Check Parallelism and Calibration

NOTICE

Always remove the platform before taking the material tray out of the printer. Failure to do so can result in material dripping down into or onto the printer causing failed builds and damaged equipment.

Equipment:

Process Calibration .STL File

To check, modify, or fine-tune the printer’s parallelism and home position, the Home Position Calibration Cubes.stl file is printed. The printer must be powered on for the duration of the parallelism calibration, and the home position calibration.

Note: Parallelism is achieved when the platform and material tray are aligned with each other. Home position is the lowest point of the build platform along Z-axis, it is the start position of the build platform for printing.

  1. Download the Home Position Calibration Cubes.stl file to the computer where the Live Build DLP software is installed.

Note: Home Position Calibration Cubes.stl is a file made of nine blocks, each block is five millimeters high. This file is located on the USB drive that is shipped with every printer, and in the Desktop Health® Knowledge Base.

  1. Open the Live Build DLP software and select a buildstyle.

  2. Import the .stl file into the software.

  3. Print the Home Position Calibration Cubes.stl file.

  4. Once the print has completed, check if there are nine cubes on the platform.

  5. If any of the calibration cubes are missing, press the Manual Debris Removal icon and remove any cured particles that settled to the bottom of the material tray. Remove the cured material and discard.

Post-Process Calibration Cubes

Important: Wear protective gloves for working with uncured printed cubes and measuring them.

  1. Gently remove the calibration cubes from the build platform using the scraper from the Starter Kit.

  2. Clean the calibration cubes.

  3. Place the calibration cubes on a clean paper towel lined surface. Air dry in ambient room temperature/humidity for 10 minutes.

  4. Take a close look at each printed calibration cube. The calibration cubes are labeled with numbers one through nine.

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Measure Calibration Cubes

  1. Each calibration cube corresponds to a specific area of the material tray:

    Measure the height of each calibration cube and write down the location of the calibration cube and its measurement.

    • If all the calibration cubes are within +/- 100 microns, then the printer is paralleled, and no further actions need to be taken at this time.

    • If all the calibration cubes are within 4.85 and 5.0 mm, then the printer’s home position is correct, and no further actions need to be taken.

  1. If the home position is correct and the printer is not paralleled, move on to the next section, Determine Adjustment Amount. If the printer is paralleled and the home position is not correct, skip to Calibrate Home Position or Automatic Home Position Calibration.

Determine Adjustment Amount

  1. Reference your values from section Measure Calibration Cubes to determine which side needs adjustment. Find the two extremes. One corner is most likely the highest and the opposite is the lowest. Adjust the highest number to make it lower.

Tip: Find the difference between the two extremes and divide that number in half. This is the adjustment amount.
Example: Cube 1 is 4.6 mm high and is the lowest cube. Cube 9 is 5.0 mm and is the highest cube. The difference between Cube 1 and Cube 9 is 0.4 mm. 0.4 mm divided by 2 is 0.2 mm. Cube 9, the highest cube, must be lowered by 0.2 mm.

Make the Adjustment

Parallelism is adjusted via the printer’s Set Screws and Driving Bolts.

The printer has four Driving Bolts located on the right and left sides of the material tray base. Manually remove the cover to access the Driving Bolts.

The printer has four Set Screws located on the right and left sides of the material tray. They are accessible through the material tray latch in a locked position:

  1. To decrease the calibration cubes height measurement:

    1. Turn the Driving Bolt counterclockwise (e. g. ¼ turn= 0.1 mm).

    2. Turn the Set Screw clockwise (e. g. ¼ turn = 0.1 mm).

  2. To increase the calibration cubes height measurement:

    1. Turn the Set Screw counterclockwise (e. g. ¼ turn= 0.1 mm).

    2. Turn the Driving Bolt clockwise (e. g. ¼ turn = 0.1 mm).

  3. Remove the material tray and set it aside on a clear paper towel-lined surface. Lock the material tray latches. Adjust the Driving Bolt and the Set Screw with the 3 mm Allen wrench. Apply adjustments cautiously and precisely.

Example: Cube 9, the highest cube in our example, must be lowered by 0.2 mm. ¼ turn equals a 0.1 mm adjustment. Cube 9 must be adjusted by ½ turn for a 0.2 mm adjustment. Cube 9 corresponds to the front right corner of the material tray. Adjustments should be made to the front right Set Screw and Driving Bolt. Use the 3 mm Allen wrench to turn the front right Driving Bolt counterclockwise ½ turn, then turn the front right Set Screw clockwise ½ turn.

Next Steps

  1. Install the material tray on the printer and lock the material tray latches. Print the Home Position Calibration Cubes.stl file again and measure the cubes. Adjust the parallelism again as needed.

Note: If parallelism cannot be achieved, contact Customer Support.

  1. Reference the measurements from section Measure Calibration Cubes. If the home position is not correct, continue to Calibrate Home Position or Automatic Home Position Calibration.