Two plates. Only one works.

[Roblivingstone]

Hey guys.  I replaced my FEP and purchased a second build plate from Amazon in the same order.  I level the new plate and it works fine.  I use the instructions book (one page) to cover the lcd.


All prints work fine with new fep and new plate. But the old plate seems to not work anymore.  It goes down and sounds like the printer bottoms our because it keeps trying to go.  So I loosened off both bills and re levels that older plate with the same method.  It continues to have the issue. The new built plate continues to work.


Is the fep to tight potentially or should I level the old plate, zero the machine home on the settings and the re level the new plate? Or will that even work?

I used a audio measurement app to measure the fep tightness based on its sound when tapped. (An older photon videos advice)

[cliffyk]

Can you post photos of the bottom sides of both platens?

This has to be an adjustment issue, are you 100% certain that when you aligned the "old" platen you loosened the lock screws enough to allow the platen to swivel and move vertically within the holder?

Do not use the "Z=0" function after mechanically aligning the platen. It should not cause a problem--but stranger things have happened.

Here is my recent post regarding the "Z=0" function and my email exchange with Elegoo support.

Here is the most recent Mars user manual (version 20190722), from the USB drive that came with my newest Mars (received May 7, 2020--a silver one, not that that should matter).

Note that the manual platen alignment process (In the "Unbox and Test" section) makes no mention of the "Z=0" function. I have read some reports (unconfirmed) that the menu option is "grayed out" or gone on the very latest machines. Elegoo support's lukewarm responses to me regarding use of the function lead me to believe it may have been eliminated