Printing nozzles not horizontally aligned.

hi - i'm just getting into 3d printing.

i bought a cheap printer just to start me on the learning curve - it's a CTC duel head - it looks similar to a makerbot.

everything looks ok apart from the printing nozzles - there is a difference in height of about 1.5mm or 1/16" between them.

i'm assuming that this is not normal & if so can they be adjusted? - i don't want to touch them without some advice - cheers

All printers have a method of adjusting nozzle height, you might have to go in there with an allen wrench and poke around a little until you find the right screw. I dont know anything about your printer but I am sure there is a jamnut on your nozzles somewhere that allows for elevation tuning.

Hi,

I had similar issue on my Flashforge Creator x, unfortunately there was no simple height adjustment screw, so two days after receiving my first 3D printer I was pulling apart the extruder assembly and then using a set of calipers putting it all back together again. The hardest part was being fully aware of the constant threats from the wife along the lines of if you cant get that back together and have wasted all that money don't think your ever buying anything again Blah blah blah. :rolleyes:

Geoff has posted some excellent info on extruders in Flashforge forum, and as long as you takes lots of pictures the process isn't as daunting as it can first appear.

Cheers

thanks for your replies.

i found a "jamnut" lurking behind each of the fans however i've not leveled the platform yet as its late.
however, it looks like it will be necessary to remove the printer head from its carriage & see how the nozzles lie (in height) with relation to the platform when 'loosely mounted' in the carriage again.
i'm assuming i should set the platform at intermediate spring tension for this?

cheers

You want the entire nozzle assembly as close to the extruder as possible. With the fans off, you'll note that you can raise the "cooling tower" all the way to the plastic extruder housing. This will give you maximum print size.

The added benefit will be you don't have to compress the springs as much, and pro-long the life of the wooden Z-axis bed.

Do not try to adjust the extruder level with filament loaded. For that matter don't even remove the fans.

The jamnut, is know as an hex key.

When you have the Bed-Level, then you can adjust both nozzles to the bed with 2 (two) pieces of paper under the nozzle(s).