Marlin G34 Z Stepper Auto-Alignment

[@MrHristoB]

Thatshanks a lot. I've just completed a printer build and updated the Marlin code. !! Well done!!!

[@3DMakeIt]

Glad it helped

[@marcind4795]

Hi Greg, Thank you for video. This is what I looked for. Nicely done.

[@enginerdy]

Wow, just about stepped in it! Apparently the SKR Mini E3 V3 has 5 motor _connectors_ but only 4 motor _channels!_ If anybody knows a good Ender 3 mobo replacement with 5 stepper drivers, I’d like to know.

[@3dpseurope]

But you make aligment to the bed. It can go wrong if the bed not straigth to the XY. Check your perpendicularity on XZ. Check Prusa process. It make same position on the top before homing if you make aligment. Anycubic Mega S use two endstops on each Z motor for making a good perpendicularity on XZ. Level the be to XZ not inversely.

[@BenEBrady]

Great video, Greg. I guess I'm going to convert my CR10S board soon!

[@3DMakeIt]

I did that last year now when it blew a stepper driver. Best thing ever ~david

[@PaganWizard]

Do you happen to have a video explaining Auto Build Marlin?? This made dual Z fairly easy to understand, now for the hard part, at least for me. I suffered a brain injury a few years ago, and all the other videos I have watched on the subject are too difficult for me to keep up with, my concentration abilities aren't what they used to be.

[@johntickle3120]

Hi Great video. I was wondering could you explain if the auto alignment could be achieved with 2 end switches left and right and how. I have a MKS Tinybee v1 populated with E0 E1 TMC2225/2208 stepper drivers but only has X/Y/Z end switch position on MB. I'm assuming you have to define a pin normally used for a probe as the other end switch. or maybe some other pin. or can I just connect the extra end switch to the probe switch or do I have to tell Marlin to redefine the pin. as well. Oh I'm upgrading an Anycubic Mega pro because the screen and MB is faulty. I don't need the laser feature. Thanks

[@palomolin92]

Are you using CREALITY 2.5.2 MOTHERBOARD in this CR10V3? Because I have problems with steppers and TMC2209... I though is TMC2208...

[@sbb8079]

Good video. I am hopeful that this will fix my new z axis 2 stepper motor moving at a much slower speed than my original stepper motor.

[@turbotrix19]

Are you using Factory board on cr-10 V2? My board has 5 stepper drivers but it's using single stepper for Split Z however there is additional stepper driver 2208 which is not being used, can I reassign the drivers in anyway so each Z uses its own driver on factory 2.21 board?

[@eatyourvegfpv]

I also have the same Creality V2.2.1 board in my Sovol SV01 and I followed this video exactly, bu moved my second stepper motor connector from Z2 to E1 on my board and it worked great then. I bought a cheap lot of small heatsinks from Mazon and stuck one onto the fifth driver which was supplied without a heatsink. Hope that helps.

[@bernardfocquet1258]

Great video thanks ! In the Marlin 2.0 configuration, how and where should we define for example that the "driver #5" is associated with "Z2" as far as it is necessary ?

[@3DMakeIt]

If you're only using a single extruder then e1 becomes z2. And you do this in the stepper section like in the video and uncomment the z2 driver. And make sure you specify like the video in configuration.advanced that you have to z steppers.

[@bernardfocquet1258]

@@3DMakeIt Great ! Thanks for this clarification.

[@innertha]

Hi.. my printer Ender 3 S1, how to do?

[@Julio-vg4el]

i don’t seem to have the option to define the number of z steppers, only the z2 driver type any help?

[@strblastolivier145]

good morning. I have a problem with this function. I followed your video and once the iterations are finished, the nozzle comes crashing down on the plate to the left of the plate

[@majo8526]

Hello, can you do this again for Marlin 2.1.2... Some things are different there.Thanks

[@Ladariderful]

Hello, great video, unfortunately I'm not able to get G34 function working, I have CR10S with V2.2 board which has extra E1 driver so it should be able to work as Z2. I set up everything in Marlin just like you showed in the video except for number of Z steppers (that line is missing in latest version of Marlin) and when I try to compile FW it shows me this error "TMC2208 or TMC2209 on Z2 requires Z2_HARDWARE_SERIAL or Z2_SERIAL_(RX|TX)_PIN." Is there any chance that you would know what am I missing there please? Thank you for answer :)

[@L3X369]

On a tronxy X5SA with BL touch and SKR 1.4 (Independend stepper motors and drivers) it works but keeps the acuracy to 1.70. How can I tell what stepper is the left and the right? Also, when probing on the right it moves almost to the middle of the print bed. Can you make a video and show us how to set the offsets to actually probe the edged of the bed?

[@mysfiring]

Great video. Thank you. I've already moved the motor to its own driver, just need to make the rest of the firmware changes. My problem is related: I've decided to keep my Z-endstop in addition to my probe. So it homes with the end stop, and makes a bed mesh with the probe. The only problem is that I no longer can adjust my Z probe offset in either positive or negative values. Any advice? Thanks again for the great guide! :D

[@3DMakeIt]

You need to define the endstops in configuration.adv it's just below where you define the second Z stepper.

[@inspir3d289]

good jobs nice video easy to set up it

[@3DMakeIt]

Thanks 👍

[@AndrewAHayes]

Hi. Greg and David, I have dual Z drivers on my board and and have this set up but if your board only had 1 Z and an extra E driver would I be correct in thinking that if you defined dual z then Marlin would automaticaly use E1 as Z2?

[@3DMakeIt]

Yes that is correct you would use e1 driver as the second Z

[@lifeqs2024]

Thanks for this great video, I tried in on my tronxy x5sa and all it does is go left and right with the same height. Yes two lead screws and 2 motors

[@3DMakeIt]

Did you move one of the z to e1? Each Z stepper must be on it own stepper. Do z on z and z2 on e1

[@lifeqs2024]

@@3DMakeIt I have an SKR 1.4 Turbo, plugged it into ZMA and ZMB, I think the problem is in no "#define Z2_STEP_PIN" in pins. possible?

[@3DMakeIt]

If you are not going to use e1 as the second Z stepper it will never work. The steppers must be driven independently. If you use the two plugs by the z stepper driver it doesn't drive the moters independently. Hope that helps

[@lifeqs2024]

@@3DMakeIt Yes, makes sense, its two physical plugs but one stepper, will move it to E1 and test it, thanks a lot.

[@lifeqs2024]

@@3DMakeIt WOW: Recv: DIFFERENCE Z1-Z2=0.01 Recv: Did 10 of 10 Recv: Accuracy: 0.01 Can't believe it, made it work! Awesome job.

[@anthonyziller4275]

so if im correct, that E1 has a driver just no heat sink. Tiny machines used that for DZ g34 and adds a heat sink

[@3DMakeIt]

Depends on the board creality normally does not put the other stepper chip on the board so you need to change the board to something with an additional stepper driver.

[@ferdinandparas2169]

hi where to adjust the exact probing position?

[@doubledigitdreams]

How often should this calibration be done, before every print? Do you need to save the final calibration in the eeprom? Sorry for all the questions just trying to wrap my head around this process.

[@GregTheroneggythetech]

I added it to my Start Gcode so it does it everytime.

[@miremaker]

I'm about to add another Z on a Tevo with linear rails on all axis installed, do you think the linear rails on my Z pose an issue with alignment? I'm biting my nails on whether I'll be able to get each axis parallel as possible to the frame.

[@3DMakeIt]

That's a great question it would depend on how much movement you have currently you're only typically adjusting it 0.5 so if there is a tiny bit of movement you'll be able to correct for it.

[@miremaker]

@@3DMakeIt I'll keep you posted when I tackle it and find out. I have a feeling I may need to loosen one of the Z rails (I'll prob do the right side Z rail). I took a lot of weight off of the Z a while back by mounting my Extruder motor + Extruder on top of my frame, but it still feels unbalanced when It probes and prints because the X motor is still putting weight on the left side, plus the Z rod is like ~500mm long.

[@miremaker]

@@3DMakeIt 2/15/20 update: installed my 2nd Z, but with a printed Z coupler bracket. I bought a kit for a creality machine, but the bracket they provided stuck out a little too much for my wires that are tied to my hotend. So I went with one that was printed, it's aligned pretty well. I used my resin printer to print the top T8 holder and the motor mount. thing# was :4573156

[@PauloIrineudeSouza]

I pretend do doble z belt on my printer...the question is: can i use the command just for correct manually the mechanism? I will use only one stepper motor.

[@GregTheroneggythetech]

This replaces the need for the double z belt

[@GregTheroneggythetech]

But if you have only one that stepper than the command will not work

[@PauloIrineudeSouza]

@@GregTheroneggythetech Thanks! Regards from Brazil,

[@AndrewAHayes]

Greg if you were going to purchase a larger format printer (budget does not matter) which one of the multitudes of printer would you go for?

[@3DMakeIt]

That depends, would you consider larger format? 300x300? Or 400x400?.

[@AndrewAHayes]

@@3DMakeIt If the 400 was a much better printer then that would be ok I already have a V-king in 400 so the size doesent matter to me

[@3DMakeIt]

The v king 400 looks really nice. I really like my cr-10 v2 it gets very consistent prints. But I did not pay full price for it. I got it on Facebook marketplace for a screaming deal. I would definitely think it's worth the price I'm getting very consistent prints. My Chiron is 410x420 but I don't seem to use that volume enough. And the price was pretty good on that as well. But I would lean towards a cr-10 size as it is very versatile.

[@AndrewAHayes]

@@3DMakeIt I built the V-King primarily for the belted Z-axis, I saw the wonderful quality prints people were getting with 0% Z wobble and thought yes I want some of that, and the speed x quality is massive, I can print at 130mmps and still have the same quality as my Ender 2

[@AndrewAHayes]

@@3DMakeIt I have the CR10 V3 quite high on my list and for me, one of its attractions is the separate board and power enclosure as I have all my printers enclosed in Lacks although I picked up a rather nice server enclosure the other day that I will enclose the new printer in

[@SianaGearz]

Not working for me x.x it just brings the printer out of whack. When i swap Z1 and Z2 motor connectors on mainboard, it brings the printer out of whack even faster.

[@GregTheroneggythetech]

What board do you have and what printer do you have?

[@SianaGearz]

@@GregTheroneggythetech Geeetech wood-frame i3. GT2560A+ electronics. Different drivers, but Z1 and Z2 (in E2 socket) are A4988 temporarily. Marlin 2,1,2,2. For probing i have a 9g servo attached to the part cooling fan, which swings down a mouse button switch connected to Z-Min port. I was using M6 threaded rods for Z movement but now replaced them with precision T8x8 leadscrews. I think they may have revealed some misalignment from Geeetech's CAD errors in the frame design :D But i'm not actually hearing motor snapback? Also when the motors are off, Z1 slides down pretty aggressively, tilting the gantry. Which is why i chose to give it a second driver and automatic correction. Temporarily running Z at only 1mm/s. The motors get pretty toasty, but the drivers are cool, they've got a ton of airflow.

[@SianaGearz]

Ah it's working now and it the scale value doesn't seem to matter too much. I have set it to converge only to 0.1mm because i don't need the motors to be exactly tram, because nothing else on my printer is :D I basically beat and bent the mechanics into shape a little and then i had a bad feeling about one of the A4988 drivers because it would make the motor emit horrible noises whenever i would probe its VRef so i took both out and put in others that i know are good... they turned out substantially better too. I mean you don't expect an A4988 to sound nice exactly, but some are less horrible than others because of differences in decay tuning. I'm getting in another Trinamic in a few days and moving to a different mainboard as well, i basically found a bunch of unused pins and managed to solder to 5 pins 0.5mm pitch right next to each other and made it to a connector, secured everything with Kafuter silicone, now just need to wire them up to the StepStick sockets. I had already modified Marlin to be able to access these pins, pins which do not exist on an Arduino Mega so they weren't supported. I had already been using this trick on this mainboard for E motor to set it to SpreadCycle mode (turn off StealthChop) but i broke the connection recently. So when the new driver arrives and when i'm moved to GenL board, i will have a full compliment of Trinamic drivers on all motors which i can then also tune properly and tune out their quirks. It's an old V1 GenL that i got as a firmware development mule so i don't foul my printer, but the boards were always intended to swap places eventually. The GT2560A+ had a little combustion event as well, i had to rebuild a small chunk of it; bad solder joint from factory because they forgot thermal reliefs, but like the defect was SO well hidden i mean i have an eye for this sort of thing and there's no way i was able to spot it. Luckily Marlin's Thermal Runaway alerted me to the problem before it became a bigger combustion event. Trinamic can misbehave though this is why i fall back to a4988 for testing as well occasionally. Trinamic are actually internally microcontroller based and sometimes particularly on the 2208 and the 2225 that i have the micro can just lock up due to ROM firmware bugs :3 i think the 2209 and related ones are less buggy, all the newer ones.

[@Mr.Titanium1911]

Great video! Can this be accomplished witht eh BTT SKR Mini e3 v2 board as well?

[@cody5495]

nope

[@Eddinski]

Kinda, use a nema 17 breakout board, dual z with dual motor and all, but no g34, u need to do it manually with 2 objects of equal size

[@tomjones2860]

I have a CR10S with a SRK1.4 Turbo board do you have a tutorial on how to rewire the board and firmware changes needed to get the two "Zed" motors to run on different stepper drivers?

[@3DMakeIt]

I go over it in this video.

[@3DMakeIt]

How many stepper drivers do you currently have in your turbo? If you have five you can do this. Quick mod of the configuration.h and the configuration.adv. and you're good to go. Did you set up your Skr turbo?

[@Lobbytime1988]

How do you set the distance from the edge in the probing sequence. On the left it is about 20mm from edge and 45mm on the right. I've tried increasing the max travel of my machine and that still didn't change the points.

[@3DMakeIt]

I let mine do it automatically. i wish it could go firther to the Right but the X carrage cant move that far.

[@Lobbytime1988]

@@3DMakeIt I ended up just increasing the number of iterations to 20 and I always achieved accuracy before that. Really wish I could figure out how to do it right though.

[@mahmoudzaefi2958]

hello. For printers with 4 motors in Z axis, It is exactly like this video and I only have to change these things? define z_driver_type TMC2209 define z2_driver_type TMC2209 define z3_driver_type TMC2209 define z4_driver_type TMC2209 define Num_Z_stepper_ drivers === 4 Thanks alot for your help. :)

[@GregTheroneggythetech]

Those are the correct settings that you have listed in the comment. You could also define the pattern that it levels at in the configuration advanced. So instead of using two points you could use three they would form a triangle and allow it to level all four corners better

[@mahmoudzaefi2958]

@@GregTheroneggythetech so it's better to uncomment "z_stepper_orintation" and select one of those patterns in 5:16. Right? And for 4 motors for z axis + Bltouch, it doesn't matter which pattern I use? I mean, if I choose the number 0 to 3, it will automatically use one of that patterns and checking 4 corners of the bed? Which pattern do you suggest for 4 motors? and for (pattern num= 0), we dont need to uncomment "z_stepper_orintation" and automatically select pattern 0 for 4 steppers? Thanks alot.

[@ulliulli]

does not work for me. Somehow it just tests and gives a value out, but it wont move the gantry G34 Iteration: 1 Z2-Z1=1.42 G34 Iteration: 2 Z2-Z1=1.42 G34 Iteration: 3 Z2-Z1=1.43 G34 Iteration: 4 Z2-Z1=1.43 I have no idea why

[@3DMakeIt]

What printer and what board you have in your printer

[@ulliulli]

@@3DMakeIt So... any idea where the problem may be?

[@strblastolivier145]

I would be interested too

[@darren990]

can this be done on a ERYONE Thinker S SE

[@3DMakeIt]

I'm sorry we don't have a thinker se. I looked up the controller in it and it does seem to have 5 steppers in it. If all five slots are populated then you could do this on a thinker with abl. If it just has 4 drivers populated then you would have to add the 5th got the independent z.

[@doit9063]

It's KYE-RON not CHEE-RON. You know, the dude from greek myths!

[@NIKT_ELO]

the g34 function should only be used in printers where the table is movable ... in your case you shouldn't use it

[@3DMakeIt]

My bed is movable it moves forward and back and g34 aligns the gear entry perfectly and works really well combine it with the g29 and you get a great first layer every time.

[@3DMakeIt]

The only case where it won't work I can think of is on a Delta, or a printer with a single leed screw.

[@igorsikhart5487]

is G34 possible with fix mounted probe ?

[@3DMakeIt]

Should be no problem. It works the same way as mesh leveling. So if you can get mesh leveling to work on your printer then g34 will work just fine.

[@igorsikhart5487]

@@3DMakeIt g29 works fine g34 give me "probing failed"

[@3DMakeIt]

What board do you have? Did you add all the settings in configuration.Adv?

[@igorsikhart5487]

@@3DMakeIt i have skr 1.4 with tmc 2208 drivers. with bl touch, g34 works without any problems. then i swiched to fixed probe with the same parameters in confoguration.adv.

[@QuadTAZ]

I've seen a similar feature in duet where people use 3 z steppers to auto level the entire bed though It doesn't take as many iterations to get it completely level from what I've seen using duet.

[@temporoyale6251]

I think you are talking about a kinematic bed with auto bed tramming Example of printers: ratrig v core 3 and voron trident

[@buder5116]

NUM_Z_STEPPER_DRIVERS is none existant now quick googling show that its decided by the driver type comment like uncomenting z2 driver