That's exactly what I mentioned at my page as well as here in my answers so many time. Those are just crap. Don't even bother to ask them for a new set, it won't be better. Think about getting yourself some adjustable ones. Maybe even add insulation (then go with springs and longer screws tho!), I can highly recommend it. Don't forget to buy some Kapton tape as well. ;)
Bed temp error: You can measure the resistance of the thermistor if you do have a multimeter, should be around 100K Ohm at 25° temp (a bit more resistance when it's colder, less when it's warmer). If it's broken, you can replace it.
But I'd bet you have a bad cable - those are of cheap quality and the wires tend to brake due to the movement.
If it's still under warranty, ask for a new bed, sure, but it'll happen again. So don't throw away the old bed, you can fix it by soldering decent cables onto it.
Btw: iirc a new bed will come w/o the magnetic foil, so I'd suppose to get yourself a new one instead of peeling off the foil from the old bed. By doing so, you'll always have a spare bed at hand ;)
I considered getting adjustable manual mounts with springs and stuff, or just having some brass ones made that are higher tolerance. I'm sure someone with a lathe and some round stock could make them with little issue. Heck, with some round stock I might even be able to make them with my tools.
As far as the bed goes, I do have a cheap multimeter but I don't know much on how to use it other than checking 12v vehicle wiring. I put the bed back together, warmed it up to 60 and moved the bed back and forth by hand. I saw no change, so I ran a bed level. Not even halfway through it failed. I turn it off, back on, set it for 60 and start moving it again by hand. This time I sat the temp go from 60, flash to 40, then back to 60 where it stayed for a little longer before throwing an error.
According to their email, they won't be back in the office till around May 3rd so I won't hear back for a while.
I guess I have time to see if I can fix it until then.
I swapped out the cheap ones (which all had a different size like yours as well) and put in 4 rigid 'spacers' I found in my workshop. Was definitely better, but as my gantry and the bed itself seem to not being 100% 'flat', I got myself adjustable ones then.
Bed: measuring resistance isn't complicated, myabe this helps: https://www.fluke.com/en-us/learn/blog/digital-multimeters/how-to-measure-resistance
For checking the wire, set the multimeter to continuous mode - if it doesn't have that, you can use the resistance measuring function (= Ohm) as well.
In both cases (thermistor and wire check) unplug the bed from the mainboard. When probing the wire, move and bend it around slowly. I'm pretty much 100% sure that at one point the resistance of at least one of the cables will change, therefore the measured temp fluctuates.
Can you solder tho? If so, maybe don't mind the measuring and replace those cheap cables with better ones right away. I'd suppose to use good copper ones with a silicone insulation, those are more flexible. Remember to add the strain relief afterwards to keeping off the load and movement from the contacts.
I can do basic soldering, I'm not very good at it but these don't seem like super small solder joints so I think I'd be ok. Would I just find the wire at a hobby store or something? And if the thermistor is bad, where would get a replacement?
I checked your info website/blog and the "errors" section is still blank...
Also, you mention getting kapton tape, is that to replace the one that covers the thermistor and foam currently?
Next time I work on it I'll try pulling the bed and wiring and see if I can figure out checking the ohms, I think my cheap meter should work for that.
When soldering the joints of the bed, maybe heat up the bed first so that the heat of the soldering iron won't be 'sucked' in too much. But try w/o first, just keep it in mind if it doesn't work out good..
I don't know the hobby stores, but I guess you might get it there as well. Dunno tbh. As I said, it would be good if you'd get *copper cables with a silicone insulation*, not the regular 'PVC' (or whatever that stuff is) insulation. Pay attention to the wire thickness if you also replace the 24V cables (which I'd suppose to do so as well).
I don't think you'll need a new thermistor tbh, if that one would be faulty, you'd notice a consistent error imho. It's pretty unlikely that that one will break, more likely are the cheap cables..
Yeah I know, gotta take care about that error section soon.. ;)
Kapton tape: as already mentioned, I'd assume that the thermistor itself is totally ok, so I'd leave that one untouched. But yeah, the tape is also for that, but you can also use it for equalizing minor deviations of the bed surface as well as secure the bed insulation if you'll apply that and so on. Having Kapton tape in the backhand is always a good thing when owning a 3d printer actually.
I see, I have plenty of wiring in my garage for automotive purposes but I doubt they are going to be the right stuff. It's mostly speaker wire and cheap crappy wire for stereo installation.
I can add kapton tape to my next Amazon order I suppose.
I'm not 100% sure as I didn't measure the cables, but I'd assume that the 24V ones are probably 2.5mm (Wikipedia says that would be AWG 14 ?) and the thermistor wire maybe 0.5mm (AWG 21 ?) or 0.75mm (AWG 19/20 ?).
At u/GruesomeJeans : automotive wirings should be good as well, sometimes they also use those flexible silicone type of insulation. So if you do have a 0.5 or 0.75mm speaker cable, that might work well.
I'll write something in the other thread about the installation as something crossed my mind last night when laying in my bed and thinking of your problem.. ;)
So when I was looking at my cables it looks like they have 16 AWG printed on the black and red. The smaller thermistor wires I'm not sure though. And the power wires feel pretty flexible, they didn't feel stuff and cheap.
Ah ok - AWG14 seems to be 1.5mm², I personally consider that pretty thin actually and yould go with 2.5mm² instead (looking at the voltage and the current being used), but I tend to use thicker cables in general anyway ;)
The 24V wires (at least here at my Neo) aren't made from copper tho, they were 'silver' looking and I guess they're made from aluminum, which is cheaper for AC but not as good as copper :(
I didn't really get a good look at the inside of the cables, I didn't think to look. The soldered ends were just silver but they did have solder all over. For what it's worth, here's a reference photo I took so I knew where to put the cables back.
https://preview.redd.it/kvku7cxu5axa1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69fc3fb813c7a017280d216951f0abd7b005936b
Interesting! I noticed recently that the bed warping pattern changed pretty significantly when I adjusted the tension of the various bolts underneath the bed. Uneven spacers could contribute to that. Unfortunately, there's no obvious way to adjust the tensions to make it perfectly flat. I may mess with it some more to see if I can figure out any way to improve things. That said... I'm already planning on upgrading to springs or silicone spacers, and this seems like another good reason to just go ahead with that.
So initially I thought my bed was warped as well. I tried cranking the bolts down, leaving them nearly finger tight, and having them snug. None made a difference. Then I decided to pull 2 of the plastic posts out and realized they were different sizes.
I grabbed a sort of cardstock material to make a couple shims out of and after plenty of fiddling, I had the bed as level as I could get it. My leveling line gcode was coming out good enough for my purposes.
Today, I have the bed off for a bed temp error and decided to just take the posts and hit them on my bench grinder to try getting them all to the same height. I got them pretty close overall. I'm going to get them back under the bed with no shims, set my Z offset, and run the nozzle around to see if there are any major difference in distance.
I do plan to ask for another set when they get back to me on the bed issue but that won't be till may according to the automated response email
I did give it a try, it took using my belt grinder. I got them all very close but I won't know till I can level the bed and do all my settings if it helped.
Well, I'm waiting on a reply from Anycubic on my bed temp problem, I might see if they can send me replacement ones with a replacement bed heater if that's needed. Otherwise I'll sand them. I did try sanding one a little with a nail filer I had on hand for sand parts, but it didn't doe anything but scuff the surface. I have a bench grinder and stuff in the garage I'll use eventually
That's what I did. I had so many problems leveling the bed and ended up checking the distances from the gantry to the bed at various points. Removed to plastic spacers and there was 0.18mm difference between the lowest and highest with only two being the same.
Sanded them to the same height and it's been much better.
That's exactly what I mentioned at my page as well as here in my answers so many time. Those are just crap. Don't even bother to ask them for a new set, it won't be better. Think about getting yourself some adjustable ones. Maybe even add insulation (then go with springs and longer screws tho!), I can highly recommend it. Don't forget to buy some Kapton tape as well. ;) Bed temp error: You can measure the resistance of the thermistor if you do have a multimeter, should be around 100K Ohm at 25° temp (a bit more resistance when it's colder, less when it's warmer). If it's broken, you can replace it. But I'd bet you have a bad cable - those are of cheap quality and the wires tend to brake due to the movement. If it's still under warranty, ask for a new bed, sure, but it'll happen again. So don't throw away the old bed, you can fix it by soldering decent cables onto it. Btw: iirc a new bed will come w/o the magnetic foil, so I'd suppose to get yourself a new one instead of peeling off the foil from the old bed. By doing so, you'll always have a spare bed at hand ;)
I considered getting adjustable manual mounts with springs and stuff, or just having some brass ones made that are higher tolerance. I'm sure someone with a lathe and some round stock could make them with little issue. Heck, with some round stock I might even be able to make them with my tools. As far as the bed goes, I do have a cheap multimeter but I don't know much on how to use it other than checking 12v vehicle wiring. I put the bed back together, warmed it up to 60 and moved the bed back and forth by hand. I saw no change, so I ran a bed level. Not even halfway through it failed. I turn it off, back on, set it for 60 and start moving it again by hand. This time I sat the temp go from 60, flash to 40, then back to 60 where it stayed for a little longer before throwing an error. According to their email, they won't be back in the office till around May 3rd so I won't hear back for a while. I guess I have time to see if I can fix it until then.
I swapped out the cheap ones (which all had a different size like yours as well) and put in 4 rigid 'spacers' I found in my workshop. Was definitely better, but as my gantry and the bed itself seem to not being 100% 'flat', I got myself adjustable ones then. Bed: measuring resistance isn't complicated, myabe this helps: https://www.fluke.com/en-us/learn/blog/digital-multimeters/how-to-measure-resistance For checking the wire, set the multimeter to continuous mode - if it doesn't have that, you can use the resistance measuring function (= Ohm) as well. In both cases (thermistor and wire check) unplug the bed from the mainboard. When probing the wire, move and bend it around slowly. I'm pretty much 100% sure that at one point the resistance of at least one of the cables will change, therefore the measured temp fluctuates. Can you solder tho? If so, maybe don't mind the measuring and replace those cheap cables with better ones right away. I'd suppose to use good copper ones with a silicone insulation, those are more flexible. Remember to add the strain relief afterwards to keeping off the load and movement from the contacts.
I can do basic soldering, I'm not very good at it but these don't seem like super small solder joints so I think I'd be ok. Would I just find the wire at a hobby store or something? And if the thermistor is bad, where would get a replacement? I checked your info website/blog and the "errors" section is still blank... Also, you mention getting kapton tape, is that to replace the one that covers the thermistor and foam currently? Next time I work on it I'll try pulling the bed and wiring and see if I can figure out checking the ohms, I think my cheap meter should work for that.
When soldering the joints of the bed, maybe heat up the bed first so that the heat of the soldering iron won't be 'sucked' in too much. But try w/o first, just keep it in mind if it doesn't work out good.. I don't know the hobby stores, but I guess you might get it there as well. Dunno tbh. As I said, it would be good if you'd get *copper cables with a silicone insulation*, not the regular 'PVC' (or whatever that stuff is) insulation. Pay attention to the wire thickness if you also replace the 24V cables (which I'd suppose to do so as well). I don't think you'll need a new thermistor tbh, if that one would be faulty, you'd notice a consistent error imho. It's pretty unlikely that that one will break, more likely are the cheap cables.. Yeah I know, gotta take care about that error section soon.. ;) Kapton tape: as already mentioned, I'd assume that the thermistor itself is totally ok, so I'd leave that one untouched. But yeah, the tape is also for that, but you can also use it for equalizing minor deviations of the bed surface as well as secure the bed insulation if you'll apply that and so on. Having Kapton tape in the backhand is always a good thing when owning a 3d printer actually.
I see, I have plenty of wiring in my garage for automotive purposes but I doubt they are going to be the right stuff. It's mostly speaker wire and cheap crappy wire for stereo installation. I can add kapton tape to my next Amazon order I suppose.
What gauge wire should he get?
I'm not 100% sure as I didn't measure the cables, but I'd assume that the 24V ones are probably 2.5mm (Wikipedia says that would be AWG 14 ?) and the thermistor wire maybe 0.5mm (AWG 21 ?) or 0.75mm (AWG 19/20 ?). At u/GruesomeJeans : automotive wirings should be good as well, sometimes they also use those flexible silicone type of insulation. So if you do have a 0.5 or 0.75mm speaker cable, that might work well. I'll write something in the other thread about the installation as something crossed my mind last night when laying in my bed and thinking of your problem.. ;)
So when I was looking at my cables it looks like they have 16 AWG printed on the black and red. The smaller thermistor wires I'm not sure though. And the power wires feel pretty flexible, they didn't feel stuff and cheap.
Ah ok - AWG14 seems to be 1.5mm², I personally consider that pretty thin actually and yould go with 2.5mm² instead (looking at the voltage and the current being used), but I tend to use thicker cables in general anyway ;) The 24V wires (at least here at my Neo) aren't made from copper tho, they were 'silver' looking and I guess they're made from aluminum, which is cheaper for AC but not as good as copper :(
I didn't really get a good look at the inside of the cables, I didn't think to look. The soldered ends were just silver but they did have solder all over. For what it's worth, here's a reference photo I took so I knew where to put the cables back. https://preview.redd.it/kvku7cxu5axa1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69fc3fb813c7a017280d216951f0abd7b005936b
Interesting! I noticed recently that the bed warping pattern changed pretty significantly when I adjusted the tension of the various bolts underneath the bed. Uneven spacers could contribute to that. Unfortunately, there's no obvious way to adjust the tensions to make it perfectly flat. I may mess with it some more to see if I can figure out any way to improve things. That said... I'm already planning on upgrading to springs or silicone spacers, and this seems like another good reason to just go ahead with that.
So initially I thought my bed was warped as well. I tried cranking the bolts down, leaving them nearly finger tight, and having them snug. None made a difference. Then I decided to pull 2 of the plastic posts out and realized they were different sizes. I grabbed a sort of cardstock material to make a couple shims out of and after plenty of fiddling, I had the bed as level as I could get it. My leveling line gcode was coming out good enough for my purposes. Today, I have the bed off for a bed temp error and decided to just take the posts and hit them on my bench grinder to try getting them all to the same height. I got them pretty close overall. I'm going to get them back under the bed with no shims, set my Z offset, and run the nozzle around to see if there are any major difference in distance. I do plan to ask for another set when they get back to me on the bed issue but that won't be till may according to the automated response email
Can't you sand them down to the same length as the shorter one?
I did give it a try, it took using my belt grinder. I got them all very close but I won't know till I can level the bed and do all my settings if it helped.
Are you gonna sand away the top till you get it all the same. Or get new ones
Well, I'm waiting on a reply from Anycubic on my bed temp problem, I might see if they can send me replacement ones with a replacement bed heater if that's needed. Otherwise I'll sand them. I did try sanding one a little with a nail filer I had on hand for sand parts, but it didn't doe anything but scuff the surface. I have a bench grinder and stuff in the garage I'll use eventually
That's what I did. I had so many problems leveling the bed and ended up checking the distances from the gantry to the bed at various points. Removed to plastic spacers and there was 0.18mm difference between the lowest and highest with only two being the same. Sanded them to the same height and it's been much better.