[Edit: solved] Manual MESH_BED_LEVELING with Marlin 1.1.8 does not appear to work at all for me. I have tried with both M420 S1 and M420 S1 Z5 in start code. I’ve tried printing from SD and from pronterface. In pronterface, I definitely see the printer reporting the rather non-flat bed configuration I have stored in EEPROM as well as that bed leveling is on and (for Z5) the fade height of 5, and I don’t see any errors printed, but I see no adjustments actually happening when I try to print, and I’m still grinding filament instead of printing at the high points of the bed…

This tronxy x5s board warp is not subtle, so if the mesh leveling were working it would be pretty obvious. (I was hoping to get a large print done before I replace the bed entirely…)

Any thoughts as to what else I might be missing?

Michael K Johnson March 24, 2018 15:01

I was barking up the wrong tree. I accidentally edited in the M420 S1 Z5 before G28. I moved it later and it’s working much better! ☺

Preston Bannister March 27, 2018 01:50

The stock 1.1.7 Marlin that came with the printer does not appear to support the mesh-levelling G-Codes. How/what version of Marlin 1.1.8 did you get to your printer?

Also printing a surprisingly good Benchy, at present. This on my reinforced, insulated, and flattened bed. (Insert the appropriate disclaimers for small prints.)

Michael K Johnson March 27, 2018 06:12

and https://www.thingiverse.com/groups/tronxy-x5s/forums/general/topic:28580 to the rescue! I’d suggest that you consider changing to 7 points instead of 5 points if you are willing to do 49 measurements instead of 25; it’s about twice as much work, but I’ve done it enough times now that I might change the mesh size if I do another build before switching out for the replicape again… There are other sources of Marlin 1.1.8 for the X5S but mine has less cruft, so will be easier to rebase on top of newer Marlin later, and I’m very very unlikely to be using the stock electronics that long, so the chances that I’ll be doing the port are quite slim. ☺

Marlin

Michael K Johnson March 27, 2018 06:15

https://github.com/johnsonm/Marlin/tree/Marlin-1.1_Melzi_2.0_12864 is the source GearBest provided for the printer. It’s GPL so I posted it for comparison, but I can’t imagine why anyone would want to actually use it when better options are available.

Preston Bannister April 12, 2018 11:16

FWIW, this is my next exercise - building the current version of Marlin and flashing from the attached Raspberry Pi. At that point, might declare this printer “good enough” (and go back to the from-scratch Core-XY printer I was building).

Adding OctoPi meant I got a much(!) better interface, and was no longer bothered by the (bad 1980s flashback) Marlin UI.

Turns out my (reinforced) bed in practice is good enough. When I got the aluminum bed near-flat, then found the plastic bed had a crown. Seems this is not an issue, as the slight downforce from the nozzle is enough to keep the top surface flat against the bed. Not ideal … but good enough.

The surprising jump was adding plastic corner braces. The braces force the extrusion into exact alignment, stiffen the frame, and damp vibration. Made more of a difference than I expected. This now feels like a much better printer!

With mesh-leveling to account for the remaining irregularity in the bed, going to declare victory, and move on to the next printer build.

Michael K Johnson April 13, 2018 06:46

I use aluminum corner braces on every possible corner angle.

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