The distance between the printing bed and the printing nozzle directly affects the printing quality. Leveling the backplane is inevitably the most important step before you start printing. Although almost all 3D printers have flat surfaces, the distance difference caused by the nozzle moving on the XY axis can easily lead to printing failure. Fortunately, the user can use the manual leveling device to adjust it to the correct position, while using the automatic leveling device BL touch is more convenient.

What is BL touch?

BL touch is an open-source intelligent 3D printer automatic leveling sensor, which can accurately measure and adjust the distance between the base plate and the printer nozzle in an easy-to-use way. The complete BL touch device includes a microcontroller, an electromagnetic switch and a pushpin probe in contact with the bed.

Through the cooperation between BL touch device and its firmware, automatic leveling is realized.

How does BL touch support auto leveling?

Because the function of BL touch is to detect and correct the distance between the printer nozzle and the printer base, the BL touch device must be installed near the nozzle so that the proximity sensor on the BL touch device can achieve high precision and high sensitivity. Accuracy. Similar to optical stops, BL touch also uses optical principles. Once the leveling process is triggered, the sensor checks the printer base and nozzle by detecting different specific locations on the print platform.

Distance between. During this process, the data is collected and transferred to its firmware, and then whether to adjust the print bed to its proper position on the XY axis is calculated. In short, the BL touch auto leveling device optimizes the distance between the printer nozzle and the printer platform with a few small adjustments. The more suitable the nozzle height, the better the adhesion and printing quality of the base.

Other types of sensors - Comparison and differences

1. 3D touch

3D touch uses technology similar to BL touch, which is a physical probe used in combination with Hall effect sensors to make it a clone of earlier versions of BL touch. Is there any difference between 3D touch and BL touch?

Price: the price of the original BL touch sensor in Korea is a little higher than that of the 3D touch sensor made in China. The price of the former is $50, and the price of the latter is $25.

Connect: the user must create a wire extension for the 3D touch to connect it to its board, while the BL touch has all its wire extensions. Make sure that all connections are correct during assembly.

Components: BL touch sensors and 3D touch sensors are Hall effect sensors in the heart, with a pop-up pin that contacts the bed and attempts to determine the distance between the bed and the sensor. The back of the BL touch has a socket type connection, while the leaves of the 3D touch are welded. They are fixed to the sensor type and the height of the pin can be adjusted if necessary.

Statistics is collected from 10 sets of 50 tests of each lengthy four random motion settings that are done on the same printer. The conclusion is that the average deviation of BL touch is slightly higher than 11 microns, while the deviation of 3D touch is almost 32 microns, so it is more accurate.

2. Inductive probe

The inductive sensor uses the electromagnetic induction principle to detect or measure objects, which makes the sensor physically contact the building board during the leveling process. Because the inductive probe can only be triggered when it is in contact with metal. BL touch is more convenient. It can be applied to all kinds of hotbeds not only on metal, but also on plastic.

3. Physical microswitch

The microswitch is a small sensor that can measure or sense anything moving. The actuator can be triggered by air flow, weight, physical contact or action. Because its sensing relies on physical components that cannot be fully wear-resistant for a long time, the accuracy and reliability of microswitch is not as good as BL touch.

4. Optical stop

The optical block functions by light, so it has the same accuracy as BL touch. Because of complex components and complex firmware settings, optical terminals are especially like strangers for users, especially for entry-level users.

More than one advantage of auto leveling with BL touch

In addition to the BL touch device for automatic leveling, the most simple and feasible method of bed leveling can also be realized by manually leveling the bed leveling screws equipped on all 3D printers. The user must tighten the screws again and again until the levelness of the printer base is tested.

Compared with manual leveling, BL touch automatic leveling brings more advantages than you think.

Simple

BL touch has a small and simple structure, which can be easily applied, so that the user's printing experience is better. Once BL touch is installed, you can upgrade the printing experience. According to all3dp

Sources from:

https://creality3dpro.store/blogs/news