I just received an Ender 3 v3 SE printer. I was going though the installation steps making sure everything is solid and all the screws are snug, when I noticed a slight wiggle on the bed. I removed the bed plate and made sure all the screws under neath were snug as well. Is there a way to adjust the bed on the dual y axis guide rods to remove a slight wiggle such as an eccentric nut for the print head? Is a slight wiggle to be expected?
Thanks
Hi @Alan_Hedrick welcome to the forums!
If all the screws in the bed are now tightened and there is still some wobble you may find that you need to adjust the Y axis belt tensioning screw (which I believe is on the rear of the printer) to ensure the belt is nice and tight. There should be a low pitched twang to it when tight.
If that doesn’t help in anyway it might be wise to remove the bed and check the nuts/bolts under the heated bed are all tight too.
Thanks for the reply. I checked the y axis belt and it is tight (low sound when plucked). I had previously removed the heated bed and checked those screws but loosened then tightened and double checked each one. This time I checked the rods themselves and noticed I could wiggle them as well so I tightened the front screw down on the base, and can only just barely wiggle them now, but I can still wiggle the x shaped base plate (under the heated plate). Should I remove that plate completely to see if there are any adjustments on the parts that slides in the rods themselves to see if that would remove the wiggle?
You’re welcome, glad to hear you are starting to able to find the loose parts. Yes by all means strip down the bed as far as you feel is necessary as like you say there could be something loose deeper into the mechanism.
I hope you are able to get the wobble resolved. Sounds like you are on the right track!
I just noticed my bed had some wiggle to it yesterday. All that was needed was to adjust the wheels on the bed. 2 of them on one side of the rail will be fixed. The 2 on the opposite side (the right side on my printer) have long hex “shafts”. When you turn these, they move the wheel towards or away from the rail thus loosening or tightening the “grip” of the wheels on the rail and thus taking the wiggle out of the bed. I apologize for probably not using the proper terminology but, I thought I would try to help if I could even if I sound like an idiot. This solution worked for me… I hope it helps you as well. Merry Christmas!
The nut KingLear35 mentions are called eccentric nuts, the hole isn’t quite at the centre, so turn it one way and it will tighten the wheel turn it the other it will loosen it, only need a quarter of a turn at most either way.
The ender 3 v3 has dual linear rails for the y axis with linear bearings. I don’t see any eccentric nuts to adjust. Are they inside the bearing mounting block?
The SE does not have eccentric nuts as it uses linear rails. KingLear35 was likely using a different model of printer.
Sorry should have read up further, No linear rails won’t have them. The only way I can think of tightening them up is to dismantle them and repack the bearings, but you dont want to be doing that. Have you checked all the screws holding the system in place? I’d give cs@creality.com an email and see if they have some idea…
I have other leadscrews for other projects and some have little grubscrews that can be tweaked to tighten the bearing housing onto the leadscrew. Not had the KE/SE apart that far to check yet, but it might be a little M2 grub screw that needs a tweak.
I contacted Creality support and they sent me new linear bearings and bearing holders which greatly helped with the bed wobble. Afterwards I printed a small test print successfully. I have noticed a small backwards lean on the z axis rails which I need to figure out a way to fix so prints are straight on the z axis as it prints. If anyone has a suggestion I’d appreciate any input
Alan I spotted a gantry support mod that might help with the Z axis, I’ve not tried it but it should allow a little bit of tweaking?