Bed Leveling Guide

Unlevel beds are a common issue with most FDM 3D printers. Because these beds sit on springs and are generally exposed to large heat fluctuations, beds can easily become unlevel with time.

• Note, this page is currently under construction

Symptoms of an Unlevel Bed

If a 3D printer has an unlevel bed, there are a few symptoms that may arise.

1. Filament does not stick to the bed and "spaghettifies" (see Figure 1)
2. Filament is not properly "squished" between layers (see Figure 2)
3. On the first layer, the filament is too squished and the nozzle is rubbing on the bed (If this is the case IMMEDIATELY stop the print!)
4. Filament is warping during the print

• If you notice symptoms 1 or 2 occurring, the nozzle is not close enough to the bed.
• If you notice symptoms 3 or 4 occurring, the nozzle is too close to the bed.

Fixing an Unlevelled Bed

Thankfully, fixing an unlevel bed is very easy and can be done by those with very little 3D printing experience. Below are in depth guides to fixing this issue on different printers.

Prusas

The Prusa Mk3s that we have in the processing section is equipped with an auto levelling bed. If any of the aforementioned symptoms arise, there is another issue at work. Please contact a TO or the CTO in this case!

Ultimakers

The Ultimakers have a built in bed levelling wizard that helps guide the user through the process.

1. As with any procedure relating to 3D printer maintenance, first make sure the bed and nozzle are completely cooled and safe to work with!
2. To start the wizard, scroll to Maintenance>Build Plate
3. Wait for the printer to go through its homing procedure. The display will give you a prompt to begin the wizard (NOTE: Once you begin the wizard, you must go all the way through or else it will reset the Z-offset value!)
4. The first step of the wizard is to set the bed height to approximately 1mm away from the nozzle. This does not have to be precise, just make sure that the bed is close to the nozzle but NOT touching it.
5. Next,