Help! noob in over his head with new ("used") Tenlog TL-D3-pro setup :-(

[minneapolis-matt]

I've taken all day to try to see if my "new" Tenlog TL-D3-Pro 3d printer ("acceptable" condition as rated by and sold by Amazon warehouse) is setup correctly, let alone works adequately.

So far the only damage I've been able to identify was a rip in the manual, and a scary looking chip on the corner of the glass plate pictured below. Of course until I can get it functioning this does not rule out further undiscovered damage.


20210503_102644.jpg

I'm stumped at leveling however. The video is quite clear, but when I go to the first corner the nozzle contacts the sheet and the glass alarmingly firmly and when as directed I loosen the wheel, the wheel falls off without breaking contact. In fact even loosening all of the wheels until they fall off fails to breaks firm contact with the surface. I figured the instructions and the video probably omitted to tell me I had to set the z-height first so I found an option for that, but unfortunately moving the z axis up even a single tap moves creates a gap of about a centimeter between the nozzle and the plate that i don't seem to have any hope of closing by adjusting the wheels.

So am I missing something?

I do note that when I chose the leveling option or if I choose the homing option the printer makes a gawdawful loud jackhammer noise when the extruder hits the left side limit and I know this printer has a reputation for being quiet. Is there something else I am missing? I really don't want to wreck this before I can even test it.

thanks for any help!

20210503_142252.jpg

For the record I have a better location set aside for it. I just needed to troubleshoot it close to the desktop.

[fred_dot_u]

I'm not familiar with that specific printer, but the three printers I've worked on that have adjustment wheels require them to be as tight as possible during the initial setup, not so loose that the adjustment wheel falls off. You should be turning the wheels in such a manner that the bed moves away from the nozzle until you can't move it any farther.

[curious aardvark]

right - you have it the wrong way round.

Tightening the levelling knobs LOWERS the bed and moves it away from the nozzle.

Loosening the knobs raises the bed and puts it nearer to the nozzle.

Normally:
Anticlockwise - left to roght. lowers the bed.
clockwise: right to left, raises the bed.

The jackhammer noise is caused by the endstop NOT being triggered.
Either:
1) you plugged in into the wrong socket
2) it's a faulty endstop
3) the print carriage is not triggering the endstop - ie: endstop in wrong place.

[fred_dot_u]

Normally:
Anticlockwise - left to roght. lowers the bed.
clockwise: right to left, raises the bed.

Note also that the reference for clockwise is taken from the underside!

[minneapolis-matt]

right - you have it the wrong way round.

Tightening the levelling knobs LOWERS the bed and moves it away from the nozzle.

Loosening the knobs raises the bed and puts it nearer to the nozzle.

Normally:
Anticlockwise - left to roght. lowers the bed.
clockwise: right to left, raises the bed.

The jackhammer noise is caused by the endstop NOT being triggered.
Either:
1) you plugged in into the wrong socket
2) it's a faulty endstop
3) the print carriage is not triggering the endstop - ie: endstop in wrong place.

Thanks!

I also found out why the homing was so loud. the E1 extruder along with its x-axis limit sensor is dead. Amazon is sending a new one. I'll have to wait for that before I can see if this $441 printer is a keeper or a $441 return to sender PITA

[minneapolis-matt]

dang. On the one hand I am very happy that after speaking to amazon about the dead E1 extruder they have sent me an $80 gift card to cover the expense of the $40 extruder replacement. On the other hand I am getting very pessimistic and uneasy about the noisy X-axis homing collisions. It is as if there is no photo sensor functionality at all for the X-axis limit detection and the troubleshooting guide and manual only seem to recommend re-checking the cable connections...which unfortunately seem nearly idiot proof. The long set of cables would almost certainly need to go to the x-axis as this bridge has a large range of vertical movement and the shorter cables would need to serve for the Z-axis as these connections do not have any range of movement to accommodate. There is really nothing else to get wrong on the connections and if it did work with the cables switched not only would the cable labels be incorrect but there wouldn't be enough cable slack for the extruder bridge to move more than about 4 cm up or down and the z-axis base would be left with a comically large 35 cm loop of cable draped over a fixed gap of about 3 cm at the gantry base. I can't definitively ID the X-axis limit photosensor or find a picture on the net but the picture below suggests the switch is the little "EE-SX6" module attached to the rail spool housing and if so I'm not sure what the arrows mean or how exactly it's supposed to work. Obviously there's nothing in the area that would move into the little interior pocket of the module so what determines the detection point? I'm frankly stymied as to how to troubleshoot this thing.

[fred_dot_u]

The general shape of the EE-SX6 is consistent with an IR detection module. Consider to move the extruder assembly as far away as possible, then power up. As the mechanism begins to move, insert a piece of plastic or paper into the slot to trip the sensor.

The statement that there's nothing in the area to move into the slot is fairly useful in this discussion. If the tripping causes the carriage to zero, you know there should be something to move into the slot.

[minneapolis-matt]

The general shape of the EE-SX6 is consistent with an IR detection module. Consider to move the extruder assembly as far away as possible, then power up. As the mechanism begins to move, insert a piece of plastic or paper into the slot to trip the sensor.

The statement that there's nothing in the area to move into the slot is fairly useful in this discussion. If the tripping causes the carriage to zero, you know there should be something to move into the slot.

Thank you!

It seems that I spoke too soon.

The small black tab barely visible on the lower outside of the extruder in the second picture now triggers the e2 limit switch on the right when homing by moving directly into the indicated slot.

Nothing seems to be able to get the e1 limit switch on the left to trigger however. is it safe to assume a high chance of successful repair simply by replacing the limit switch on that side?

I found the optical limit switch on the tenlog web site and ordered 2 of them for a total of $17 with shipping.

[fred_dot_u]

The switches from one side to the other should be identical. You should be able to swap them to see if the problem follows the switch. If it does, replace the switch. If it stays on the original side, replace the entire printer. Oops. I mean there may be a mainboard problem.

[minneapolis-matt]

The switches from one side to the other should be identical. You should be able to swap them to see if the problem follows the switch. If it does, replace the switch. If it stays on the original side, replace the entire printer. Oops. I mean there may be a mainboard problem.

Ok, when homing, the printer seems to always position the right (E2) side before the left side. Help me see if I understand the implications of this correctly. This means that even if I find that I can't get the sensor that I removed from the currently non-working left side to work on the currently working right side (a relief since the "bad" left side sensor working fine on the "good" right side says bad mainboard) I'm not going to readily be able to directly test that the currently working right side sensor will function plugged into the left side because if the right side doesn't properly home first I need to power it off. it seems clear the collision is not good for the printer and I certainly don't need to invite more damage. Similarly, I'm not sure I can verify the functionality of the Z-axis sensors or the y axis limit switch because it looks like those homing movements only occur after the X-axis homing.

So, if I verify that the left side X-axis sensor doesn't seem to work, what else might I be able to do while I wait for my E1 extruder and my optical sensors to arrive on a slow boat from China to try to look for show-stopping issues or pre-emptively replace parts on this thing? Nothing I can safely do to check the other homing movements?

Basically when these parts finally get here, I don't think I am going to have much 30 day return time left to order and wait for any further parts so I think if I can troubleshoot any other parts even before they get here I had better do so. but of course, I m a nearly clueless 3d printer noob. Is there anything I should do with the heated bed? Some kind of inspection of the nozzle? Anything

Thank you again for all of the help!