It looks like I’m the only one experiencing inconsistencies of the first layer height.
For some unKnown reason, first layer tends too be printed too near to the bed, to the point that the nozzle makes a rubbing sound against the bed. No damages to the bed yet. I changed the nozzle, tried the other side of the bed, … No improvement. I switched settings to a first layer height of 0.4 mm and I could print. But I got better results placing a piece of paper between the nozzle and the bed during the bed levelling, This is very inconvenient, but at least I can print. The worst thing is that sometimes (maybe one in ten times), out of the blue, the machine recover its senses and then, first layer is printed too hight and it doesn´t stick.
Anybody knows what is happening to my machine? I really miss a first layer fine tunning Z in the firmware
I would like to change that setting to !
Hi, ever found a real solution rather than the paper workaround for this? Got my first 3d printer (A1) some days ago and really wondered about the first layer, scratching over the build plate.
Will try the paper workaround on my next print, thanks for the idea!
Try to increase the first layer height to something like 0.3-0.4mm to help give some clearance during that initial layer. If it doesn’t work, Orcaslicer allows you to use a Z offset to raise or lower the entire print.
Hi, thanks for your thoughts. Unfortunately increasing the layer height has not made a significant impact. The nozzle scratched over the build plate when going over from bed leveling to printing. Printing of the first layer was fine then, but when starting with the second layer the nozzle scratched over the first layer and messed it up.
Right now i print everything with the paper workaround mentioned by @gcon114 , this works fine but it’s very annoying as i have to do this for every print.
If the first layer is going down fine then it may be other slicer settings causing the 2nd layer to hit and peel up the first layer.
A few ideas that come to mind:
- First layer over extrusion. I have my Bottom surface flow ratio set to 0.98 to slightly under extrude on the first layer. Also make sure your flow is calibrated correctly or slightly reduce to see the results.
- Use Z hop to avoid collisions
- Slow down the first layer to get better adhesion
- Clean your build plate. I like using alcohol but others prefer hot water and soap. Whatever works for you but a clean build plate helps a lot
Hi,
i do not think that the first layer is printed as it should. Even with a higher first layer height (no matter if 0.28, 0.3 or 0.4) the nozzle scratches over the build plate when going over from bed levelling to printing. This cannot be right.
Then the first layer is printed, but even though i set the height to 0.28 in the last print, it looks thinner than the 0.2 first layer with the paper workaround (in other prints) or the subsequent layers (0.2 as well).
I’m not that experienced with 3d printers (yet), but as long as the nozzle scratches over the build plate before printing i do not suspect an issue with build plate adhesion, over/under extrusion or speed.
Regarding Z-Hop i’m not aware of this setting in the slicer right now, but i’ll check it out, thanks for the suggestion!
I’ve cleaned the build plate just today with hot water and soap, as suggested in the bambu wiki. Alcohol was explicitely not recommended for the textured build plate:
The reason why we recommend detergent for cleaning the textured plate is due to its textured surface. Alcohol might just spread the oils on the print surface instead of removing it.
Detergent acts as a degreaser and using a sponge or scrubber to wash the plate will ensure the detergent reaches inside the textured surface to clean it and improve adhesion
Ya, none of my suggestions are going to help if it’s dragging from leveling to the first move.
It seems that the Z offset that the printer is using vs what is probed is incorrect. I think I know a way to edit the Start G code to include a slight offset, but I’ll let someone else respond on how to do that if that’s the correct thing to do.
One thing that comes to mind is to check that the nozzle latch is secured, maybe take off the nozzle and reseat it.
What I would do as a quick fix is use OrcaSlicer and the Z Offset setting that is only available there (not Bambu Slicer as far as I know). Try 0.2 or 0.3mm and see if that helps.
Hi there! The first layer should be spot on without using paper while leveling. Are you sure your bed is trammed right?! My suggestion would be to get the bed tramming gcode file and perform the tramming procedure. Make sure you remove the PEI plate while executing the gcode. When tramming you can use a piece of paper if you don’t feel comfortable judging the clearance by eye. Once trammed correctly, perform a full auto level calibration. You should have a (near) perfect first layer now.
Good luck!
Bed tramming can be found here:
Also, what bed type are you using and do you have the correct one selected in the slicer?
I saw that the start code is compensating for the texturing on the plates and applying a -0.02mm offset with the G29.1 command.
;===== for Textured PEI Plate , lower the nozzle as the nozzle was touching topmost of the texture when homing ==
;curr_bed_type={curr_bed_type}
{if curr_bed_type==“Textured PEI Plate”}
G29.1 Z{-0.02} ; for Textured PEI Plate
{endif}
Maybe if you’re using a smooth plate and have textured selected that is what’s causing the nozzle to be too far down, although 0.02mm is pretty small.
This is also where you could make a change to the Z offset within Bambu Slicer, but I don’t want to recommend without knowing more and testing myself.
Fixed it 100% tightening the bolts that hold the hotend to the artificial stone. I don´t miss the Z babystepping anymore…
Hi, the nozzle latch is secured. I followed this guide and can ensure all screws are tight: A1 Series First Layer Print Issues - First Layer Too Low, Hotend Moving | Bambu Lab Wiki
The correct build plate is set in the slicer. I’ll try out the OrcaSlicer.
What i currently do as the workaround is what ja already suggested, editing the GCode and setting -0.02 to +0.0 (or commenting it out entirely). This way it gets better, but not perfect. Guess i’ll give Orca a shot.
The Bambu support isn’t of much help until now. They’re asking me to clean the build plate, use glue etc as they’re suspecting first layer adhesion issues. But as the issue already occurs before the print as started, i suspect that.
Thanks a lot this suggestion and link! I’ll first try out OrcaSlicer and see if it helps. If not i’ll try tramming, although i’m a bit nervous if things could get worse by doing it wrongly.
Yeah it is safe to edit the G code like that, but I think you will like having the actual setting visible in OrcaSlicer along with some other perks that slicer has.
Just curious, what do the purge lines at the front of the build plate look like? Are they normal or also messed up? Those are created from the Start G code and not the actual print.
Using BambuStudio: The printer only draws one purge line at the front before starting the build. Without editing the gcode this line ist most of the time not present, the printer draws it and tries to print, but i guess as it’s to near to the bed it can’t print successful. Therefore when going over to print the object there is some filament already melted at the nozzle and is messing up the first layer of the object.
With editing the gcode it gets better, like half the purge line gets printed successful and only some filament is stuck to the nozzle which is then transferred to the first layer of the object.
Using OrcaSlicer (latest stable version) and 0.1mm Z-offset it gets way better. It creates two purge lines, both are getting printed without any issues and there is no filament sticking to the nozzle when going over to object printing.
Just after some layers you can hear it “rattling”, when the nozzle does the infill. So the nozzle prints the current layer, but as it moves it “rattles” over the last printed layer (or maybe the already done infill from the current layer). Don’t know another word than rattling for this. It’s not rattling from the mechanical parts,it’s the nozzle rattling over the infill. Maybe i can upload a video later.
Still no good tips from bambu support though.
Ok that’s good to know that the lines won’t print because they’re too close to the bed. You could try a couple of skirt outlines to catch that oozed filament but it can also ooze when moving from the skirt to the print.
Something doesn’t seem right with either the calculated Z offset or maybe the Z steps/mm. I’m glad that OrcaSlicer at least gets things printing with the Z offset.
Hitting the previous layer may be the result of over extruding, try flow calibrations if you haven’t already. You can also try using Z hop (if not already enabled) to help the printer “jump” over the previous layers when retracted.
Finally, you can try a calibration cube to make sure the Z steps/mm are correct. Print it, measure with calipers, and calculate the difference. It’s a 20mm cube so if the print is 19.9mm tall then I wouldn’t be too worried, but if it’s something like 18mm then you know it’s way off.
Thanks a lot for your suggestions and all the effort you put in here!
Skirting is an approach i haven’t thought of yet. Currently it’s not needed as with the z-offset in Orca it is fine and oozing is no longer an issue in the first layer, but i’ll remember it in case of other issues.
Flow calibrations have already been down and i thought about z-hop, but instead i switched from grid infill to gyroid and had no issues with the nozzle hitting the previous layer since then.
I’ll definetely print the calibration cube and see what happens.
Besides that I’m curious what happens after the next OrcaSlicer update when there will probably be an update for the machine gcode, according to the latest version in BambuSlicer.
So far i’ve noted 3 differences between the latest stable OrcaSlicer version and BambuSlicer:
- WIth OrcaSlicer it prints two purge lines at the front of the print bed before starting the print. With BambuSlicer it is only one (with the problems elaborated on in my previous post)
- No nozzle lowering for the textured PEI plate (the option which was discussed above, for changing the z offset manually in the gcode in BambuSlicer), so with the zOffset at 0.1mm the nozzle is 0.3mm higher than it was in BambuSlicer (and it is already higher before printing the purge lines)
- The printer always does a full bed leveling before the print. With BambuSlicer it only did a partial bed leveling on the relevant part of the bed, so the print preparation time was some seconds shorter.
When the anniversary sales in the bambu shop start i’ll probably buy the smooth plate and try printing with BambuSlicer and default settings again…
Cool, sounds like you’re making some good progress in understanding the problem and narrowing down how to fix it.
I have been running Orca V2.1.0-beta for a few weeks now and haven’t had any issues if you want to try that version. I wanted the Multi-device option but I think it includes other Bambu Studios updates as well. OrcaSlicer 2.1.0 Beta released – All About Bambu
For your 3 differences:
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Are the 2 purge lines just an issue because they aren’t sticking? The mini’s only print 1 line but the A1 prints 2 lines and they don’t cause any problems for me.
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I have the textured plate offset in my Orcaslicer Machine start G-code. I set mine to -0.022 because I wanted to drop the nozzle a little but I think you should have the same but -.02 instead. Maybe try to copy and paste into notepad to see if you can find it.
This is in Printer Settings → Machine G-Code → start G-code.
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I rarely watch my print leveling anymore but I think that is handled by the printer firmware, not the slicer? I’m definitely not sure and a quick forum search didn’t fully answer it but some people are talking about it here Auto bed leveling pattern?
I have a smooth plate and was having some issues with PLA prints sticking to it so switched back to the textured and haven’t looked back.
Any progress in the past few days?
Hi, as far as the current stable Orcarelease works fine i’ll stick to it, but thanks for the suggestion 
The 3 differences where only meant as differences, not as problems. Just things i noticed when switching form Bambu to Orca.
Regarding difference 2: I guess you do have this in the GCode because you’re already on the 2.1.0 beta and i suspect that this has been added.
And point 3: Partial bed leveling seems to be a feature from the slicer and the printer in combination. It was improved in the latest a1 firmware update
From the release notes:
Expedite partial bed-leveling (in conjunction with Bambu Studio V1.9.2 and above)
- Run bed-leveling according to the outer contour of the sliced models, instead of the whole build plate area.
I’ve just ordered the smooth build plate, let’s see if things get better or worse.
I’ve also tried different nozzles in the past few days. Although it makes no difference if i use the hardened or stainless steel 0.4mm nozzle (in regard to the nozzle scratching heatbed issue), the 0.2mm nozzle makes a huge difference. I’m not able to get that to work flawless. Even when setting the zOffset in Orca to 0.5mm the 0.2mm nozzle still scratches over the build plate… Do you have any suggestion here what could cause this?
It’s interesting that you get better results from the 0.2mm nozzle, but if it’s still scratching then there has to be something wrong.
Since the hardware changes it, I’d guess it’s an issue within the A1 - not the code sent to it. I don’t fully understand the sensors involved in the A1’s bed leveling & how it’s calculated, but it seems off. Bambu support still hasn’t responded much?
Good to know about the localized bed leveling update, thanks for sharing.
It seems like your best bet for now is to adjust the G-code for the issue. My thoughts:
Option 1: If you’re not seeing that text in your start G code, here it is in plain text if you want to copy & paste. It seems like you would need to change it to G29.1 Z{0.2} ; or more depending if it still scratches.
;===== for Textured PEI Plate , lower the nozzle as the nozzle was touching topmost of the texture when homing ==
;curr_bed_type={curr_bed_type}
{if curr_bed_type==“Textured PEI Plate”}
G29.1 Z{-0.022} ; for Textured PEI Plate
{endif}
Option 2: Put a sheet of paper on top of the build plate and do a full level. Use 2 sheets if needed. Don’t level again until you have adhesion problems.
However, I wonder if you’d need to have the paper there before every homing procedure? Not sure if that would reset it.
Option 3: Maybe tramming will help if you want to go through that procedure? Someone mentioned it before but I think it could be worth it given your frustrations
Hopefully you’ve received the smooth plate and it’s been working better 