Testing and Calibration

The assembly stage of the Prusa I3 MK3 went pretty well. Before the power is switched on the PINDA probe height needs to be set. The manual describes it well enough. The next stage is to test everything works. I plugged the power in and switched it on. No burning smell, no smoke, no grinding noise so the first test was passed. The display lit up and offered a self test, so I pushed the button to accept.

A motor whirred and the head moved left and right and promptly reported an error. It seemed that part of my careful wire routing meant the filament sensor cable was snagging on part of the frame which stopped the full movement. I realigned the cable and tried again. This time the head moved left and right, the bed moved in and out and then the head went up and down followed by some more complex moves. The screen reported that all was well and that the X/Y axes are perpendicular which is the best result.

Calibration followed and I didn't do that very well. Part of the process is configuring a fine adjustment to the height of the nozzle. I was cautious and didn't adjust it low enough, so as it laid down filament it didn't stick to the print bed. I tried again with a better result, so I tried to print a simple design supplied on the SD card in the kit. It started to print and quickly failed as the block came unstuck.

I returned to calibration and watched very closely as I lowered the print nozzle to be sure it wasn't going to touch the print bed. The calibration print was immediately cleaner and straighter. The test print then worked without a problem. So I have my first printed plastic object.

I did put the failed first print to use by trying to paint it with acrylic paint. It took the paint well enough with good coverage but when it had dried I rubbed it fairly hard and some of the paint came off. I'll find some enamel paint and try again, just out of interest.