Wow, another one of my OctoPrint plugins (Bed Level Visualizer) featured in a Chris's Basement video. Thanks for the shout out.

Sweet mod, but the biggest revelation for me was holding the button on the printer for 2 seconds to go straight to Z-Adjust. #mindblown

I've been meaning to try the nylock mod but I've been lazy as usual. I really appreciate having a nice visual guide like this thanks for the effort Chris!

This is the only mod I have on my Prusa, and I had lots of bed adhesion issues before I did the mod, I always printed in a specific spot where I knew the bed was flat.. Now I don't, I can use the complete bed since it is all flat! If you have a new prusa I would say put this mod on since it is very easy to do especially if you do it in the beginning.

Incredibly useful for users like me that print very critically size parts

Thank you for another interesting video, Chris. More accurate bed leveling is an issue that I’ve put off for a couple years, but I appreciate your exhaustive efforts and well done production. Kudos to both you and the developers behind these tools.

Chris, thanks for the effort put into the video. As a new Prusa MK3s owner (gift) I appreciate this video. Also, being a retired engineer i was somewhat disappointed at Prusa for (in my opinion) false advertising. The MK3 does not have true auto bed leveling by any stretch of the imagination. Never the less, it is what it is. Having much experience with metric nylon lock nuts I am a little skeptical that they will hold up to the bed temps and not 'go soft' and loosen. I will definitely follow this video but being an engineer I will have to set an 'OK' point on the height readings prior to adjusting or I will chase the elusive '0' all day.

I like your short intro. Other YTers put some dubstep wubwub with a 20 second cheapo animation of their channel name in some 3D equivalent of Word Art on the screen. Brevity is an underappreciated art in this world.

So this is the best video of this mod that I've seen before, you've earned the sub today good sir

I can imagine this took you the whole day. Calibration is just one of those things. Now to check with a dial gauge :P

I have been using it on my two MK3S machines and prints are significantly better than before. Good job !

For a creality glass bed clipped to a heated Al plate I flattened the the glass surface with brass shim stock between the two. I used 420 point bed leveling, the maximum the duet controller permits and some trial and error to adjust the brass position. Big improvement but not perfect and with lots of points you can see wheel roundness problems! Cheers Peter

I think the biggest advantage for this mod is if you regularly print large two part models that are glued bed-side to bed-side. The mesh leveling is really good for correcting for a bed warped like at your start and make the first layer a consistent thickness (and therefore a consistent squish). But the situation like I describe will greatly enhance any deviations from a flat plain.

Assuming the part does not warp during printing... You will end up with a flatter part. The very floppy test print does not fully show the improvement. I would feel better after doing this even if I can't prove it helped ;) Nicely done!!!

Love ur vids Chris, very logical and comprehensive. The results you got from this mod plainly display the mod isn't worth the trouble. Using the Super Pinda to do all these measurements is all well and good but I have to keep in mind that the firmware gets the same data from the same source, the Super Pinda and can and does handle these small inconsistencies on the bed when setting up the print cycle. Also on my Prusa the screws remain nice and tight and won't drift due to micro vibrations. I'm glad you did this and not me. Saved me a lot of trouble.

Just got my first 3D Printer, and it's the MK3. So happy i found your channel!

Hi Chris, thank you very much for the detailed tutorial. Very well explained. ❗🤘👍 You never stop learning. I also think that this is a useful extension. One more suggestion from me, before you fasten the screws, use a thread lock, like Loctite 243. Then these are not so easy to move. And do not change with time. Many Thanks 🤘😉

Great video. Now for the hard part, waiting for parts to arrive.

What a thorough and brilliantly edited tutorial video, huge thanks for this one mate, ive order the nuts and washers so ill have to wait until they arrive but excited to give this a go!

Nice video, I may consider doing this mod as I have noticed some inconsistencies in bed height on my machine. I am also going to try the 49 point calibration method, that might also help. There was definitely some good info in here, I learned a lot!

Doing that you remove only one variant of the whole machine mechanical variations that impact final print result, the alignment between Z axis and bed and the precision of Hotend while moving along X axis also impact on this result, you experiment shows that all the precision pesuit for this modification is unnecessary to give an visual final result print improvement. Thanks for your time to share!

Remember the days we would just use a piece of paper and screw in only four bolts judged by the resistance on the paper. Worked fine once you got the hang of it. Great video, nice plugins but let's be honest, we've gotten way to nerdy about this.

Well done for measuring the before and after prints, and kind of cool that accuracy hasn't improved.. I guess that means that stock autobed levelling calibration can correct for the bed not being exactly level, and that variance in corners is caused by other things

In Marlin there's a "z fade" setting. Depending on the value you set it to, prints on uneven bed will give different results. Maybe that's why you didn't see a difference before and after.

I appreciate it reduces the unevenness to a point it barely matters anymore but damn, greasing those bed bearings would be a wonderful task when your bed is literally bolted shut to the carriage :/

My favourite part of the video was the last minute where we found out it made absolutely no difference to the print.

That 3mm washer makes so much more sense...I probably should revisit this.

As usual a great clip with plenty of detail. I like the idea of the mod, maybe only if I can't get a bigger job level and then I'm thinking I will print a holder for a DTI gauge during adjustment.

Heah Chris I just got a Prusa and yes my bed is off. I like adj beds and I have that on all my printers. I wanted to mention an observation. This method we are relying on only the 3mm threads in the alum bed support to keep the bed adjustment. Not sure I like that. I wonder what you think about the method I use for my Tevo Little monsters developed by Tim Fahlbusch. We use thick neoprene washers in place of the stand offs that are stock. We manually get all the bolts as even as we can then probe and do the first layer and get it like we want it by adjusting the bolts. This way we are locking things down by squeezing the washers that will keep a constant pressure not allowing any movement regardless of temp. The washers are high heat so heating them has no ill effect. The method you have shown us could be affected by heating and cooling since the only thing maintaining the adjustment is the 3mm threads in the lower plate. I am not a techie so I ask your opinion. What do you think? You have done this a month or so ago how has it worked out? I guess springs could also be used that would take the place of our neoprene washers.

I tried the nylock nuts method, and afterward it seemed like every few weeks I'd have to re-adjust due to the bed shifting again. I couldn't keep the printer in a room that was perfect temperature and it was not enclosed, so that may very well be the cause. I found a similar procedure but with silicone (high temp) tubing instead of nuts. Worth a shot... tried everything else.

How about putting 8 spring in there instead of the lock nuts? Also, to test in the end. Print just the first layer and stop. If it doesn't match the desired first layer thickness adjust the nozzle offset and repeat until it does. Done.

When mounting the bed back on, I don't like fiddling with the standoff. So to start I turn all 9 screws the wrong way so I can hear the thread click when it jumps over the thread in the hole. Then I turn all 9 screws in one turn at a time, starting with the center one. As soon as this one is tight on the standoff, all others are at the right height too. Also it is one of the few times where I do like to use the angled Allen keys, because it is easier to do exactly one turn..

I had both this mod and the rubber hose mod. Even though I used nylon washers and nylocks, after a while they came loose anyway. With the rubber hose mod, it can never wobble or come loose and my bed level is always on point now. Would recommend that over this.

Thanks, very informative and easy to follow

Fantastic Video! Great tutorial

Great review Chris, I have done this mod to all three of my BEAR printers. Next is the Prusa MK3S.

kind of interesting. Here's a cool mod! The results didn't change, but it's cool! :D But seriously, it is interesting and I may consider it.

Chris, before the mod did you get inconsistent first layers in the corners ? My MK3S was getting issues with the spacers. I was getting areas with different heights. Great video!

i think that bed leveling is not a problem on mk3, it's near to perfection without any kind of intervention, in 1 year never touched, never recalibrated, prints always perfect

Great job! I'm glad I discovered your video as I'm going to be doing a bed leveling exercise this weekend! Thanks Chris. Instant subscribe there! Steve C.

Great Video, just installed the mod to my mk3+. Works great.

Very cool! I’ve always wondered if this was worth the hassle. Great video idea! Overall I think your variance is picked up by the mesh leveling right? That’s why you don gain much? The mesh leveling is one of those things Prusa does good anyway

Cool! This is definitely on my list of things to do eventually! After a while could you give an update on if it's held the bed level consistently over time, print vibration, thermal cycling, etc? I 'm curious how well the friction from just squeezing the PCB will hold, or if a bit of adjustable threadlocker in the carriage threads would help.

Thanks for the vid Chris. Keep it going!

Manual bed leveling seems to be much easier. 😈 What about the long time experience? How often do you do the leveling procedure?

I’m using pronterface, and when I enter “G81” it says “echo:Unknow command: “G81” please help

great video as usual chris

HI Chris, could you make a video of how to do this with klipper? I have build a prusa bear and control it with a manta m8p board with cb1 and of course klipper. I am new to klipper.

You had me until the very end when your print results were actually significantly worse than they were before the leveling. Did you try rerunning the first layer calibration? It almost looks as if your machine was running off of old numbers for level compensation after you did the mod which is why your measured thicknesses on the test print skewed the way they did. What are your thoughts on this? Seemed like a lot of work and the results were not just inconclusive they were worse and you sorta swept it under the carpet there.

This also comes down to the repeatability of the probe as well

With the bed heating and cooling how would you accomodate the issue with the screws loosening especially with bed vibrations.

Hey Chris, sorry if this is a dumb question. What's the difference with the nylon screws as opposed to just tightening/loosening the bolt on the original setup?

Nice one! Thanks Chris.

Nice video, I heard that over time the unlock mod looses the level, would you mind doing a follow up video in the future?

Hey Chris, Ty for the video but you have to do a bit more calibration at the end to see 'perfect' consistency and materially accurate parts. They nylock nut mod is definitely a plus, overall with overall consistency and sticking of the first layers. I also found it really helped getting my Z offset perfect and helped my clone machine just pump out ABS parts. Try calibrating the filament and following that teachingtech calibration web page. I'm getting a difference of about +/- .01 on about all my parts after all that on my original prusa and prusa clone I sourced.

Great video, would something like this be possible on Creality printers? They have the thumb wheels, but could it be fine tuned?

Why do this? Why doesn't the printer take these errors into account when measuring them with the PINDA sensor?

high temp silicone tubing is better to use than nylocks. the nylocks will vibrate loose over time and you will have to constantly adjust. with silicone tubing you get added sound dampening on Y and you never have to adjust again.

Excellent video. Really appreciated. May I ask the source of the spool holder you're using near the end of the video?

I have proximity sensor PNP-NO 6v-36v. How can I install this in my BTT SKR V 1.4 board? I have stucked here. Kindly help me out with this issue. I have connected my proximity sensor to the 12v SMPS power supply and signal wire is connected to signal pin of z-min endstops connection of motherhood through 10K resistor. Further I have checked that initially my voltage was 0v and when my sensor sense the metal , it shows 4.8 V. But when I I give command of M119 in pronterface, it shows me status as "TRIGGERED" both the times. I also invert the status in my configuration from false to true but this time sensor shows the status of "OPEN" both the times. Can you please explain me how shall I proceed ? Kindly help me to resolve this issue.

Hi chris, I levelled my bed once (after assembling). What are the consequences of a unlevel bed? My prints come out ok ... (i think) ...

I'm trying to print 2 colors on the same layer using one extruder on a Prusa i3mk3s. I don't want my printer to do bed leveling before I start printing the 2nd color. How do I turn bed leveling off for that 2nd color? Thanks for all your great videos!

You say it's a success but in the end results you can't measure any discernable improvement to the print? So how is this worth doing?

Good job working through this. My only hesitation is that my bed thermistor keeps breaking and I have to completely remove the bed to change it every few months and spending hours readjusting these afterward doesn't seem like a good use of time.

Seems that this doesn't really solve anything that the automated bed leveling wouldnt take care of and the drawback is that now the screws are not tightened against anything so they will likely unscrew a little bit after a couple of shaky prints and you will need to re-do this exercise again ... well done ! ;-) ... no really I'm interested on how persistent is the accuracy after applying this mod if you could elaborate more on that. Thx !

Chris, Man thank you! this was a great video. I bought you some coffee. :)

There seems to be a 'bad' interaction between the bed level visualizer and the prusa leveling guide plugin that results in the failure of leveling guide values to update properly. Not sure which plugin is responsible but it is annoying.

How about the silicone tubing method? Instead of nylock, you use silicone tube, preferably OD-8mm x ID-3mm. I found the tube on Amazon... It sounds easier than using nuts, but it's it as good long term?

Your nylon washer affiliate link lands on the M2.5 option choice. Not sure if you can alter it to the M3 option. Thanks for the video.

Nice! I just did this plug-in a few days ago. It’s really helpful. Where did you get the 3mm nylon washer?

Awesome video Chris. I was thinking about performing this on my Mini+. You mentioned that you were not sure if it would work. Have you been able to confirm or has anyone here performed this mod on the Mini+ and seen a benefit?

I just purchased a Prusa i3 MK3S+ and are pretty happy with it, but the bed is not that flash as far as being flat, always wonder why companies dont put a thich sheed of alloy on as a bed, my guess is they are trying to keep it light, great printer though

@29:09 there is some measuring of the results. And it is called as being inconclusive. Well, how is that possible. Your values worsen for 50% of the measurement. 25%does not change at all. And the improvement gained on the other 25% is probably due to measuring inconstancy or biased measurement. The situation after the bed operation is worse than the situation before. 1.16 stays the same 1,13 becomes 1,12 1,18 becomes 1,19 1,15 becomes 1,18

I'm looking to buy another 3d printer. I have a core XY and a large format standard frame(?) already but looking for smaller and good to go out of the box. I'm thinking of getting a Prusa is that still a good choice or would you recommend another?

With the mesh bed level plugin i found that on my prusa i3 mk3s I had to flip the y axis to get front and back to match reality, this was not at all obvious and i was chasing problems in the wrong corner ( right back vs front right) so watch out, test by placing a piece of paper under a corner and check the diagram what changed

Hi Chris , thanks for the informative video. I've been having the leveling problem for years on my mk3 that I've stopped trying. My question is if I use a nylon washer will it loose it form cause of the heat from the heatbed & wounding up adjusting the screws more frequent? Would it be better by using a metal/stainless steel washer?

That was an easy and fun mod.

hmm I wonder if there's a python package that can send gcode and eventually read the results back, that would be very cool to be able to do that from notebooks :D

has anyone experienced an error of "some problems encountered z-leveling enforce" using Prusa Leveling Guide

Why need to buy washers if you can print them?

All great. But, now you have loose screws, right?

Chris, does the Prusa use the cal offset numbers during printing?

You may have mentioned this, but if anyone is looking to do this without octoprint you can copy and paste your bed leveling values to this website and it will do the match for you: pcboy.github.io/g81_relative/ I also did this mod and found it useful for when a print a plate full of small parts. This was the only way I could get small parts in the corner to consistently stick. The mesh leveling alone just wasn't doing it.

How can you not watch a video titled "Hack your Prusa"?!

Would it not be better to just shim it rather than the nyloc nuts

good stuff 👍

I guess the results would be more stable by using silicon spacers instead of nyloc nuts.

Hi many thanks for all your videos, great support. I have Prusa i3 mk3s . And after each time after approximately 60 cm the layer shift happens and spaghetti filaments starts . Any advice please . Would appreciate any guidance

Hi Chris, I did something like that with my Mini. But I left the attachment original and sanded down where the bed was too high and raised it with shims where it was too low.

Awesome

Chris, you can do the same without octoprint for those that dont want to install a raspberry pi, just do G80 and G81 and post relative data to the following URL pcboy.github.io/g81_relative/ then you can read of the results and adjust in the same manner

This video makes me regret about my ender3 purchase. I shouldn’t have cheap out too much.

seems like an awful lot of work for diminishing returns.

this going to sound dumb but how is the printer connected to your laptop to run the test

On my prusa mk3s+ its M3 not M4 Nylock nuts.

6:28 How do you get the mesh data without using octoprint?

Is this also possible for ender 3 v2?

Looks like a solution looking for a problem lol

Hmm I just un did this on my MK3s.

Having problems with my cr10 v2, running marlin on a 1.4 skr turbo, when my axis move in the right direction my prints are mirrored. If I swap x axis so it goes the wrong way it un mirrors but bed bltouch then tries to level off the bed please help