With many moving parts at play, ensuring that your Ender 3 can conduct the printing process successfully starts with maintaining the printer and calibrating it correctly before even starting a print, as an issue with the mechanical side of things can cause your print to fail even if there are no issues on the software side of things.
One component, in particular, that is quite prone to frequently causing problems for the printing process is the print bed, as the constant moving and interaction with the printhead can eventually alter its position and cause the calculations of your Ender 3 to become wrong since the 3D printer won’t be aware of the changes.
As a result, in today’s article, we will be going through the process of correctly leveling the bed of the Ender 3 in great detail, which essentially is one of the main pre-requisites of a successful printing process due to its impact on ensuring that the printhead positions itself correctly at all times.
So, how to level the bed of the Ender 3 as optimally as possible?
In a nutshell, we can describe the process of leveling the bed of the Ender 3 as adjusting the bed leveling knobs located under the print bed in a way that allows the gap between the print bed and the nozzle to be no larger than the thickness of a piece of paper when the printhead is at the home position.
Next up, we will take a deeper dive into the process of leveling the bed of the Ender 3, find out how to test the levelness of the bed to ensure that it’s optimally leveled, discuss how often to level the bed of the Ender 3 for best results, and finally, go through the automatic bed leveling capabilities of the Ender 3.
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How to Level the Bed of the Ender 3 (Pro/V2)?
Even though leveling the print bed is not a technically complex process by any means, the fact that it requires an extremely high level of precision is what essentially creates the issues that can stem from a bed that is not leveled correctly.
In this section, we will go through two different methods you can utilize to level the bed of your Ender 3, which are the manual leveling and the G-code leveling methods.
Manual Leveling
The manual leveling method is the standard method that first comes to mind when bed leveling is mentioned, which involves some clear-cut steps that you can easily follow to level the bed of your Ender 3.
Below, you can find the steps that you can follow to level the bed of your Ender 3 with the manual leveling method:
- Turn all the leveling knobs under the print bed all the way down (counter-clockwise) to lower the bed as much as possible. This process will ensure that the nozzle never hits the print bed during the leveling process.
- Preheat your Ender 3, which will ensure that you’re using the same conditions as the actual print for the bed leveling process. For this step, you can simply click the LCD controller once to bring up the menu, navigate to the Prepare section, and use the Preheat PLA option.
- Home the axes of your Ender 3. For this step, you can navigate to the Prepare section of the menu once more and use the Auto Home option.
- Disable the steppers to allow free movement of the printhead and the print bed. For this step, navigate to the Prepare section again, and choose the Disable Steppers option from the menu.
- Move the printhead and the printbed in a way that allows you to line the front-left corner of the print bed, the printhead, and the front-left bed leveling knob on top of each other.
- Place a piece of paper between the nozzle and the print bed.
- Start turning the bed leveling knob clockwise until there is little to no gap between the piece of paper and the nozzle. In an optimal scenario, you should feel the paper’s movement being restricted, but it should not be stuck between the nozzle and the print bed.
- Repeat steps 5 to 7 for all the remaining corners.
Once you’re through with all the steps, we highly recommend going through steps 5 to 7 a few more times, preferably covering each corner at least two more times, in the same order, which will ensure that there are no inconsistencies.
G-Code Leveling
While the G-code leveling method is less known, it’s actually an improvement on the manual leveling method in terms of user experience due to it largely automating the process of bed leveling by eliminating many steps that you would otherwise need to conduct yourself.
Below, you can find the steps that you can follow to level the bed of your Ender 3 with the G-code leveling method:
- Turn all the leveling knobs under the print bed all the way down (counter-clockwise) to lower the bed as much as possible. This process will ensure that the nozzle never hits the print bed during the leveling process.
- Obtain a bed leveling G-code file that is suitable for the Ender 3. For the purposes of this tutorial, we will be basing our steps according to this particular bed leveling G-code file.
- Start printing with the G-code file as if you were printing any other 3D model. We recommend using PLA filament for the best results.
- Wait until the printhead stops at one of the corners, which will cause the printing process to be paused until you manually resume it.
- Adjust the leveling knob under the corner where the printhead is currently positioned until the spacing between the nozzle and the print bed equals the thickness of a piece of paper. In an optimal scenario, you should feel the paper’s movement being restricted, but it should not be stuck between the nozzle and the print bed.
- Press the button on the LCD controller to resume the print.
- Repeat steps 3 to 5 until the corners are done (the printhead should stop twice at each corner).
- Wait until the printing process is completely over.
Once your Ender 3 is finished with the print, thoroughly observe each part to ensure there are no inconsistencies between any of the shapes that may indicate the bed is not correctly level.
If you have spotted any inconsistencies, print the G-code file again to level the bed of your Ender 3 once more, and repeat until the levelness of the bed is optimal.
How to Test the Bed Levelness of the Ender 3 (Pro/V2)?
Testing the bed levelness to ensure that you have leveled the bed correctly before moving forward with the printing process is the best way to spot a potential issue with the levelness of the bed and guarantee that you don’t waste any time and material on a print that is sure to fail.
Using a bed level test G-code is the most reliable and effortless method to test the levelness of your Ender 3’s bed, as it practically allows you to conduct the entire testing process automatically, requiring you only to observe the results of the test and make the necessary adjustments to fix the levelness of the bed.
For those who aren’t familiar, we can describe a bed level test G-code as a G-code file that is created explicitly for the purposes of making it apparent whether there are any issues with the levelness of the bed, which it achieves through prompting your Ender 3 to print some structures that span the entire bed, such as concentric squares or small circles on each corner (and the middle).
When a part of the test print does not look right, displaying signs that can point to an incorrectly leveled bed, such as the presence of gaps and holes or poor layer adhesion, you will immediately be able to tell that the particular area of the bed is not leveled correctly and that it requires fixing, which may not have been apparent with a standard print depending on its size and how its positioned.
As these bed level testing G-code files are created by the members of the 3D printing community, practically the same way as how any other 3D model is created, it’s possible to come across various options that can all test the levelness of the bed of your Ender 3 without issues.
If you are unsure where to start, you can find one of the most widely used bed level testing G-code files here.
How Often Should You Level the Bed of Your Ender 3 (Pro/V2)?
As the bed is highly unlikely to stay perfectly level forever due to various factors, having a good grasp of when it would be necessary to level the bed again is one of the most vital skills to have to ensure that you don’t face any issues related to a print bed that is not level.
While there isn’t a concrete figure that we can say is the optimal amount of time that you should wait before leveling the bed again, there are some basic guidelines you can follow to have a good idea of when it would be suitable to level the bed to ensure that there are no issues.
Practically speaking, you should always level the bed again after the occurrence of any situation that can have an impact on the levelness of the bed to be on the safe side, even if it doesn’t seem like the levelness of the bed is affected when you observe your prints.
Below, we have listed some examples of such scenarios that can impact the levelness of the bed, making it a good idea to level the bed again after they occur:
- Re-assembly or replacement of any of the components, such as an extruder re-assembly, nozzle cleaning, or build plate replacement.
- Moving the Ender 3 to a different area, such as placing it on a new table
- The application of physical force to the Ender 3, such as bumping into it by accident
- Removing an object that is stuck to the print bed
- Cleaning the print bed
Finally, it goes without saying that you should immediately level the bed again if you notice any signs of issues related to incorrect bed leveling, as further continuing the printing process with a bed that is not level will only create problems.
Besides these scenarios, our recommendation would be to routinely level the bed after each five to ten prints (you can go for less if you wish, but it most likely won’t be needed), as the moving parts of the 3D printer can slowly affect the levelness of the bed and bring it to a point where it’s not correctly leveled for a successful printing process anymore.
As an extra tip, we also highly recommend leveling the bed before starting a large print that will consume large amounts of time and material, as finding out that the bed is not level after spending a considerable amount of time and material on a print will definitely not be a fun experience.
Does the Ender 3 (Pro/V2) Have Automatic Bed Leveling?
As automatic bed leveling makes the process of bed leveling both more precise and effortless, essentially eliminating any potential issues that may arise due to a print bed that is not level without the need for any manual work, there is no denying that it’s a feature that makes 3D printing a lot more enjoyable.
Unfortunately, the Ender 3 does not come with the capability to automatically level the bed out of the box, presumably to save on manufacturing costs, as one of the primary strengths that makes the Ender 3 so popular is the fact that it is one of the most budget-friendly 3D printers on the market.
On the other hand, the good news is that it’s entirely possible to add the functionality of automatically leveling the bed to the Ender 3 by installing an automatic bed leveling sensor, such as the BLTouch, which you can obtain for a reasonably modest price.
While correctly installing an automatic bed leveling sensor to your Ender 3 can be challenging at first, especially if you have no prior experience with it, you will be able to enjoy the benefits of automatic bed leveling on your Ender 3 as if it already came with the functionality out of the box once you’re through with the installation.
Wrapping Up
Correctly leveling the print bed of the Ender 3, testing the levelness to verify there are no issues, and ensuring that the print bed always stays level before starting a printing process, are, without a doubt, skills that every Ender 3 user should have for a successful and enjoyable 3D printing experience.
To quickly recap, the process of leveling the bed of your Ender 3 is all about ensuring that the size of the gaps between the nozzle and all points of the print bed is roughly equal to the thickness of a piece of paper when the nozzle is at the home position, which you can adjust through the bed leveling knobs located beneath the print bed.
As achieving optimal bed levelness is all about patience and precision, we highly recommend taking your time and thoroughly inspecting the gap between the nozzle and the print bed at any point of the process to ensure that all is the way it should be, especially considering that a print bed that is not level will only cause more time to be wasted.
Happy printing!
Mike started his 3D printing journey with the Anet A8 when it first came out back in 2017, and has been obsessed with 3D printers ever since. Nowadays, he primarily uses his Ender 3 to print functional parts that make his life more convenient whenever possible.