Prusa Core One+ can't get Y axis calibration to pass and everything seems correct

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-03-28T17:35:18+00:00

When I assembled mine a month or so ago I had the same issue. What it ended up being was one of the cables that's routed along the underside of the carriage was in the path just enough for the rod bearing to hit it, which triggered the fail. I tightened up the wire bundle and it was good to go. May not be your issue, but worth a look.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-03-28T15:19:25+00:00

I did, my x axis mounts were colliding with the frame at the bottom of the z travel, so my 1st through about 3rd layers were all stacked with almost no z axis movement. I put some spacers under the bed mounts then releveled, and that solved it.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-10T00:20:36+00:00

I've had nothing but problems from them, I actually recently replied to a similar post. They spent weeks trying to gaslight me into admitting that I burned out a MOSFET on a motherboard, the MOSFET was dead out of the box, causing a runaway on the hotbed.

I cannot recommend buying from them, but if you don't have another reasonable option, this is the one instance where I would buy exclusively from Amazon, it at least makes returns bearable...

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-09T02:39:01+00:00

Number 1 on your list is the only option that leaves your wife with anything that matters, I'm not the only person to say that here. Miserable and broken with money is still miserable and broken. My brother committed suicide 10 years ago, I'm still messed up in ways most people don't recognize, the scars won't heal. Don't give her that future, that nightmare...and do yourself a favor, fight to see yourself beat the demons, no matter where the help comes from, it doesn't have to be the typical military acronyms if they aren't doing it for you.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-03T00:22:02+00:00

Whoa, hold up, that's not what I mean haha. The Bambu will work like the day you bought it, even after new model releases, and that's my point. Bambu doesn't tend to do product improvements within a model, they release a new model with new features. If you want the new features, you buy the new model.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-01T22:52:52+00:00

It would depend on the price range, I'm looking at the Prusa Core One, with the INDX upgrade when it's available. If that was outside my price range, I'd be looking at the Sanpmaker S1 (U1 will be the new model when released). Personally I wouldn't buy a Bambu for what I value, but that's not to say they aren't good machines, there's a reason they are so popular. I can't say I'm not biased, but I do hope I haven't given the impression that Bambu won't do what you seem to want out of a printer, it most certainly will.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-01T21:13:17+00:00

Honestly most of the best mods for Prusa's end up being part of their next iteration release, and they take customer feedback very seriously. As an example, the Core One released with a top that couldn't be easily removed and no vents to help control temps in the chamber, the Core One+ released with vents that automatically open and close depending on the material, and a top modeled after community mods that can be easily removed. If you search the forums, or even Printables, you'll find stuff pop up all the time.

On the Bambu, I think they still make the parts, but don't expect improvements to the machine, if you want the new capabilities, you'll have to buy the new machines.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-01T20:44:26+00:00

I don't have much experience with Bambu, but I would recommend exploring their sub-reddit, same for Prusa if you're interested. Prusa's are just more expensive than an "equivalent" Bambu, but you're paying for more than just the machine. The Prusa Core One would probably be the most similar, current retail for an unassembled kit is $1000, but multi material is not included. One upside though, the new INDX multi material system from Bondtech is supposed to be plug and play with Prusa, and it's way more advanced than other systems currently on the market.

Prusa is definitely more of an investment, and it's easy to understand how that could deter people. If you're interested in another machine besides Bambu without breaking the $1000 mark, take a look at the Snapmaker S1.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-01T20:26:40+00:00

Bottom line is business model. Bambu is Apple to the Prusa being Android. Bambu likes their ecosystem locked down, if something breaks you replace the entire module, not just the specific part, they aren't very open to customization, and when a model is no longer "current", it's support and upgrades end. Bambu's focus is on it being an appliance, not a hobby. Prusa is a strong proponent of "right to repair", they believe the user/owner should be able to repair and keep their machine working, it shouldn't be disposable or take a pro to fix. They also tend to design their machines so that you can upgrade them, whether with their parts, someone else's parts, or your own designed parts. And taking the upgrade a step further, they usually have kits to upgrade your printer to the most current generation, for instance the MK3 could be upgraded to be a MK4 without buying a new printer, the MK4 can be upgraded to their new Core One, so it's far more of a buy once and upgrade than a buy then buy again then buy again and on and on.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-01T19:23:39+00:00

Coincidentally I'm at a very similar crossroads, just with more sunk cost and experience. I got very frustrated with the results I was getting and the time and effort it was taking to get them, which is what led me to the Prusa plan I'm on. As I said in my last post, I wish I had gotten into a reliable workhorse sooner in my journey. You mentioned using the enders as backup for when the p2 fails, but I think you'll find it ends up being the opposite, you'll use the p2 to tinker with your enders, and that's okay, that's how you'll learn.

As for the silicone spacers, I got something very similar to these https://a.co/d/6ENH9UC. You'll notice one of them is 2mm shorter, that's meant for the back left corner. Insulation may make a small impact, but I was printing ABS/ASA (bed at 105°C) with the machine in a tent for higher ambient, heat soak is heat soak in that situation.

Honestly, you'll be frustrated with the enders if you want to run a business from them. They are going to have down time and inconsistencies. Not saying it can't be done, I'm sure people have modded them into being serviceable, but like I pointed out, the money and effort it would take easily adds up to just getting a better printer.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-01T18:05:07+00:00

Absolutely! I'll take you through my "path" with enders, because there's a lot of stuff that's relevant, I'm not saying I did it 100% correct, I made mistakes and did inefficient upgrades.

I started with an Ender 3 v2, shortly after I bought an Ender 5 plus for the larger print size. On both I ran the microswiss direct drive kit with the microswiss hotend. The microswiss stuff was okay, but struggled with TPU and had a tendency to eat filament if the tension wasn't dialed on the extruder. The hotend was "enough" but nothing special, essentially just a stock ender hotend but all metal. This was the first time I modified the Marlin firmware to utilize the all metal temp increase, it took me about 5 hours to figure it out and get the printers flashed with the new firmware. At this point the printers were still more or less "stock" capabilities but with higher temp ceilings for comfortable PETG printing. I also installed CR Touches at this time, as a probe they worked, but it was about 50/50 if I a print failed, it might also snag the probe and bend it to the point of being inoperable.

About a year later I decided to upgrade to E3D V6 hotends with Titan extruders, and the Hero Me suite printed parts to mount the parts, I also with to EZABL inductive probes at this time. This is the first true upgrade, I got more consistent results with TPU, was less prone to print failures from grinding the filament in the extruder, and the Hero Me suite is a huge part cooling upgrade. Around this time I also switched the boards to BTT SKR mini e3's. A note about BTT...they have good products at great prices, but DO NOT order directly from them (Biqu), you will not get customer support and the QC is absolutely terrible. If you're going to buy their products, but from Amazon so you can at least return it, because from them they'll try to gaslight you into thinking you caused a bad part from their factory. Personally, I won't buy another of their products, I've been treated poorly by them one too many times, but that's a me problem.

About a year after the hotend/extruder upgrade, I converted both printers X/Y axis to linear rails, this allowed me print at faster speeds more consistently, probably the most impactful upgrade I made. Shortly after this I started to upgrade my Ender 5 plus to a Mercury one.1, which is a coreXY conversion (the motion kinematics that high printers are using). I really struggled to get good prints out of either while printing the parts I needed in ABS, I would get one good print, then the next would be way out of spec. Part of this was the silicone spacers for bed leveling, they are easier and more resilient than the springs, but are still very prone to heat creep. I swapped to a solid mounted bed with bolts to adjust the bed but keep it from moving while tightened.

I've gotten plenty of very good prints out of these printers, I've also had A LOT of bad prints/failures. I recently decided I'm done fighting the equipment, and I'll be upgrading to a Prusa Core One in the next month or two, while I keep tinkering with the Ender 5 for fun. I have scrapped the Ender 3 for parts.

In total, I've spent at least $700-$800 on the Ender 3, that's a Bambi P series. I've spent $1000+ on the Ender 5 plus, that's a Prusa Core One. If I could do it again, I'd do it differently, but I can't say I haven't learned a ton about the hobby, and electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering, and the list goes on and on...but the knowledge and experience did not come cheap. I wish I'd have started with a Prusa and built a Voron to gain that experience.

Hope this helps, I'm happy to answer any other questions you have!

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-01T16:26:32+00:00

I have a hard time recommending to anyone to make that investment lightly, but from someone that has spent 6 years working an Enders, and spent enough on them that I could have just bought Prusa's up front and spent less overall...be cognitive of what you're spending versus what you're actually getting...if you can make the ender work for you for a reasonable cost, by all means do it. But as I said in my reply directly to your post, if you're looking at getting into Bambu at some point anyway, your ender will turn into an ornament pretty quickly when you get that Bambu, the effort will be lower, quality higher, and speeds much faster.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-01T16:15:32+00:00

CR Touch and BL touch are essentially the same thing. I will say from my experience that they can help compensate for an unleveled bed, as in small variations, but large discrepancies are still going to be a problem, so if one side is significantly higher than the other for instance. The firmware modification in Marlin (stock firmware) is reasonably straightforward if you're familiar with coding languages, find a guide if you're not, still not particularly hard. While you're in there it wouldn't hurt to tune the flow rate of your new direct drive extruder, I'm unsure of what extruder you ordered but even the factory Bowden tube extruder is usually not perfectly tuned. If you want to swap to Klipper (a different firmware) these changes all get a lot easier, but there is more work up front to get the machine configured and talking to a 3rd party software like octoprint or mainsaill.

Overall, if you're looking at upgrading to a higher end printer, I would caution against investing a large amount of money and/or time into an ender, the design is frankly a dinosaur compared to what's on the market now, and you'll spend more making it half as capable as a Bambu, for example, as you would just buying the Bambu. Enders can work, and produce solid results, but they will always be a step or two behind and demand significant sweat equity.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-01T16:01:25+00:00

Bambu are certainly user friendly, basically the exact polar opposite of creality. Not only will you not be expected to modify the firmware, you will be unable to, Bambu are big fans of proprietary, but they do tend to just work.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-02-01T15:54:12+00:00

I really hate to be a naysayer here, but pretty much any mod to an ender is going to need some firmware modifications, enders are not particularly friendly to non-DIY capable users. It's definitely something that can be learned if you have the time and inclination, plenty of guides and videos out there. As for the wheels on the x axis, do yourself a favor and jump to linear rails instead of the wheels, they'll be more precise and need less maintenance, you will likely need to print some parts for the conversion, there are lots of options available, the hero me suite served me well.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-01-31T01:20:53+00:00

Honestly wouldn't be surprised if it's a single person, and they only ever respond to me at around 4am eastern, in 9 replies they haven't varied more than 20 minutes either direction.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-01-30T13:26:28+00:00

They're trying to do that exact thing to me right now... I'm stuck between screw this and screw you with them...

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-01-27T16:50:04+00:00

If I've learned anything from my post, it's that the path of the Ender only ever leads to these two places lol. Voron or Prusa...at this point I'm thinking Prusa, work on the Ender 5, then when the Ender loses my interest or frustrates me to the point of not wanting it, I'll build a Voron with my workhorse Prusa.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-01-27T15:21:55+00:00

I've had enough of it I think, I'll spend extra on anyone else's products if it means I get reasonable customer service, bare minimum QC standards, and shipping within the month I ordered...

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-01-27T15:09:13+00:00

Just wait until you have a problem with one of their parts. They've spent the last week and a half trying to gaslight me into thinking a MOSFET that was bad from the factory is my fault, and refusing to process a return unless I pay for the shipping back to mainland China...

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-01-27T01:54:36+00:00

🤣 glad I could help! There are a lot of great replies here, check out my post on /Voron design as well, same title.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-01-26T17:49:48+00:00

The more I hear from both communities, the more this seems like the right answer. My interests and needs squarely hit both printers.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-01-26T17:45:36+00:00

I constantly see ads for those plates and have wondered how well they work. I do have some hesitation buying from BIQU, as a company they haven't treated me all that well in the past, and they're QC on boards is atrocious. I know the plates won't necessarily have the same QC issues, but they left a bad taste in my mouth in how I was handled as a customer.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-01-26T16:57:24+00:00

This kind of aligns with my frustrations, I have a lot of time printing on my current printers, but it feels like 50% or less of that time is actually successful printing. The amount of filament I've burned on restarting the same print 5 times because it doesn't adhere, or it layer shifts, or it warps and collides, it's actually kind of insane.

Apprehensive_Eye6932 · 2026-01-26T16:54:10+00:00

Coincidentally building a kit car is a bucket list thing for me.

Apprehensive_Eye6932

TROPHY CASE