I stripped all four of those X-gantry screws. Glad the printer comes with ONE EXTRA. If you manage to get them off and have even more patience, order some M3,4,5 bolts. I believe these ones specifically are M4x16mm button heads but most others are socket heads. I couldn't be bothered waiting an entire day for Amazon Prime one day delivery so I just stuck them back in and tweaked them good with the pliers again. I'm sure that's fine. Probably. Right side ended up being 0.3mm off from the left so I figured it's good enough for the girls I go out with. Appreciate you, this actually helped a ton.
Also TIL that you shouldn't use the long side of the allen key to tighten anything. Turns out it can very easily strip them. (This happened on initial assembly, way before finding this video.)
Thank you so much! This resolved an issue I was having with the x-gantry being loose and falling down onto the bed on its own. I appreciate it!
The video (and the written instructions) is very comprehensive, but it is very dense and I'm just not quite sure where the key adjustment is. at 12:31 in the video you say that if it isn't quite right, you need to do the adjustment again. I'm not sure where to go back to. I appreciate your help as this is the thing that is keeping this from working for me.
Both right and left carriages move up and down very easily but the left one is about 5-6mm lower than the right.
@@salukitd1 Thanks for watching! It sounds like you need to move the right side up if the left side is higher. Make sure the extrusion is just loose enough to move like it says in the guide. The move it until it's the same distance away as the other side. If it's not, move the extrusion some more until it is. If you hold the left side while you do it, that will help too! Let me Know of this helps you and if you need anything else.
@@TheEdgeofTech Thank you very much! I'm going to take another run at it after a bit more Basketball...LOL!
@@salukitd1 sounds good!
@@TheEdgeofTech Got it adjusted! I'm about .20 of a mm off from right to left (measured with digital calipers). I did an m851 update of the z offset confirmed it with the g1 f60 z0 command. But when I get to G29, it stops on the 6th spot(middle left). Any thoughts? Completely unrelated, but did I see you wearing a Packers shirt in one of your other videos?!
Fantastic, this solved all my z-axis issues. Thanks man.
What kind of issues did you have?
That has been thorough and informative. Just subscribed - Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Glad it helped!
Thank you for this video. Super helpful to get our X gantry properly fitted. Much appreciated!
You are awesome for making this video! Fixed a problem i had for a while!!! Thank you!!!
THANK YOU!! It looks like i finally managed to square mine under your guidance :D
Excellent bro used the depth gauge on my caliper and got my machine to .02 diff from one side the the other!
Awesome! That's a great way to measure it! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for this! Got mine done by following this and it's perfect now. 👍
Worked like a charm for me, and my printer is working better than ever. Only thing of note is that the roller on the right side (outside top wheel) is pretty much spinning freely now. I have tried adjusting the concentric nut on the assembly, but nothing seems to get that one wheel any tighter. It does seem to be printing fine none the less.
Sometimes that happens. Just make sure everything is rolling good and nothing is binding. And if you are still straight at the top of the printer with your X Gantry, you are good to go.
Very detailed video. I will be trying it tonight and hope for success. My Ender 3 Max came from the factory with an 8mm gantry sag on the right.
Did it help?
@dorygorell9415 yes, although the hardware is a little different, the process was similar enough that I could complete it. Finished as perfectly square.
Dialled in perfectly now , thank you 👍
Best video ever, after following your steps my 3d printer (longer lk4 pro) Is incredibly better. Thank you from Italy
Great to hear!
Make sure to leave a gap between the motor shaft and the lead screw!
Thank you for this video. I had no idea how to fix it and my sag was really bad. Now it's level and I can get back to printing.
I've only had mine about a week or so but I'm noticing that no matter how often or how accurately I level it, the right-front side ends up a tad bit higher, which affects the prints. I'm gonna try this out ASAP.
This is an awesome and very informative guide. You should be proud :)
Thank you! And thanks for watching!!
Hello this video looks great! I am wondering how this same fix applies to the CR10 S5? It has 2 z motors and z rods and I am not sure if that changes how I would do this fix?
A big thanks for making this video! Now my X axis isn't sagging anymore on my Ender 3 v2 (and I can finally use it).
Were you able to follow this completely on the v2? This is my only real issue left after a few weeks so I am planning to follow this as soon as I have the time after work!
@@TriconPOE I followed every step in the video, and it turned out perfect. The belt tensioner on the X-axis is a bit different from the video, but wasn't hard to get right.
@@anol18 Thanks a lot!
1:40 The entire machine woobles when you touch it. Were the "footing" on your machine also off with not all four pads touhing the surface of the table, when you assembled the machien?
The countertop that it was sitting on wasn't flat. I had that happen a couple times but n other videos too until I noticed it. Lol The machine is solid and square! :)
Great video; helped me resolve the X gantry wobble for good!
Awesome!! I'm glad it helped!! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the video, but isn't this method flawed? After I tightened the screws on the right side, and pulled the gantry out to tighten the "snug" screws on the left, they get misaligned again and we're back to square one.But it seems like cause of the design of the printer, there's no other way to do it
Jim, can you do a z-axis rework? Mine is very tight. I've rebuilt many times and adjusted the nuts to no avail. Thanks1
Check out my Z binding video and that should be what you're looking for! :)
Good tutorial but it would really help if you said tight and snug instead of snug everything.
I have no idea if you are tightning or leaving it snug until the end when I have to redo everything.
I done this now I’m having problems of it still not being close enough how do you manually tram the bed when you have a certain touch?
im looking at lukes guide to get a written format of this, and section 2 is all about the bowden tube.
What I don't understand is that you suggest multiple times that using the long end of the wrench increases the risk of stripping out the thread, however, I would have thought the opposite is true. When you use the long end you have less leverage and therefore less torque applied to the bolt than if you were using the short end. Using the short end you have more leverage (because the long end is your handle) and therefore the applied torque/force on the bolt is potentially much higher while applying the same finger pressure - making it significantly more likely to strip out the thread. Perhaps I've miss-understood something?
Good question! We recommend that because the long end has a ball end on it. The short end doesn't. It much easier to strip a screw out with the ball end. If all things were equal and had flat ends on them, it wouldn't matter what end you used them. You just get better leverage with the small end.
@@TheEdgeofTech Depends on where you're concerned about stripping it out. If you're worried about the threads in the extrusion (which are the most vulnerable), then Justin's right. You want the ball end in the screw, and put the tightening force on the short arm. If you're worried about stripping out the inside of the hex head (I wouldn't, you'll destroy the aluminum first) then your explanation is correct.
The length of the arm you're pushing on is what determines the actual tightening torque.
(I was thinking of this all the way through your otherwise excellent explanation. As an aircraft mechanic, it immediately hit me that it was backwards.) Then I saw Justin had already mentioned it.
So, Justin is actually correct, since the only stripping that'll ever occur here is the steel screw threads tearing the softer threads out of the aluminum extrusion.
Long arm=lotsa torque.
Short arm=notsomuch torque.
You should design a new manual for Creality. I followed their directions for assembly and my x axis rail is not level at all, haven't been able to print because the hot end is too far off the bed on one side. Hope this works...
I hope this takes care of your gantry issue! Good luck, and let me know how it works!
@@TheEdgeofTech Worked great! Everything was less than 1mm off.
I followed your build video and I was a little bit more than a mm off and it bothered me so I wanted to be sure it was on so I followed this video. You say "tighten these nuts past snug" to me and every one I asked that means tighten past tight. I did this and I was unable to move the gantry level. Only after going thru this video 3 times did I catch on that those nuts had to be loose so you could move it into position. After doing this and following your leveling video I got near flawless xyz cube first print.
I rarely like subscribe or comment on any video but thanks to you I got my ender dialed in almost flawlessly as a noob and right out of the box. Also my ender the pre heat pla temp is 185 and the bed was 50.
I have one mm difference. Do i still have to take the printer apart. I tried to tighten the screws but didn’t make a difference… any advice would be greatly appreciated
Before you want to tighten nuts on upper bar. You must be move the Z gantry up as possible to the top bar before you will tighten the screw. It's will transfer the length at the bottom from between the Z -Axis Posts to the top Length too. If you don't do like that when the Z gantry move up you will got jam or friction cause it's not symmetry.
i had issue with my cr10 clone and fixed it without taking anything appart ...i just converted the one side to 3 adjustable rollers and actually forced it manually to wear it stayed level ...than tightened up all my rollers... not saying this is not a good or proper method,but results are all i want... and after several hours my gantry is still perfectly level with zero play..
Today I was checking my old Ender 3 Pro and noticed, although it printed very well, that 2 of the bed screws on the right were sticking out of the leveling knobs noticeably more which leads me to believe there is a slight vertical parallelogram warp instead of a square cube. I can't be sure what is at the root of the misalignment so I will try a similar rebuild but first step would be to align the bed with the frame & then loosen and rebuild the X Gantry to align it to the previous 2, which are already aligned, for a nice even square.
Thank you for the video, i'll be sure to try it considering i have 0,5cm of difference between the left and right of my gantry... though all this makes me wonder
"Why the hell is the Gantry not one solid component to begin with? Why is there so much play, flex, and wiggle room for things to get loose?"
Super thorough and MUCH appreciated!
I’ll do this when I set mine up for the first time when it arrives the next couple of days 😁👍🏻
In my opinion, one of the key weaknesses on the E3V2 is the single motor Z-axis. I added a second Z-axis motor and matching screw shaft and the gantry not being square is not much of a problem anymore. Other things are getting the higher tension (yellow) springs, putting some thread locker on the threads and a bit of build-up on the opposite side of the spring. That prevents the adjustment ring from loosening over time. One last thing is to tighten the adjustment ring to the point of binding down the spring, then backing off 2 full turns. This keeps the springs at very high tension, so things are less likely to adjust. One last thing is shimming the bed to get it as flat as possible. Final problem is the damned wheels. They are very soft and eventually wear down. I do not have a good solution for that - yet...
Go Ahead !!!
Why couldn't you just take it to machine shop and have them mill the extrusions to be the same length and make the milled surface square with all the sides? That would solve a lot of the variances in the parts as they were delivered, right?
Potentially yes! But most people don't have access to a machine shop. I would be nicer if the manufacturer did this for us! :)
This made getting the tension just right so much easier than what I was doing, great fix until I replace my Z axis setup with linear rails
I have an anycubic kobra go and this guide has definitely helped. Ive followed the steps in this guide and my x gantry has been consistent but then i bumped it and it now is sometimes level sometimes its out by 0.12mm at most. Is that going to be a huge problem?? Will it always be so sensitive?
Your videos are awesome! thanks it helps a lot! One thing i saw missing is when to tighten the 4 bolts holding the verticle extrusions which should happen after after the top rail is tightened down (step 53)
Hmm I will have to go back and look! Haha Thanks for watching!
thank you so much! This fixed my sons printer
Thank you, this guide was really helpful!
Thanks a lot, first timer was having issues, looks great now
Great to hear! Thanks for watching!
It says hold the left side and adjust it accordingly? Adjust what? What am I tightening when holding the left side??
I took it apart and when I placed the wheels on the right side, they were all loose and didn't fit snuggly into the grooves of the rail.
Thank you so much for this video, I couldn't understand why my gantry was so crooked and loose on the right side and this fixed it so easily!
Thanks for watching, I'm glad it helped!