Six popular ABL probes compared: Accuracy, price, wiring and more!
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- čas přidán 13. 05. 2024
- I was asked to try out an infrared ABL probe that I hadn't featured before, and compare it to popular ABL probes. In this video, I put the Aus3D IR Z probe, BLtouch, EZABL, superPINDA, Touch Mi and a miroswitch to the test to compare accuracy, pisces, ease of installation and more. The results are a big win for 3D printer owners overall.
0:00 Introduction
Previous video by Tom Sanladerer: • Autoleveling on 3D pri...
0:41 Why you might want an ABL probe
1:29 Selection of probes to be tested
Creality CR Touch: www.creality3dofficial.com/pr...
Video on manual mesh bed levelling: • Manual Mesh Bed Levell...
2:34 Testing methodology
Standard deviation wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standar...
4:38 Detachable microswitch
5:29 Aus3D IR Z probe 1.4
IR Z probe wiki: wiki.aus3d.com.au/IR_Probe_1.4
Purchase from Aus3D: aus3d.com.au/ir-z-probe
Purchase from 3defined (UK/EU): www.3defined.co.uk/products
Duet IR sensor: www.duet3d.com/IRProbe
6:49 Antclabs BLtouch
Product page: www.antclabs.com/bltouch-v3
My free BLtouch guide for Marlin webpage: teachingtechyt.github.io/upgr...
Purchase from Amazon: amzn.to/2Ozfby2
Purchase from Aliexpress: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_A4eE8G
Purchase from Banggood: www.banggood.com/custlink/vKG...
Purchase from eBay: ebay.us/xfwSXM
8:24 TH3D EZABL Pro
Purchase the EZABL Pro: www.th3dstudio.com/product/ez...
Previous video on EZABL Prol: • EZBoard Lite - The mos...
9:50 Prusa superPINDA
Purchase from Prusa: shop.prusa3d.com/en/spare-par...
superPINDA wiring: github.com/prusa3d/Original-P...
10:49 Touch Mi
Purchase the Touch Mi: www.hotends.fr/en/home/64-cap...
Previous video on Touch Mi: • Touch Mi vs BLtouch on...
11:59 Comparison of results
My results spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Human hair image credit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair#/m...
13:04 Which is the best?
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The graphical comparison at the end was a very powerful presentation of the data. It truly does help put the data into proper perspective!
Thank you. I was trying to stop people arguing by saying probe a is twice as accurate as probe b when in reality it's irrelevant.
@@TeachingTech this really did put things in perspective for the novice user.
I used almost identical mechanical homing switches on my 1st cnc.
FYI you're not measuring accuracy, you're measuring precision. Love your videos!
Yes, a followup video comparing accuracy would be great.
True. However, much like with thermistors, I think repeatability is probably more important than absolute accuracy (for these purposes).
Fair point. I was actually going to extend the video to look at how the measurements changed on cold vs hot beds and discuss thermal expansion but I think it would have muddied the waters and made the video less valuable for people trying to pick something they trust to work.
Does being the best ever get old? Every time I watch one of your videos, I find myself thinking "This is the best information I've seen on this subject"!
Thanks for this work! Very detailed and well explained. Good to know there are so many options out there with good accuracy.
Very well explained and putting the standard deviation into the right perspective.
Thanks for the good work.
Its good to see the standar deviation in perspective. Since I installed the bltouch, Ive had no more first layer problems anymore.
I’ve had amazing reliability since installing a BL Touch as well. Unfortunately can’t say the same about my previous EZABL, which would always trigger at different heights corresponding to the temperature of my enclosure, and the humidity in the air
Cool that you mention Tom's video about the same topic 👍
Thank you for the test. The last minute was important to understand the scale of the deviation compared to the size of an layer.
Great video and very useful information, thank you!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
May you and yours remain safe, healthy, & prosperous!
I've been using the Aus3d IR probe for 4 years! It's such a good probe. I have noted that weird light conditions can cause issues but this is super rare. I think the Voron Clicky Probe is where it's at these days though. Auto dock/undock, perfect accuracy and precision - works on any surface and costs a few dollars for the magnets and microswitch.
Excelent conclusion , thx a lot for the video, happy printing :)
I've been waiting for a video like that, thanks!!
"favourite probe" - immediately thought of UFOs and abductions.
Kinky
And I just finished watching Dark Skies movie
They can make you walk funny
Tentacles are the best kind prove be wrong lol
@@spencerhanson7808 damn I was gonna say that XD
Great follow-up video.
Great video
Thanks for sharing your expirences with all of us :-)
Since I'm using metal magnetic build plates, I'm using inductive probes and these have been the absolute best for my personal setup. I've used a BLtouch, but it died prematurely. I've only had an inductive probe die on me once and I've used 7 so far.
The underbed piezo sensor is at the second place for me, especially on the Delta printer. I enjoy using it a lot and it's very precise as well, but it's sensitive to oozing, causing premature triggers. So a clean nozzle tip is essential since you're using the tip of the nozzle to probe.
Ty, this was a good insight. I was especially suprised by the endstop one! I own a BLTouch, mainly because there are so many users, guides, firmwares, mods, for it.
That's an important factor that people might not consider when making a decision.
Fantastic review!! Thanks for the info.
Great resource video! The IR Z Probe 1.4 looks very interesting and as soon as I can get my hands on one I will be fitting it to one of my machines.
I’m looking for one too. Manufac says discontinued. I hope not
@@bruceyoung1343 There is another easy to find product. OBP704 should do the job in a similar way. Easier to mount and connect in the same way.
Me too
Best upgrade I ever added to my ender 5 was a ezabl probe. I rarely have to calibrate it because I always use the same build sheet even upgrading firmware I just put all my old eeprom settings back in and it's back in business.
BL touch for me - easy to install on an ender , works on any print surface and so far has been reliable . I would prefer a metal tip on the probe so it can't wear or melt - may look at modifying one one day . even if the unit dies it is easy to change it out for a new one which would take only a few minutes .
Which is the best Abl never gets outta trend!! Awesome content
Been using a BLTouch for a few years now, it was my first touch probe and it still works flawlessly. I have no idea about durability of other probes but I can say that this one is holding up quite well. This is an official BLTouch btw, one of the older models with a metal pin.
i really been wanting a metal probe i have the newest model with a PC pin and it keeps bending its actualy farely easy to bend back decently i have a glass bed and im not careful with my probe at all and it still works flawlessly and more than accurate enough for my printer
i can confirm, i have 4 pieces, one of them old with metal pin, none of them failed ever...
@@j.g545 I still use Hairspray on glass (why change it works perfectly). The only "problem" that I have is me, being stupid, spraying the bed when the probe is still close. When just a small amount of hairspray gets on the pin, I have to clean it off or it sticks in the stowed position. A 5 second cleaning job frees it right up though.
@@v1Broadcaster You could try creality's cr touch. Its wired exactly the same as a bl touch just with a metal pin
@@kenopyowo Also, It's optical instead of magnetic, and has slightly higher accuracy.
Michael, your videos continue to be THE BEST! I've never been interested in ABL probes until now. I'm off to see if you have more detailed video on installing a microswitch (if you don't have one, I'd love to see you make one) :)
I didn’t think using a limit switch as a probe would be accurate… but it’s low cost has me tempted to try it out
Check out klicky probe. It’s a pretty cool corexy limit switch probe that gets around the mounting issues seen here.
yeah, since i got the Flsun SR, i don't know why i bothered with the touchmi all this years.
Yeah, the only issue that actually was mentioned in this, but I think was slightly glossed over (no fault to Michael of course) is that, it doesn't have a deployable probe. This is what makes the BL Touch significant IMO. With a limit switch, you'd really not have much of an option but to use it as it's shown in the video -- magnetically attached only while probing, and then removed during printing.
@@daveabittner as stated, check out the Klicky Probe mod for Voron CoreXY machines, it is an automatically picked up and put away microswitch probe that is actually pretty easy to set up and use.
@@daveabittner This is 3D printing we are talking about, a locking probe could always be designed.
Great test, Michael. I would have liked to see a standard cheap 8mm inductive proximity included as a comparison to the expensive Prusa Super Pinda.
Agreed. The Super Pinda is just an inductive sensor. There are many of these ranging from a few bucks on Aliexpress to ones from Keyence that no doubt cost hundreds (I haven't ever bought inductive probes from Keyence, but I've bought their laser displacement measuring devices that cost thousands). Is the Super Pinda better than the
@@JonS my work gets them, marked up through wholesalers, for comparable prices to the probes in the video. We have thousands of keyence prox switches in my plant. I think we get them for 30-50 depending on size and cable type. That being said, I don't really know for sure cause I usually spend a few thousand a week on parts so I don't really check prices. We're just told to put x exact part back in if it ever breaks. Price just shows up when we select the part from our inventory. I do remember that they seemed cheap to me.
@@JonS I have a Prusa MK3S Clone with a FYSETC PINDA v2 clone. On my workplace, we have both a original MK3S with PINDA v2 and a MK3S+ with a SuperPINDA. The cheap one is really temperature sensitive (also in a nonlinear fashion) and therefore every first layer has to be observed and slightly adjusted. The original v2 also slightly deviates, but doesn't have to be adjusted usually. With the SuperPINDA, there is a new level of consistency, it is just press the knob and go without minding anything. So yeah, there are differences between inductive sensors.
@@kachler67 yeah, cheap inductive probes are very heat sensitive, to the point that you have as much as one layer height deviation or more between hot and cold, which for convenience purposes is really unacceptable. The Superpinda uses some clever electronics for thermal compensation hence the constant performance regardless of temperature.
I recently purchased the CR touch for my Ender 3 Pro. I love the look and it works very well. I HIGHLY recommend a firmware with the Z-Offset wizard and Babystepping enabled.
Is there any way you could show me how to get the CR touch working on an Ender 3 Pro. I cant make it work. I am very new at this and I dont know what or where to get the firmware. I have an SKR E3 V3 main board.I have it all installed and wired up, I just dont know how to do the firmware, would you be able to help?
@@nickp385 In my opinion, it is a swamp out there. I blew out the 8-bit board somehow (no idea), bought the 4.4.7 board and wanted bed levelling. I paid for compatible firmware. Getting a working release took weeks, a couple of them wouldn't even upload, others misbehaved with the ABL. Once I got it basically working, the interface and new features were undocumented. After some prodding, I was referred to a video to get me going on their z-probe offset etc., but written instructions would have been more useful.
Once I have my BLTouch height set correctly I have perfect first layers, I set it manually with the slots on its bracket, it takes a few tries to get the nozzle really close, once I am happy with the manual adjustment I usually add a single click down to get a good squish on my first layer.
Would love to see you cover the Euclid [mechanical] Probe.
It gives you all of the benefits of a microswitch probe, but automates the addition and removal of the probe to the print head
I just got a bl touch and I love it. Although installation was a bit of a hassle as I couldn't find a video for my printer with my specific main board. Had to peice together like 3 videos
It is worth noting that modern creality printers have a special plug for the BL touch now, greatly reducing the difficulty of use.
That AUS3D looks like a great idea as well!
For supported retrofits I prefer EZABL. The online firmware compiler streamlines the installation and makes it the closest to "plug and print" for me.
I agree. I have 2 of these and the notion of not having to mess with firmware source makes all the difference for me.
@@samernajia that makes up for the shit support and illegal warranties and poor quality for price
Thank you for the ending and putting the accuracy dimension into perspective ... out of interest what level of standard deviation versus say a 0.2 or 0.1 layer height would be material for the purposes of bed adhesion. Also the weight ... given the ranges ... how does this impact the print?
I have 2 EZABL (old mini version and new Pro). Price could be more user friendly :) But except of that I have to admit that Timm's product is great (especially a new Pro version). Great design, just love it, new leds for visual inspecion, very easy to use (once you know what you are doing - unfortunatelly mine start was very tricky and long - and here is a moment what is included into price - good support of TH3D team!!!! Occasionally they are willing to talk on topic related with 3d printing (not only EZABL) and they have huge knowledge on different background. )
Buing EZABL you have to keep in mind that in some cases (printers) you'll have to gound all stteper motors (my case) and PSU, level your printer manually on begining as close as you can get. Yeap , standard div. test might be different on range of temp. Not a big deal while you use always one kind of filament. Sometimes it's required to turn off bed heater (like in AC Keenovo heaters- again my case:) Another great adventage is fact that TH3D provided theris Marlin version compatible with EZABl sensor. I would be great to see support for other firmwares like Klipper or newer Marlin. I recommend. Regards TH3D team ;)
The Aus3D IR probe really is a copy of the original IR probe by DC42 as are all the variants available. The issues of different results white writing and glass surfaces are well known and documented and considered known issue :) but for most surfaces and setups it's very consistent as you found. One of it's big advantages is it's size, you can fit it really close and tight to hotends. Cheers
I'd like to try one of the Clicky probes that everyones talking about, but I don't know where their popularity is coming from, whether its accuracy, or just the coolness of the printer picking it and, and putting it away at the end. I currently have BLTouch, but only because when I first started out, it was the first thing that I heard of, the idea of auto levelling was so new that as soon as I discovered one, I ordered it before even learning how they work, or how to install.
I think the takeaway from this though, it really doesn't matter which one you use, they'll all work better than needed for FDM printing, so basically, go with which ever you already have, can get, can afford, or think looks the coolest.
You could also use these probes to perform surface mapping.
Piezoelectric sensors and wireless probes are pretty awesome too.
Hey Michael, I'm about to buy my first 3D printer and been watching all your vids. As I'm In Melb, It's great to see an aussie reviewer as Informed as yourself as It relates more to being here In Oz so great work. I'm leaning towards the Ender 3 V2 as a starting point unless you can suggest something else? I do like the Ender 5 Pro too. Anyway, let me know your thoughts. Cheers mate :)
I'm a bit disappointed you didnt test the Creality CR Touch. Others have reported it to be more accurate (technically). I was able to buy one on Amazon for cheaper than the BLTouch. The metal probe tip, more subtle lighting and modern design make it a better choice IMO. It also is plug and play (less a simple firmware flash on a 32 bit board) for huge population of Creality printers with the included metal brackets.
I've only ever used a BL Touch, but the idea of having a probe that does not have a delicate mechanical piece that can get damaged if a print goes awry is a nice concept.
Timely review! I have the original EZABL (not the pro) and I have to adjust the Z offset at each print to get to the level I need. I attribute this to difference of the bed temperature linked to leaving the probe near the bed or not. I am now looking at other technology and have not ruled out upgrading to the EZABL-PRO simply because it will be a drop-in.
Our Pro sensors have come a long way and we upped the polling rate on them by 6x over the older EZABL kits as well as better power filtering and easier hookup. Our opriginal EZABL probes were good, but the Pro is definitely better. Let us know if you have any questions about it!
I would give the pro a try . i have it on 2 printers and love them and you already are set up for it.
@@TH3DStudio I have 5 or 6 and am plan on adding it to my RatRig 400mm
I'm glad I found this comment. I have the exact same issue with the same version. I am looking at different options but will keep the pro in mind as well.
How about heat resistance when printing in an enclosure at ABS temps? My bl touch just died since i started printing in an enclosure, had to go back to z stop switch and manual mesh, perfect prints since then
First thought with the IR probe is the reflectivity and absorption of IR based on the color of the bed it's working against. Be interesting to see if the performance varies for a lighter vs. darker bed.
I don't think it would be much of a difference. The point is to get an even distance, it's not that important on what the distance is. The true test would be to see if it get variations in the result if you have a build plate that looks like a checkerboard.
I was surprised that the LED probe was so accurate. The angle of the LEDs causes the return signal to peak at a given distance, something I have seen in industrial controls. I don't think the brightness of the signal matters too much, just the peak. The electronics probably reacts to the percent change over time. The fact that there are two LEDs and two receivers also makes it more robust as the electronics will see the peak twice.
I am a controls engineer and finding accurate sensors for cheap is very difficult. Most sensors have published accuracy or repeatability values in the millimeter range at best. Lately I've been searching for a sensor that can detect the distance of a plate of glass with an accuracy better than +/-0.1mm. Most optical sensor vendors don't want to touch it, saying glass is too difficult. There are a few that cost thousands of dollars and can always measure the thickness of the layers of glass. But I'm just looking for the distance between the robot and the glass. Of course I'm trying to make the measurement without moving anything or touching the glass, so that makes it more difficult. I'm currently looking at two ultrasonic sensors, both have a repeatability of +/-0.375mm, of course temperature is a factor because the change in air density. So what I mean by all this is that the optical sensor in this video is remarkable.
IR doesn't work like that.
The post installed bl touch on my ender ran flawless until one fine day it decided to let drop the pin and crashed in the print. The reason must be a loosen contact for the magnetic coil which is lifting the pin. Since the standby position of the pin depends on power, it's a little risk on the Bltouch to ruin the print and the probe.
ezable probe for me best upgrade ive ever bought for my printer, calibrating the probe is as easy as a tiny twist of the screw and u never have to adjust again. if you use the ezable with solid mounts its a set n forget setup never needs adjusting.
Nearly 100 prints with the CR Touch on my Ender 3 V2. It's been pretty much flawless so far, my only criticism is that the metal pin vibrates a fair bit when printing, and the noise is quite noticeable.
I've had the same issue too, I thought it was something within the body itself but it makes sense it'd be the pin. something that has helped in my case is fidgeting with the mount. Im not sure about the stock metal mount as im running the Hero Me Gen V and I made a custom mount for it since none were made, and with a little fidgeting of how tight the bracket is to the body and how tight the CRTouch is to the bracket, I've all but eliminated the vibration. I think it's the same case as your 3d printers feet, you need a good mix of dampening and elasticity and that should get rid of the vibrations.
Yup. I love the cr touch though. I couldn't print for shit without it.
maybe you can install an O-ring to steady the vibrations?
I had a "problem" with the IR probe, it triggerd differently on the white creality writing on the standard Creality glassbed than on the black bed background
Very interesting, thanks for posting.
Black plastic and iR is a bad combination since iR light will pass through it.
You can try this yourself. Take a piece of black electrical tape to cover writing. Now take an image with an iR camera like a security camera in night mode. Woops where did the tape go?
I found the same thing, writing, textured PEI, glue, sunlight, LED lighting all effect it, its basically useless, its responsible for destroying a small list of gear now, including 2 build plates, o and a magnetic sticker, as that surface wont reflect properly, so it drives the nozzle into it hard, totally garbage, I would only recommend to someone I hate.
Temperature drift is also VERY important. My PINDA clone heated up around 2 degC while probing the bed, which caused the measured distance between the first and the last points to be off by around 0.1mm IIRC, and you could see on the mesh, how the measured distance changed.
Aw, you should've tested piezo sensors!
I use a piezo setup now, and I'm so glad I switched to it from inductive bed leveling. It's way more accurate, and not having a probe offset is great. The only downside is that it's not really plug-and-play. It took some experimenting with mounts and configuration to get it all down (you need a mount that bends the disc to be the most accurate). Once you have it down, there's nothing more accurate.
What mounting system did you use?
I kind of like the Creality one.
It looks good on their printers and it's essentially an upgraded BLtouch in terms of build material.
No more bend pins when things go bad.
Love my trusty BL touch. I have thousands of probings across multiple printers without a single issue. I can't speak for any other brand cuz I've never used any of the other ones but the BL touch is a good one
I went thru 3 and gave up. Too complex solution to a simple problem.
@@mattlogue1300 hmm. What was happening to them?
I'm using microswitch from the Z axis endstop with allen key as a probe tip, which I manually deploy when leveling bed. Works very well, 0 cost as almost everything comes with the printer, you only need some long wire and print additional part to mount it. Never had problems with first layes. Leveling takes a while as my bed is so wrapped that I need to make 7x7 probing points, but I'm doing it not that often as the bed seem to hold it's place very well. Downsides - you need to deploy the allen key every time the printer is homing, but it's not that much of a deal. It probably could be configured to use Z endstop, which I mounted anyway in parallel so it doesn't crash into bed if I forgot to set allen key in place.
I upgraded to the Super Pinda on my Prusa Mini. It works very well for me. I also think it is much more reliable and consistent than the Minda probe which it replaced.
EzABL all the way. I think TH3D makes the best 3D printing upgrades in the market. They may be a little bit more expensive but when you add all of the filament and hours you will waste, trying to get things tuned, they end up being the cheapest. Not to mention that they have the best tech support second to none.
One good one that is missed here is the duet smart effector which works great for deltas, surprisingly missing since using a delta but also a lot more difficult to add. Its one of the best delta options though
Thanks, very useful. I bought an inductive probe for my voron build, but I think I'll swap to a klicky one, I was worried it wouldn't be as accurate, but your video as shown otherwise.
I have an EZABL on my first Ender 3 V2 and a BLTouch for the Ender 3 V2 I'm building tomorrow. I like the EZABL, and I look forward to to BLTouch.
I am super interested in this topic thanks for doing the video. Shame you couldn't do the flex sesnsors as well.
It would be interesting to do a comparison for CNC. The general consensus is not to use proximity probes for zero reference, yet in these test it was shown to be very accurate.
30mm/s is also a lot faster than what CNCs home at too.
There needs to be a follow-up test, accuracy across probes at a single point at a single point in time is important, but as you see, there is so little difference it's a tossup. Where the different probes can actually make a big difference is in Z homing/Z offset between prints. A set temperature may still get ten probes with little to no deviation, but probe across ten different temperatures and you will have a different DISTANCE from the bed that the probe triggers (and I don't mean just the expansion of the bed, I mean a variation in nozzle height over the bed that the probe triggers at) making consistent 1st layers between different prints visa vi Z offset problematic.
Indeed, I've had something similar (not necessarily a problem on the probe, but could be) when printing different materials. PLA, ABS and PETG all seem to require different Z offsets to stick properly and not smear too much the 1st layer so it doesn't blob. What I ended up doing to compensate this, is find the best Z offset for one material, leave it there, and compensate on the 1st layer flow percentage. This way I just enable different profiles for different materials on the slicer, and all works without messing with the printer itself, not to mention not like some fraction of 0.2mm matters in the height accuracy anyway.
So much this. Temperature dependency can make a seemingly accurate probe feel maddeningly inconsistent.
Came here to write the same comment. Cap touch probes seem to be the worst for this. They will even give you different offsets with minor room temperature variations.
If you calculate or even measure the difference in Z offset between, say 190C (the lowest you'd normally use for PLA) and 240C (the highest that would be safe with a PTFE-lined hotend) you'll find it's very small - in the same ballpark as the standard deviations. What certainly will make a difference is the amount of squish that's ideal for different filament types. It's well-known, for example, that PETG likes less than PLA, and that's what changing the Z offset is good for. If you have a decent slicer, you can set an extra Z offset there, which is what I've done for all my PETG profiles. The optimal amount is significantly bigger the standard deviations Michael measured, or that would be accounted for by thermal expansion.
@@pnt1035 it's bed temperature differences that cause problems with the capacitive probes. I've seen 0.5mm differences between room temp and 50c.
I have an EBABL on my CR-10s and a BLTouch on my Hypercube. Both work great and the only difference is that on the Cr-10s I have solid bed mounts and the Hyper I have bed springs. Being that the Hyper was built by little ol' me, I can't guarantee perfect squareness of the bed frame so having the option to adjust the bed was necessary. However, after lots of tweaking, i was able to get the bed leveled enough to have a beautiful first layer. And, strangely enough, I have noticed that on the Cr-10s, I have a better first layer when I use 3D Gloop then when I use Magigoo - go figure!!
Great video. Any hints on adding one to cocoon create touch
I use the BLTouch 3.1 because I felt mechanical was better. Worked great for a few years but lately I've been having issues with the sensor not detecting bed height, cancelling bed leveling, and then beginning the print which resulted in the hot end scraping the plate.
I'd be interested in how much the trigger point changes between different surfaces, surface finishes and color (in case of the IR sensor). I have two different offsets in my Prusa MINI. One for the textured and another one for the smooth sheet. The BL-Touch on my (heavily modified) ENDER 3 doesn't care what it's probing, so I can quickly swap between glass, steel, polypropylene ...
I use an inductive sensor (and raw analog hall effect sensors for my endstops). So while i love my inductive sensor for my cast aluminum bed with PEI sheet there are some draw backs that just aren't going to change.
Number #1 is i can't make use of magnetic flex beds unless i carefully pick probe points that don't interact with their magnets. #2 Tilt matters, the field coming off the induction probes are typically two lobes (oblong spheres) which isn't labeled in any way. The detection pattern for most of the useful distance would plot in an oval or more like a peanut shape in 3d, which isn't an issue for their typical use (and why the detection object is usually specified as at least the diameter of the probe). This means the probes will be more sensitive to tilt in some arbitrary axis (well, where ever the center line between the two lobes is) compared to a corresponding perpendicular axis. #3 probe speed matters (much more than temperature until you probe real slow). This is the switching frequency or response time on a spec sheet and the probe will not necessarily switch state faster than this so any movement is unaccounted and increased speed reduces your precision. This variation probably won't show during testing until you go to print unlike temperature change testing if you do not have a dial indicator mounted alongside the probe to see it. (I need to mod a dial indicator with an inductive probe one day for an awesome quick and dirty probe for less effort than modding a $30 harbor freight digital probe or legit digital probe that costs more than many printers, feel free to beat me to it and share ;) ) Most inductive probes switch at 500hz until you you break the ~$60 retail price point for industrial sensor to get 1khz to 3 khz ( next price point is like ~$150+ and specs can get to 5khz). So the faster you're probing the larger the distance variation between trigger intervals.
I use a M8 sized all metal probe , an ie5390 i grabbed off of ebay for like $30 and it operates at 1khz. I currently get under .005 mm bed leveling results on my delta running a duet wifi.
For physical switchs, oddly the best repeatability I tested was actually a switch I pulled from a spare sanwa arcade button I had, much better than a limit switch although definitely not as rugged. It still makes me want to test cherry mechanical keyboard switches as probes, they have a precise trigger point for consistency and are designed for way more operations than I'd naturally probe without doing tests.
Prusas have no issues with a magnetic bed, so either the SuperPINDA is something immune to magnets. Or because they designed the whole thing, their leveling grid is simply laid out in the firmware so the probe never senses near a magnet.
Speaking of magnets though, I have seen some magnetic beds that use a whole magnetic sheet, verses the singular rare earth magnets like a Prusa. I wonder if anybody has tried to exploit that and use a sensor like that from a home security system for doors and windows. those commonly just have a magnet on the door and a microswitch is pulled closed when the door is closed, or pulled open. Either way when the door is opened the switch state changes and the alarm goes off if armed, Makes me think that could be exploited for bed leveling in the magnetic sheet setup.
I use the BLTouch and the main reason is so I can change my bed from glass to metal to cardboard if I want and it will still be accurate and usable. I absolutely hate the pins! Well, I hate how much those stupid pins cost to replace!!!! Seriously! Anyway, it does work and it seems to last a long time as long as there are no catastrophes happening.
Great video as usual! I am getting caught back up after having a couple surgeries (unplanned) so hoping to learn even more :)
The bambu x1 shows how it's done with the piezo under the bed! So unbelievably simple, and makes bltouch and similar contraptions look like dinosaurs.
I own and operate a small print farm (4 Artillery SWX1-v4) which have been modified using a fixed height (no springs) heated bed (Artillery glass), and BLTouch probes. All 4 printers are setup exactly the same, use the same firmware, and run at different intervals depending on print load. I have run this setup since August 2020, with no major malfunctions.
I used to run an ABL every week at the start. Now, I run the mesh and store it around every 3 months or so. All beds are fixed to the Y axis plate, and deviate less than 0.01mm throughout heat cycles. I still probably run an ABL way more often than I need to, more for piece of mind than anything else.
I don't see any deviation between print cycles, and the mesh tends to be very consistent throughout all machines.
The only time I see a need to rerun the mesh cycle is when during seasonal transitions such as spring/summer, summer/fall, etc. The changes in ambient temperature and humidity, even with factory heated glass beds, tend to affect the ABL Mesh more than anything else.
Since making the modifications to the printers, I consistently run at 100-140mm/sec speeds using the factory Titan Aero clone hotends and Volcano nozzles. Belt tension and v wheel tension is most important to stop ringing and ghosting, but are quite manageable.
Good job
always have gone bl touch its just the most broadly used so usually if i have a problem or need a mount a solution already exists
Been using genuine BLTouch since they were first released. Other than some issues with the early V3.0 that were quickly fixed. My only issues have been self inflicted :D
Will you also do a review of the pyr0ball/pyr0piezo ABL sensor?
Excellent comparation! Where I can buy the temporal micro switch?
I'd love to see you do a review of the cr touch.
Interesting video. I am going to buy my first 3D printer this autumn (here in Sweden autumn is on it's way, would love to visit my Mum and Bro in Adelaide for a couple of months now 😂) My choice has fallen on the Prusa I3 MK3S+ with the MMU tho, so the probe is already a given. I saw a video where they thougt the BL Touch was very slow when calibrating compared to the EZABL but I'm sure other, more knowledgeable peeps, can confirm/deny it. It would have been interesting to see included in the tests, a comparison of calibration times and number of points. Time for calibration is significant if you calibrate before every print, even tho it may not be a long time in my life it can be frustrating to wait longer than needed. Like everything today, it isn't about the real wait/safety/health, it is about the perception of the attributes😁
Nevertheless it is interesting to see comparisons like this 👍
ice video i have a question for you have you tried the smart effector for your delta ? would like to know your openion on that compare to the BL touch
Can you please do a video on how to use a limit switch for bed levelling?
it would be nice to get a video on how to make a stopper switch work as a abl from start to finsh
So, how would I go ahead and obtain/build the simple microswitch sensor you showed here?
One of my printers came with an IR sensor (not the AUS3D, just a generic IR Prox sensor), and I found that the color of the bed or print surface caused distance variations and would cause the print to fail on the first layer).. I discovered this when I had to replace the factory black print surface and got a "name brand" with fancy graphics and color and the printer basically either started printing in the air or dug it's nozzle into the printbed. Blue painters tape also caused the sensor to see yet another distance.. I tried everything to fix the thing but because it had an R-Pi with a customized Octoprint as an intermediate controller for its touch screen, it was a pain to mess with its firmware and I eventually just gave up on the printer...
what about FSR under bed probing using the nozzle. Works great on my delta
Its worth mentioning that the BLTouch (and clone) pins themselves can be fairly easily replaced and are available for cheap (2 Eur a piece). No need to replace the whole probe if the pin breaks off on a failed print.
Michael can you do a video talking about installing DUAL linear rails on the X and Y axis? I know you did a video on installing normal ones, but I heard that there are even more advantages from using 2 sets of rails per axis.
I run the EZABL Pro on my CR-10 S4 with a glass build surface and it works quite well. It was easy to install and gives me a very repeatable mesh. On a stock Creality machine running TH3D firmware, it's a really good option.
they break much easier than the bltouch and support is illegally short and shite
@@MGMutt
Sounds like you had a bad experience with the EZABL. If you don't mind me asking, what on the sensor broke?
@@soggynode the actual probe part I believe, spent weeks back and forth with support who refused to even help, despite me initially contacting them within their illegal 3 month warranty. eventually they just told me to f*ck off and read the documentation again, like i had done 20 times. It worked fine for all of about the 3 months it was warrantied for, and quit. the issue was that the sensor kept getting really random results and would gauge into the bed at random times, ruining nozzles, hotends and the bed.
@@MGMutt Dang, that sucks. Printers can be fussy enough without adding that kind of drama into the mix. Thanks for the detailed description of your experience. That's far more helpful than people just saying something is terrible without saying why.
I designed something like the touch mi that attaches to a $5 inductive probe. It works great +-10um on my textured glass bed. Be careful what you wish for. Creality plastic V rollers are not actually round with high height resolution.
Have you tried another easy to find IR product. OBP704. This one should do the job in a similar way. Easier to mount and connect in the same way.
My printer uses FSRs under the print bed and just pokes the bed with the nozzle. It took me 3 years to figure out how to properly use it but ever since it's been perfect. I have it run the leveling for every print, it only takes a few minutes
I had no doubt all would be more than accurate enough, but i think you missed some key things:
1.) Probing across the bed instead of just doing probe accuracy in the same spot, since bed temperature and topography varies based on coordinate position. This also affects point 2.
2.) The quality of the sensors and their wiring/electronics, sensors with cheap wiring etc could have significant emi issues that effect them, ive seen it many times with BLTouch users since it has no shielding on the cables at all. Doing probe testing with all the steppers and fans etc on would be more accurate of a test for this point and #1.
3.) Overview of overall firmware setup and installation for each probe.
4.) Support, in terms of mounts for specific hotends/printers etc.
Cool. I see you're using the FLSUN Delta? Do they still use cheap plastic screws to hold the bed down? That was my first printer until the bed came off. I'm using the TH3D EZABL on my direct drive Ender 5 now. Love your videos.
Perfect timing. I am looking at an auto BL unit. Ill probably go with a BLTouch but Im wondering if there is much difference with the different brands available. There seems to be a huge price difference between them. They can go as cheap as about $20 on eBay to $60-100 on Amazon and up $130ish through Australian retailers. Ive seen the ANTCLABS one from only 1 Australian retailer but Ive found them to be very unreliable.
would be great to test them on strong magnetic beds like the one from mandala roseworks and stronger mag beds, which one is less effected by the magnets
what type of sensor is best in a heated chamber of up to 100 ° C
This was a review on the SuperPinda store page --- What they don't tell you about the SuperPINDA
What they don't tell you about the SuperPINDA:
As advertised the SuperPINDA as a higher quality, temperature-independent probe, compared to the PINDA. However, it has an important disadvantage compared to the [original] PINDA - slower bed meshing times.
The higher quality of the SuperPINDA comes at a cost of slower speed. The FW setting for the SuperPINDA bed-levelling probing speed is at least two times slower than the same setting for the PINDA. Also, there is a delay in getting the SuperPINDA to a stable temperature level.
The result is that mesh bed-levelling with the SuperPINDA takes a lot longer than with the [original] PINDA.
22 out of 25 people found this review useful.
I have used an EZABL clone for some time with OK results on my Ender V2, board 4.2.2. Now, as I have converted the Ender to direct drive, the inductive sensor has a problem: It turns on as soon as the stepper motor system is energized, regardless of distance to the bed. When I disable the steppers - or if I wait for 120 seconds so the steppers turns off - the sensor turns off again. The problem seems that as the direct drive has the extruder stepper close to the sensor then that sensor is affected by the magnetic field introduced when the stepper system is activated. To solve this I might have to select a sensor that is not affected by magnetic fields. As you are not particular about the drive system (bowden or direct) when doing the comparation I thought I should mentione this.
I have a question. Some probes are not influenced by temperature fluctuation. But isn't it better to first heat the bed, and then perform ABL because of the deforming of the bed?
I was wondering if there was a way you could make a upgrade path like if you have a bltouch is there a probe to upgrade or do you even need a upgrade?
I have just moved away from the BLTouch because the pin kept warping when printing ABS. Now I have a inductive sensor and works great. To be honest, I don't know why I even bought a BLtouch as its complicated for no reason. Its has mechanical moving parts which aren't required when you look at other options.
I would like to know what bed level sensor can handle 250 Celsius air temperature
Any chance you can take a look at these probes in a heated chamber? I know pinda and bltouch crap out above 50c or so
I have a bl touch on my shark v2 and it gets bent super easy and I don't know why. I replace the pin with a straight one, do an auto level, it still looks straight but a couple days later it's slightly bent again. I don't auto level every print just when I switch bed types so I don't know what is causing it to bend.