PROBLEM Ultimaker S5 ''Active leveling could not be performed. Please check the nozzles and bed and try again''

[annikaskaaning 0]

Hi! I experience some problems with my Ultimaker S5. There is no problems with the model in CURA, men after I sliced the model and sent it to print, the print screen just says '''Active leveling could not be performed. Please check the nozzles and bed and try again''   I have tried to clean both nozzle heads with cleaning filament, manually calibrating the plate, unload/load same material, changing material, cleaning the glass plate, and so on. 

 

I use PLA wood filament for Extruder 2 and PLA white filament for Extruder 1 and have earlier printed with success. But now, the white PLA doesn't come out at all and the wood filament comes out, but it just makes curls around the nozzle head, instead of going in a 'straight cord''. 

 

Does someone know about this problem? We have experienced problems with the printer before, where we needed a technician to solve the it for us. 

[Carbon 29]

We are experiencing a similar problem on our S5, whereby the "Active Levelling....." throws up an error. The button is pressed to tell the printer the part has been removed, then then printer asks, "Do you want to print again?", we then press YES, and "Auto Levelling is fine after that.

 

It ALWAYS occurs after the printer has been inactive for a day or so.......the nozzle is free from plastic and is also clean.

 

Only started to occur after Cura Version: 4.13.0

Edited January 17, 2022 by Carbon

[Smithy 1,146]

It has nothing to do with the Cura version. Also technical it is not possible, because the leveling is a firmware feature, which kicks in before the gcode is executed. 

 

There could be several reasons for this:

• print core
• part fans or the wires of the fans
• sensor board
• a loose wire of the sensor board
• the bed height, when using the thumb screw (you could try to bring it a bit higher or lower)
• electrical interferences
• the lift switch of the printhead is not working correctly
• .....

It is really hard to find and to solve. I also have seen personally the issue you have described, that it is working after the retry.

 

You can also search the forum here for other postings and advises, there are a lot. Or just contact your reseller for further help. Unfortunately it is nothing where we can say, hey do xyz and then it is fixed. Sorry!

[jms396 0]

I have been fighting this issue for almost 9 months out of the 16 months I have had the machine.  I had that exact same error, went through all the same cleaning and maintenance to no avail.
 

Went through tons of tech support chats, sent pics and videos, unplugged the fans to rule out shorts, etc.  Ended up having to send it for warranty repairs in June which took over a month round trip.

 

The issue was diagnosed as a bad print head PCB.  They fixed it m, tested it, sent it back.

 

Within weeks of getting it back, a slightly different leveling issue came up.  It would not bring the bed up to touch nozzle 2 but it would act like it did, then touch off nozzle 1 and it would get a “height difference exceeds realistic values” and it would shut down.  
 

This happened randomly for a couple months but within the last month or two, this would happen on my first try of every print.  Then a couple weeks ago, it started happening more than once before it would go.  Another round of tech support led to another bad PCB diagnosis. 
 

So because I’m out of warranty now but it started before it was up, they sent me the PCB to install myself.  I installed this tonight and now it won’t run any prints. It will not go past the leveling. I just spent hours again, manual leveling, cleaning, unplugging fans, switching nozzles, using different materials.   Nothing works.

 

Gonna tear it apart again tomorrow to makes sure the install was correct and try again. If that doesn’t work, I’ll put the one I just took out back in and see if it acts any different.

 

I’m at a point where i just don’t know.  $10k to get a machine that you shouldn’t have to fight with and all I have been doing is fighting it. 
 

Are there flaws in the PCB’s?  What else do I even try?  I thought about buying a full replacement print head but that’s another $500.  

 

 

[gr5 2,265]

Wow that sound frustrating.  I have to tell you that most people don't have this amount of pain with leveling.  If I were you I would definitely switch to manual leveling.  There is a tool here to switch back and forth.  note that, at least for my version of the firmware, after I do a manual level the next time I print it hangs up at the start trying to warm up so I have to power cycle.  I think it has to do with the fact that the bed is still warm?  Nah - that doesn't make sense. 

 

Also you have to manual level pretty much after every change in cores unless you are very careful not to touch the 3 leveling screws at all after the first manual level.  how can you do that?  You just don't touch them, lol.  If you do move to manual leveling and you want to stop leveling every time you change cores you can ask me again later and I'll try to explain better I suppose.

 

 

[Ry-7hym 1]

On 1/17/2022 at 5:11 PM, Carbon said:

We are experiencing a similar problem on our S5, whereby the "Active Levelling....." throws up an error. The button is pressed to tell the printer the part has been removed, then then printer asks, "Do you want to print again?", we then press YES, and "Auto Levelling is fine after that.

 

It ALWAYS occurs after the printer has been inactive for a day or so.......the nozzle is free from plastic and is also clean.

 

Only started to occur after Cura Version: 4.13.0

 

For me the "Do you want to print again?" and pressing Yes , works for me. But it's still annoying.

 

Does it normally have to do with that the manual bed leveling was not performed correctly or something?

 

I'm using Cura 5.9.0-beta2 at this moment

Edited November 19 by Ry-7hym