Hey everyone,
I’m running into a bizarre Z-offset issue with my Creality K1C (2025 revision) and I’m completely out of ideas.
Since day one, the stock auto-calibration / auto Z-offset worked flawlessly. However, starting yesterday, the printer suddenly began digging the nozzle way too deep into the textured PEI sheet on the first layer (see attached photo).
The main problem:
The nozzle scrapes hard against the bed during the first layer, leaving a transparent trace and blocking extrusion.
The bed mesh itself generates completely fine and level as expected — the issue is strictly with the baseline nozzle height over the bed (Z-offset).
Live Z-offset adjustments in Fluidd/Mainsail only apply to the current print and don’t persist across jobs.
Manually editing the z_offset property in printer.cfg makes zero difference. I even set an extreme +1.0 mm offset just to see if it would print in mid-air, but it still slammed straight into the bed. It feels like the start macro or PR-Touch calibration completely overrides every single manual value.
Literally nothing hardware- or software-wise changed between “working perfectly” and “digging into the plate.”
Any help or solutions would be hugely appreciated!
i have a K2 pro 2025 edition and a very similar issue happened to me starting yesterday, out of the no where. Worked just fine the day before, no updates were made to firmware. I have not investigated z offset yet. I had mine get stuck in the front left corner with unknown error. I power cycled and calibrated it successfully before trying to print. When i tried to print the same thing i did the day before it dragged the nozzle in several locations on its way to putting down the first layer. It dragged so hard it bent the extruder. I submitted a ticket since my printer is still within warranty period. I have my own thread on this going. Will update with whatever info i get. One reply already recieved suggesting it is the strain gage.
Let me know if there are any changes. Tech support told me the problem might be with the CrTouch. I tried reassembling the unit, but nothing changed. I hope we can resolve this.
i spoke with a local retailer of these printers as well as other brands, described the issue. They heard of this type of issue (z axis homing/losing track of location), they said most likely to be the motor, known to fail like this by losing sync and the only way to fix is replacement. Said sensor can also result in this failure but thought the motor most likely culprit being notoriously faulty by design. I am waiting for tech support to address my issue since i am under warranty. Will share what they come up with but will be making sure they consider the homing/motor cause.
I don’t think the motor is the problem in my case. With some manipulation, I can still start printing, albeit not with the highest quality.
I had the same thing happen straight after a printer and a software update. The first print after munched up the print plate. They put out an immediate update for perimeter setting which I have just installed, hopefully it’s not going to chew the plate again. Seems to me that the damage was caused by a bad software update.
i did a factory reset, removed and reinstalled the hot end, recalibrated and so far no repeat of the issue. I did have a creality SW update but this was for the slicing sw. I did not see any firmware updates come across when i did this, running 1.1.6.7 still. Was your SW update to the slicer or a firmware update to 1.1.6.7?