Cube 3 Producing leaning prints to 2 o'clock direction

[chimneyhillmfg]

Hello all!. This is my first post. I first discovered the forum when the hacked firmware was released a few years back. This community has been a wealth of information. Thank you.

Unfortunately, after keeping my Cube 3 stored away in its box for a few years, I decided to bring it out to see if it could swing a project I had in mind. After printing and completing the HubCap modification on one side, my HubCap for the other side wouldn't work due to a lack of contact with the chip reader.

?.

So my prints are leaning, maybe even slightly twisting to the 2 o'clock position. I have Auto Leveled the bed a few times and set the Z with a sheet of paper. My original purpose of using the 3D printer was to make very small match plates making molds for small parts, so my prints were never more than maybe an inch tall (on the z-axis I mean) or so, but I don't remember having such a problem.

As I mentioned, I have auto-leveled the bed quite a few times, from what I can see, it looks as if the build plate is visibly tilted towards the front of the machine. It looks quite off when the build plate is hanging out, like when a print is complete. It's definitely leaning downward of 0°. With the age of the printer, it's stock filament...

Not sure how to fix this issue. From what I've read on other printers, something is out of square. The frame of the Cube is internal and seems quite robust. The printer always passes the auto level. From thinking through the issue out loud (by writing this post) I realize I need to find out how to manually level the bed to the printer.

Does anyone else have experience with leaning prints on the Cube 3? My original plan was maybe to sell it for money to put on a new printer, but at this point, I've already put more cash into trying to save this thing than it's worth, and it's not even in a condition to give away. Kinda bummed.

Thanks for your help,
-Andrew

[TommyDee]

Print a 6" x 6" border. Two of the magnets under the bed are adjustable.

[dougk12]

Sometimes when my auto-calibrate is off and the printer doesn't detect it, I adjust pads 2 and 3 (pad 1 - upper left hand corner shouldn't be adjusted) one way a 1/2 turn and then re-run. Another auto-calibration usually lands on true, or close enough for me. TD has a great write up on how to get really leveled TRUE - if you have a weekend to blow

Long story short, nothing you mentioned makes me think the printer is damaged. To bend the internal frame, you'd have to do something to it that would destroy much of the outer components first. I've never seen or heard of that. Furthermore, all 3 axis' run on linear rails. Even the slightest bit out of "out of square" would keep at least one axis from moving smoothly. The z axis runs on two, so the most probable "out of square" would definitely prevent up and down movement.

Once you're calibrated - I highly recommend TD's plate locking frame to prevent the plate from twisting during print - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3803078

As long as you aren't printing with original PLA, you should be good! The OEM PLA is long expired and extremely brittle. You can use it in a direct feed printer but it will give you head aches trying to use in the Cube 3.