CR Touch Ender 3 configuration info needed

[Allan Bennett]

I told you CR Touch was on my wish-list!  It arrived yesterday and I managed to install it without any real problem.  But configuring it correctly is another thing altogether 🤔

 

Everything's installed and connected to the main board, and the Z-axis limit switch is disconnected, as per the manual.  I checked and my main board is v4.2.2, so I loaded the appropriate version of the firmware, and got extra options on my menu when it re-booted so presumably that's okay.

 

The first problem is the menus in the manual are nothing like the ones on my display.  Anyway, the first step in the manual is to do an Auto Home, so I found that in the menu and when I executed it the head travelled to the middle of the print bed (instead of the front left corner previously), lowered itself to about 1mm off the bed, then rose again about 10mm and stopped.  The manual says to then adjust the Z-axis until the nozzle is 0.1mm ("the height of a sheet of A4 paper") off the bed, but the limit of the negative adjustment available is 10mm, which is not enough to get the 0.1mm nozzle distance. 

 

If I then save the -10.00mm dimension as the Z-axis compensation (even though it doesn't seem right) and then go into the Bed Levelling routine which the manual says is next, the nozzle moves through 17 points checking the height -- a 4 x 4 grid plus one in the middle.  But then when I try to start a print it tries to do it 10mm or so above the bed.

 

So I'm obvously missing a crucial basic step.  My bed is positioned physically almost at the top limit of its adjustment, where it was before I got the CR Touch.  So how do I tell the system that the Z-axis datum is about 10mm lower than it seems to think it is?  Or is my problem something else?

[Allan Bennett]

I still haven't sorted this, despite another session today.  Here's what the manual says, and what I'm doing, in the hope that someone can spot what I'm missing:-

 

"1.  To get the Z offset value  Operation:  Prepare -> Auto Home -> Move Axis -> Move Z -> Please stop to move Z axis when the distance between the nozzle and the bed is about 0.1mm (the height of a sheet of A4 paper).  This value shows Z offset value."

 

My menu doesn't have a 'Prepare' option so 'Auto Home' is reached direct from the 'Motion' menu.  I do that, and after the 'Auto Home' step the nozzle is about 10mm or so above the bed.  Today I was then able to Move Z by -9.1mm to get a satisfactory clearance between nozzle and bed.

 

"2. Input the Z-axis compensation value (Z offset value).  Record the Z offset value then follow below steps and save settings:  Prepare -> Auto Home -> Control -> Bed Levelling -> Probe Z offset -> Input the Z offset value -> Store settings."

 

I make a note of the Z offset value (-9.1mm in my case).  When 'Auto Home' is selected again he print head then goes to 'Home' at the centre of the bed, moves down to detect the bed level, then rises up to about 10mm above.  But then there's no 'Control' option, though 'Probe Z offset' is in the 'Move' menu but doesn't have any option to input the Z offset value.  Pressing the control knob with the 'Probe Z offset' option highlighted does nothing, so I can't find how to input and store my setting.

 

 

My main board version is v4.2.2 and I have no filament detection, so the CR Touch file I used to update it is 'Ender-3_HW4.2.2_SW2.0.8.27_CRTOUCH'.  The fact that my menus are different from the manual is slightly worrying, so any chance I've picked up the wrong firmware?

Edited January 12, 2023 by Allan Bennett

[Gunnar Borseth]

The manual leaves a lot to be desired. If you have the correct firmware you have to go deeper into the menus til you find z probe wizard. Adjust the nozzle height and store settings. Then you need to add the g-code commands to your start up g-codes. G28 and G29 I believe. I had a lot of trouble getting this to work myself, but YouTube came to the rescue. 3D printscape and Teaching Tech have both exellent videos on the subject. Good luck!

[Allan Bennett]

I've read the bit about start-up g-codes, but according to the manual that bit comes after the part of the setup I'm trying to do.  I haven't come across a 'Z-probe wizard' in the settings, 'Probe Z offset' being the closest I can find.  But there's no no options or sub-menus from that.  I'll check out the YouTube videos you mention.

[Allan Bennett]

I think I've got it sorted.

 

This afternoon I tried following the manual a couple more times with the same result -- i.e. it didn't give me any opportunity to input an offset value, and it tried to print about 10mm above the bed.

 

So then I reset the defaults and, as far as I can remember, then simply did an auto-home after which the nozzle was quite close to the bed and the Probe Z Offset menu had an -> against it, which I'd never had before.  So I pressed the button and got a mm reading on the screen which I was able to reduce with the knob until my piece of A4 paper was almost trapped beneath the nozzle.  The value was less than 1mm.  I then went back into the menus and selected Store Settings.  Much less convoluted than the method description in the manual, not helped at all by the fact that the menus on my display are different from the ones in the manual -- and for that matter, from the displays I've seen in YouTube how-to videos -- or by the fact that my default Z value seems to have been about 10mm too high until I did the reset.

 

so that a I I

 

I subsequently did three small test prints, each preceded by an auto bed-levelling, without any issues at all.  Just got to edit the machine settings in the slicer software now, so that bed-levelling will happen automatically every time I start a print.

 

 

[Allan Bennett]

I'm tearing my hair (what's left) out!  The day after I did those test prints I tried to do a print of a bracket I want for my heli but got a "Card init fail" message on my screen.  I tried with a couple of other SD cards and got the same message, so then tried to connect to my laptop using a USB cable but Windows 10 Device Manager couldn't detect my printer.  I've initiated a warranty claim with Creatality (no reply yet) and to avoid delay I've ordered and received a 'quiet' v4.2.7 mainboard as a replacement. 

 

After I got that installed (quite simple, just disconnect and re-connect cables) and installed new firmware I once again can't get the Z-axis right.  I've followed the written instructions and YouTube videos (which say the same thing) and can't get the nozzle to Home any closer than about 10mm from the bed.  I see the following differences from the videos which make me think I may have the wrong firmware:-

 

1. When I Auto Home the nozzle goes to the front left of the bed, like it did before I had the CRTouch, instead of the center.
2. When I go to Probe Z Offset I'm not able to input negative numbers to bring the nozzle down.
3. There's no menu item for Level Bed, even though the menu has changed from what I had previously, and the CRTouch does light up and return to the up position.

 

According to a chart on the Creality website, the firmware I should be using is HW4.2.7_SW2.0.8.28_CRTOUCH_standard, but the only one I can find that's for the Ender 3 with 4.2.7 board and CRTouch is Ender3Marlin2.0.6HW4.2.7BLTouch which I've installed.

 

Can anyone with Ender3 4.2.7 motherboard and CRTouch, tell me exactly what version firmware you use, and where I can find it please?

[Allan Bennett]

Update

 

I'm still interested to hear exactly what firmware others are using for the v4.2.7 board, but in the meantime I've reinstalled my v4.2.2 motherboard since Creality replied to my warranty request by suggesting that the SD card contacts on the card or in the reader are possibly dirty, and that the other SD cards I'd tried were possibly too big for its 16GB limit -- they were, they were 128GB.

 

My original 8GB SD card couldn't be read by my Windows laptop so I reformatted it (having earlier saved its content) and tried it again in the v4.2.2 motherboard.  The spring that ejects the card initially didn't seem to be working, but after a couple more goes with me holding the card in place I was able to start a print.  After 10-minutes-or-so of that I stopped the print and then found out that the SD card socket was then working properly.  So, fingers crossed, I'm in business again.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Allan Bennett

[Paul Johnson 4]

Try this site Ender 3 firmware they ask a very small subscription. They also have a custom builder that allows you to select all the settings you need, and then some.