Resetting Autocalibration Height

If you are using an Allevi 1 or an Allevi 3, you may want to alter your printer’s autocalibration settings.

Resetting Autocalibration Height

1. First, connect to your printer using the software as normal at bioprint.allevi3d.com.
2. Do a standard autocalibration with no build surface placed on the bed plate.
3. Insert your desired build surface.
4. Manually calibrate to your desired build surface, ensuring that the extruder is in the desired starting position in all axes. DO NOT hit the calibrate button! Your printer needs the non-zero coordinates of the extruder.
   • For more details on manual calibration, check your printer’s Quickstart Guide.
5. With the extruder in place, navigate to the ‘Advanced’ section at the bottom of the software.
6. Open the g-code console in the ‘Advanced’ section.
7. Enter the command M428. The ‘M’ should be capitalized and there are no spaces. Carefully enter M428 exactly and nothing else.
8. Hit the send button to send the command.
9. Now you can hit the calibrate button to finish the manual calibration.

The M428 command takes the difference between the original autocalibration height and the current extruder height to adjust the z-offset for all future autocalibrations. Note that this change affects autocalibration for all types of build surfaces as well. You can always change the settings again by following this protocol.

Example

Joe wants to start using a petri dish with a thin layer of PDMS coating the base for all of his upcoming experiments. To avoid having to manually calibrate for these altered dishes in every printing session, he decides to change his autocalibration height. First, he starts to run this protocol and positions his extruder. He notices that the current z-axis coordinate in the position section is 0.20 mm, the height of the PDMS layer. Joe then finishes the protocol. His autocalibrations for petri dishes are now positioned perfectly over the modified PDMS dishes, 0.20mm higher than they would have been. If he were to try to use a 6-well plate, autocalibration would also be 0.20mm higher than the usual 6-well setting.

If you have any further questions, contact the Allevi Support Team by email at [email protected].