You:“Flight ANKER-M5, requesting departure from runway ABL-1.” Air Traffic Controller:"ANKER-M5, cleared for immediate departure from runway ABL-1. Turn heading to 50º and proceed to flying direct to Glorious Prints.
Welcome aboard flight ANKER-M5! I'm Co-pilot Technical Ace and I am pleased to assist you in landing at Glorious Prints soon. While we're 10,000 feet in the air, I'd like to discuss with you our plan of action for landing at Glorious Prints, so without further ado, let's begin!
The following list showcases what event requires you to run an ABL procedure.You can click a hyperlink (text in blue with an underline) within the list to take you directly where you need to go to learn how to do each task.
If you are a new user of the AnkerMake M5, to assist in achieving the best results out of your printer it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to read this article from top to bottom in the order presented BEFORE you run an ABL to permit your printer to create accurate bed level mesh data. Additionally, save your installation foam and keep it in a storage area. You'll thank me later down the road for telling you so when you will have to perform Fix 5 of this guide in the future.
NO filament should be on the exterior of the nozzle and/or coming out of it. To clean your nozzle, utilize a brass wire brush.
For those of you that have painted Plastic Repellant paint (and if you don't, I highly recommend you pick some up for your next flight), DO NOT use a brush to clean your nozzle unless you want to remove what you just painted! You should be able to pluck off any filament with ease using tweezers.
If you can't, you can give the nozzle a bit of a preheat at 180ºC to assist you and this may indicate as well that it is time to reapply the paint to your nozzle.
If you have contaminated your PEI bed plate with your fingerprints (or if you already have performed print jobs and are finding that your adhesion isn't the greatest), you may want to clean your PEI bed plate with (brand specific) blue Dawn Dish Soap.
For residents in the United Kingdom, please purchase the equivalent named Fairy.
After a print job is completed, it is also recommended to wipe your bed plate between prints with Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA). Look for 70% or above concentration.
You'll want to start off with the basics and perform a full bed test (click here to download) to check how your printer is currently performing and also dial in your Z-offset. Accurately calibrating your offset will allow you to achieve the best possible first layer possible for prints which is the most crucial part of a print as that will ultimately become how well your overall build will adhere to the bed plate. Be advised that the full bed test “.gcode” provided above is solely for PLA type filament and should NOT be utilized for any other type filament. However, if you do notice over or under extrusion, that means that your PLA filament most likely has a higher temperature variance than the most commonly used settings and you should proceed to slicing your own full bed test using the STL file below.
Offset will usually vary PRIMARILY on filament types (PLA, PETG, etc.), not color or texture.
If you are using another filament type besides PLA, please download this STL developed by @The Technical Ace#7777 and slice it with your settings alongside these settings:
Set first layer speed to 85mm/s (This is necessary to permit consistent bed adhesion as too fast will lead to ripples).
Set a 2 loop skirt with a 1 mm distance from the object (primes the nozzle whilst maximizing the test area)
Prior to starting your full bed test (or any print in the future), always ensure your filament is not overly humid! Just because your filament is new and came to you in a vacuumed sealed pouch with desiccant inside DOES NOT guarantee that your filament was sealed from the manufacturer without containing humidity. Desiccant only helps prevent additional humidity and does not remove pre-existing humidity!
If you do not yet own a filament dryer, it is highly recommended you purchase one to have in tandem with your 3D printer. Humid filament can result in the following results:
Excessive stringing that would not normally be present
Filament not sticking to the bed
Layer separation
Under extrusion
Brittle filament (aka filament that crumbles apart once extruded)
The best relative humidity (RH) for storing 3D printer filament is less than or equal to 30%. The maximum relative humidity for most 3D printer filaments is 50%, but such exposure should not be prolonged! The only 3D printer filaments that can relatively tolerate humid environments are the non-hygroscopic variants. For this reason, it is why AnkerMake recommends all of their filament be stored with a RH of 30% or less.
Now that you have your bed test results, it's time to assess your results and start fixing those issues now rather than later.
Please see below on what is the desired result for a full bed test.
Failure to correct the potential issues at hand now can result in poor print quality and may even damage your printer over time. We will go in order from the easiest fixes to the more advanced fixes to make the troubleshooting process simple as possible for you.
Excessive Waves/Ripples/Hills within your full bed test
Layer Separation (loose plastic strings instead of being perfectly adhered flush with one another that are either in patches within, all, or half of the test result)
Under/over extrusion in areas
✔️ PASSED Full Bed Test Results
No waves/ripples (minimal amounts towards the edges of the full bed test is acceptable)
No loose plastic strings
All plastic peels off of the bed with ease in one complete flat sheet like a computer mouse pad and is not possible to pull apart with your hands
A typical Z-offset range based on what we have assessed across the majority of the AnkerMake Community is 0.00mm to 0.15mm.
If you find you are above this range, DO NOT proceed with continuing to increase your offset as that usually indicates you have a problem with your printer. If you fail to resolve your issue(s) before you begin sending print jobs, you will be unhappy with the majority of your print results as well as risk your printer becoming subject to damage/downtime due to improper tightness/adjustments of parts within your printer. Continue on with this guide to learn what steps you may need to take to correct these issues!
Improper belt tension is one of the key leaders in print quality issues and it's the easiest thing of all to fix. Your belts are responsible for transferring movements from the stepper motors to allow both your extruder and bed assemblies to slide back and forth at the appropriate times.
All belts (X and Y), should both emit a tone in the range of 80-90hz (or for the music note people out there, somewhere around an E2/F2 note).
Should you need a tester to test the tone emitted from your belts, please refer to a resource page of ours entitled “Mobile Apps for Tuning Belts”.
To adjust the tension of all of your belts, refer to the video provided by AnkerMake below:
⚠️ ADVISORY: Although the AnkerMake video referenced above does a good job explaining as to where you need to go and what to do, it doesn't tell you well enough how to balance things appropriately…
When tensioning the X-axis belt, please move your extruder assembly all the way to the right of the gantry to allow the belt to be fully extended prior to tensioning. Once you are within the recommended tension range, move the extruder assembly 5-10 times back and forth on the gantry to equalize tension throughout the belt.
When tensioning the Y-axis belts, please ensure you have first removed the four screws from the silver pulleys (2 per pulley). Pull the bed all the way forward (to extend the belts fully). Bed should at this point be on the opposite side of the tensioners. Then, string the belts with your finger like you would a guitar string to obtain your initial tension readings. Utilizing the tensioner for each belt, adjust the tension to proper specifications. Once you are within the recommended tension range for both belts, move the bed assembly 15-20 times back and forth to equalize tension throughout the belt. Retest the tones emitted to ensure you are in range and that they are relatively balanced (they don't need to be perfectly identical, but as long as they are around 2-3hz apart at most from each other you should be good).
If they are still not balanced, repeat the previously mentioned process until they are (it may take up to 3 times at most in repeating this process to ensure balanced tension). When you are done balancing the tension of both belts, please ensure you put the screws you previously removed back where they belong. For the curious, the reason why you should remove the screws prior to tensioning and balancing is to allow both sides of the motor to not only have equalized tension of the belts themselves, but also to balance the strain on the pulleys and motor.
Ensuring your tension on all of the belts remain is key to help keep your prints looking flawless every time. After tensioning your belts, check up on them about one or two weeks later and check to see if the tension stayed roughly around the same.
If any of the belts are losing tension over time drastically when you check and/or the Y belts are no longer balanced in tension, this means that your belts were improperly installed from factory and/or have possibly become damaged. Please perform the following:
For instructions on reinstalling your existing or installing a new X-axis belt, please refer to the guide “How to Replace the X-axis Belt of M5” written by AnkerMake themselves.
For instructions on reinstalling your existing or installing new Y-axis belts, please refer to the guide “How to Replace the Y-axis Belt of M5” written by AnkerMake themselves.
⚠️ ADVISORY: When you arrive at Step 11 within the guide pertaining to the Y-axis belts, tighten the screws in an “X”-like fashion. In other words, start with the top left corner, then the bottom right corner, proceed to then do the bottom left and then the top right. Please refer to the corresponding visual image:
If you begin to ever see your nozzle digging into the top layers, banding and/or notice other imperfections in your prints (especially on external perimeters), this will easily be your culprit. If you are experiencing first layer issues, this is definitely something that should be checked right at the time you check your extruder's eccentric nut.
It's something quick to check and the test for that along with the procedure to fix it can be found by clicking here.
Example of Bad Z-Block Tension (You don't want to have this)
Another easy fix to print quality issues involves your eccentric nuts of both your extruder and bed wheels. The V-Wheel eccentric nut ensures the extruder assembly remains stable and does not wobble on the X-axis gantry, whilst the two eccentrics nuts on the bed ensure your bed does not wobble as it glides on the railings. Any instability on the X-axis and/or Y-axis will lead to poor print qualities.
The eccentric nut of the extruder is equivalent to a cam mechanism, which is mainly used to ensure that the extruder and the X-axis profile can be well matched. By adjusting the eccentric nut, the V wheel and the profile are always kept in a clamped state, so the extruder can move smoothly and stably on the X-axis.
Explanation of Proper Tightness:When the extruder's eccentric wheel is moved, it should move freely BUT also when any of the wheels on the extruder assembly are moved, the entire extruder assembly should move with it as well.
Too tight results in hard to move the extruder assembly across the gantry.
Too loose is when the wheels spin freely but the entire assembly doesn’t move with the wheel movement.
If the eccentric is too tight but you still have wobble on the extruder assembly, that is the result of the two non-eccentric (ones that are on top of the gantry) being too loose and simply need to be tightened.
With that aside, view the video from AnkerMake themselves that demonstrates how to properly adjust your eccentric nut of the extruder:
While there is a test to determine if you have an issue with your bed wheels, please understand that this test may not work 100% of the time to confirm you have a problem with you bed wheels.
PROCEDURE:Press down on each corner of your print bed (PEI plate is fine to leave on) and see if you hear creaking or notice any wobble.
Bed wobbling, creaking noises, or it able to be pushed down easily when applying pressure in the corners may indicate that the bed wheels need to be adjusted for proper tightness or be completely replaced.
If you have exhausted all other fixes within this guide and still experience leveling issues, it is highly recommended that you ignore this test and proceed with inspection of your bed wheels immediately via the procedure mentioned below. However, if you experience the expected failure results it guarantees you need to adjust the tightness of our wheels or worse case scenario needing to replace them all.
You will follow the procedure of the guide named Replacing the V Wheel of Y Axis by AnkerMake to allow yourself to retrieve the entire bed assembly from the printer and permit yourself to do a full inspection of your wheels. When you inspect your bed wheels, check for any abnormal wear.
All bed wheels should be tightened to a point where none of the wheels wobble, but can spin freely with ease.
If your wheels possess abnormal wear, refer towards the advisory towards the end of this guide on what your next plan of action should be.
If your wheels DO NOT possess abnormal wear, check to ensure proper tightness of the wheels before reassembling your printer back together after your inspection.
⚠️ ADVISORY: Do not be alarmed that your any of your wheels are producing shavings as they are simply contouring to the railings of the printer. Shavings are okay and it can take up to 3 months for your bed wheels to stop producing shavings.
It is a concern, however, if you begin to experience print quality degradation in time. If (and only if) after exhausting all other fixes within this guide, follow this process again and if damage is detected, contact AnkerMake Support and invoke your warranty that is included with your printer purchase.
Meanwhile, you can also order temporary spares recommended by AnkerMake themselves:
If you are a NEW owner of the AnkerMake M5, you will not need to perform this task as of this time, but after 6 months of ownership it is recommended to perform a full clean and re-lubrication of your Z-axis rods. As it is something you will eventually have to do in your ownership of your printer, I would recommend learning what to expect along with acquiring the necessary supplies on hand sooner rather than later.
Based off of my own experience in already performing a full clean and re-lubrication since my ownership of my AnkerMake M5, Austin Dennis and I have come to the conclusion that for this printer a combination of dry-lube and grease are necessities for this printer versus one over the other primarily because dry lube is not suitable for Z-axis rods due to frequent movements and since this printer is equipped with brass nuts, grease better suppresses the vibrations created by the Z-axis motors, which keeps the electrical humming to a minimum when the Z-axis is in use.
Every 2-4 months if not required to do a full clean and re-lube by the list mentioned below.
To avoid not having to do a disassembly for top offs, use a new computer thermal paste spatula that is able to fit in between the cutouts of the Z-axis aluminum framings and continuously apply grease on the rods. Remember that less is more and you do not want to have grease go into the motor shaft couplings or you will then be forced to cleaning the couplings and rods with isopropyl alcohol and then proceed to lubricate fully.
