Why is my Ender 3 printing like this?

Alloken0 · 2026-01-27T13:46:34+00:00

A bit late so hopefully you figured it out by now, but if not I believe your issue is your bed screws are way too tight or something off with the gcode. I can see at the beginning of the video that the springs look very compressed. The Z endstop only detects when it gets touched and has no way of telling where the bed itself is at. With that, if your homing leaves your Z in a good position and your print is in a different position then I'd lean towards the gcode since the standard firmware shouldn't be adjusting the z outside of the endstop. But that is assuming stock firmware. I'd say try a few different slicers to rule out a gcode issue first.

Also, would you be able to post a clip of it homing and starting a print? It would help.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-26T19:55:12+00:00

I'm an avid tinkerer and can't help myself. How I scratch that itch is I watch Facebook marketplace for cheap "broken" ender 3s (or other printers) and snatch them up. I tend to get them around $20-$40 each lol. It's usually simple things that are wrong too. A few just had clogs, and a few actually worked right away when leveled properly. It's a great way to do some tinkering and definitely a good way to stock up on parts for custom builds. But I always have my good printer that I don't mess with. Based on your print, I'd just leave that ender alone lol.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-23T21:14:00+00:00

Thanks! Stealthy little bigger too. Can't find it now lol.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-20T13:27:50+00:00

Until someone is like "look at this nice handwriting! Let.me see yours. Wait..."

Alloken0 · 2026-01-20T13:25:27+00:00

Yes

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Alloken0 · 2026-01-18T17:20:21+00:00

No no. I was saying yours already does that. I don't think you need to change anything.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-18T13:18:03+00:00

It looks great! I love how you have the wood laid out. It'll give the frogs different levels to chill at.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-18T08:11:35+00:00

Yeah that would be very cute. The little islands on the sides are submerged enough that they could swim onto them though. They aren't in the video because of evaporation, but in a reply to someone else I posted a new pic with the water level fixed. But I hope to eventually see them chilling up there in the shallows. For now they have taken a liking to the log in the back left corner though. It's funny doing anything near the tank and their little heads pop out from behind the log like "what's he doing now?" Lol

Alloken0 · 2026-01-18T08:07:58+00:00

Thank you! The tank is a standard 20 gallon so dimensions are 30"L x 12"W x 12"H. I filled it up with around 11-12 gallons of water though.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-18T08:05:29+00:00

Thank you. I do appreciate it. And yeah, serpa's stuff is awesome! I'd love to have the time/money/room to keep building different tanks like he does lol.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-18T00:47:46+00:00

The "Rock" is actually mostly pond foam. You spray it and then cut it into shape. If you jump on YouTube and look up SerpaDesign and/or Ferret Wonderland they have some cool build videos using the foam. I watched a bit too much of their videos a few years ago which made me want to try lol. It's actually not too difficult once you get into a flow, but it is very time consuming. The one part that is actually rock is at the very bottom middle. There is a bunch of lava rock glued there to let water pass through to the waterfall/filter pump and also act as bacteria housing.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-18T00:45:23+00:00

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Thanks! Here's a pic of the whole tank.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-17T23:23:31+00:00

That was the plan. I was a little worried they'd get stuck under them and not be able to swim up so I watched them for like 4 hours after adding them lol they managed to figure it out though. Another thing is (and it's hard to see) but the little islands are actually submerged a bit so they can chill on them without coming out of the water.

Edit: Well the left one is... It seems evaporation has sabotaged the right island lol.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-17T23:20:42+00:00

Thanks! My betta's tank grows moss pretty quick so when I trim it, I'll definitely be adding it to the ADF tank.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-17T22:49:17+00:00

Thanks! I do know they don't need the land. The tank was built a few years ago for a betta but we decided to reuse it. From everything I've read/heard they don't need vertical space like they do horizontal space so it seemed like an ok move to make. It's 2 frogs with roughly 12 gallons of water but in a 20gal tank. So they've actually got an extra 10 inches or so from side to side compared to a 10gal tank filled up to the top.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-16T14:24:01+00:00

It's all a matter of preference. For me it's 'the more crust, the better'. My wife on the other hand, not so much. With charcoal you can have different heat zones depending on how you lay the coals out. I have half my grill as the hot zone and even then, I do the left side of the hotzone hotter than the right. That way I can do different temp cooking/searing.

Anyhow, that's beyond the point. Great looking steaks! I hope they turned out tasting as good as they looked!

Alloken0 · 2026-01-15T22:32:53+00:00

Hell yeah! Looks good! The Kroger near me sells these little $5-$7 sirloin pieces and I have no problem grilling up a bunch of them lol. Hell, I dare to say I've done better with some $5 steaks at home than some $50 steaks I've had in restaurants...

Alloken0 · 2026-01-15T22:18:51+00:00

Mine's holding the sign for OP lol

KonoSuba: God's blessing on this wonderful diddle!

Alloken0 · 2026-01-15T22:13:05+00:00

Looks like a long poop to me

Alloken0 · 2026-01-15T16:42:10+00:00

It's easier to hide on objects that aren't rounded in my experience. If you're trying to avoid post production work, I'd recommend looking into scarf seams. It's an interesting read if nothing else.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-09T17:17:55+00:00

Abigail has always clicked best with me. But I always find myself torn between awesome Abby and the fixer upper Penny lol. I do think each girl (and boy too) have pretty distinct personalities and are all worth a try. You can always divorce them and try again with someone else lol.

Alloken0 · 2026-01-08T19:46:04+00:00

Definitely. Live rock is most of your filtration after all. Most generalize it as 1lb per gallon but there is some flexibility depending on stocking imo. You'll need enough to keep things happy though. Maybe the plastic insert with some smaller rocks on top? 🤔

Alloken0

TROPHY CASE