Levelling Bed Issue

Flagship K Series Creality Flagship K1 Max
1

So fitted a CFS, did a single colour print. Fine.

Then tried a multi colour. Failed due to cutter error. So removed extruder to check cutter operation. Reassembled and now I have bed levelling error CL2537.

Absolutely pulling my hair out as there seems to be little to no help across the web for this. I’ve checked bed screws. They are all tight.

Any suggestions? I’m beginning to regret buying one :frowning:

2

To be candid, you’re making this harder than it needs to be by not methodically approaching the troubleshooting process.

You’re doing what most people do when they’re frustrated: treating “the printer” as one problem. It isn’t. You now have two separate faults:

  • A multicolor failure that threw a cutter-related error, and
  • A bed leveling failure (CL2537) that appeared after you disassembled and reassembled the extruder/toolhead.

When I used to run a tech support operation, we had a name for bouncing from one random thing to another before verifying results: thrashing. When you thrash, you increase frustration and dramatically increase the odds that you create a second problem, which is exactly where you are now.

Troubleshooting 101: Change one and only one variable at a time.

Your current approach has two common failure modes:

  1. Assumed causality
    “I touched X, therefore X caused Y.” Sometimes true, often not. The only thing you can say with confidence is that you changed something and now you have a different error.

  2. Vague checks
    “Bed screws are tight” is not a diagnostic. Tight isn’t a measurement, and bed screws are rarely the root cause of a sudden leveling error that appears immediately after toolhead work.

Counterpoint: the highest-probability explanation is that something in the toolhead area is not seated correctly - a connector, cable, strain relief, or probe-related component. If the machine can’t probe correctly or can’t read the probing signal reliably, leveling will fail.

Let’s follow rule #1 above: one variable at a time, confirm each step, no random part swapping.

TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS (in order)

  1. Freeze the configuration

    • Remove the CFS from the equation for now. Go back to a known baseline and get the printer function restored to a known state.
    • Fully power the printer off, wait, then power it back on and run bed leveling again. Simple step, but one that’s often skipped.
    • Goal: confirm CL2537 is real and repeatable, not a transient state.

  2. Toolhead sanity check (CL2537 appeared right after toolhead work)

    • Remove the toolhead cover and do a slow, careful visual inspection.
    • Look for half-seated connectors, pinched wires, loose plugs, damaged ribbon/cable, or anything not fully latched.
    • Reseat every connector you touched (unplug, inspect, replug until it clicks or locks).
    • Goal: eliminate “bad contact” from the list.

  3. Confirm the probe can physically do its job

    • With power off, move the toolhead by hand and verify nothing is binding.
    • Check that nothing is hanging below the nozzle area that could catch during probing (wiring, sock, duct, screws).
    • Confirm the nozzle is tight and not wobbling or any remnant filament is present.
    • Goal: eliminate mechanical interference as a cause of probing failure.

  4. Re-run leveling and observe

    • Start bed leveling and watch closely.
    • Does it fail immediately on the first probe, or later in the grid?
    • Does it always fail in the same area or corner?
    • Goal: determine whether this is a “no signal,” “inconsistent signal,” or motion/position issue.

  5. Eliminate false bed contact variables

    • Clean the nozzle tip and remove any blob or stringing.
    • Reseat the build plate and make sure there’s no debris under it.
    • Goal: avoid probing a blob or a lifted plate edge.

  6. Reset only the relevant state

    • If the UI supports it, clear/reset the leveling mesh and re-run leveling.
    • This is not a nuclear reset, your other settings should remain intact.
    • Goal: eliminate a corrupted mesh or invalid calibration state.

  7. If CL2537 persists, stop treating this as a bed screw issue

    • At that point it’s overwhelmingly likely to be:
      • a toolhead or probe signal issue (connector, cable, probe),
      • a toolhead assembly issue (something not seated),
      • or a gantry/axis issue that only presents during probing.
    • Post back with:
      • a clear photo of the toolhead wiring and connectors after reassembly,
      • a short video of the leveling attempt showing the moment it fails,
      • and whether it fails on the first probe point or later in the grid.

Separately - and only after CL2537 is resolved - go back to the cutter/CFS issue. Right now you have two problems and you’re letting them contaminate each other. Fix the leveling error first, or you’ll just keep stacking failures.

By diagnosing the bed leveling function by itself, you isolated where it fails which will aid in diagnostic. If the bed leveling is working find, then something in your CFS or CFS cables or installation is the next likely cause.

2 Likes
3

Found this for your error code:

CL2537 | Creality Wiki

4

So today I have:

Fitted a new nozzle so it’s perfectly clean.

I have checked every plug is fully seated under the covers on the print head.

I have run the levelling after this and it completed the full process, gave me a completed message but in the background I could see the error message across the top of the screen. How on earth it can say completed but error at the same time is beyond me.

I haven’t removed the CFS yet as I don’t have the old extruder and don’t fancy removing the hopper and all the bits bolted on inside the machine. it did function perfectly for the first print with a single colour.

I’ve ordered new bed strain sensors just as a backup as they are coming from china so will take a while anyway.

I will try and reset but not holding up much hope.

only thing I’ve noted is when doing the levelling, the tool head hits the cutter block at the back.

when I run the levelling again, it still doesn’t bring the bed up to the nozzle and fails. The bed just gets lower and lower. If I wind th bed up manually so it’s closer. It then levels ok but next time fails again.

5

When you say “hits the cutter block” are you referring to the tab that depresses the cutter or are you referring to the nozzle tip.

If it is not touch the bed surface as part of the bed leveling, that leads one to pursue possible a faulty sensor, belt alignment or possible lead screws need cleaning and relubrication.

I don’t have a K1 but look at the first 30 seconds of this K1 video from Creality and verify that this is the motion you are witnessing.

It sounds like you may have already done a fair amount of troubleshooting but make sure you don’t overlook this Creality video on K1 bed leveling troubleshooting:

6

Weirdly, this has stopped producing the levelling error. Only thing I did was remove the bed to check the strain sensor wires were pushed into the sockets on the PCB correctly.

Now I still have the cutter error.

Having watched it, I noted that the arm for the cutter missed the block, so I adjusted the block. Now the arm pushes against it but still cutter error. So I manually pressed the lever. Really hard and felt the filament cut. So I know it now travels far enough yet I tried again and still the cutter error!

I’ve seen a lot of people say the K1 Max quite often needs the block making bigger. So I’ve padded it out with around 8 layers of gaffa tape. Still have the dreaded cutter error.

Any suggestions on fixing it now?