Layer shift multicolor idex
Hey everyone,
I’ve got a V-Core 4 (500 mm, IDEX) and I’ve been going through the full commissioning guide. All calibrations check out ok— motion system, squareness, tramming, belts, etc. Everything prints good in single-extruder mode.
The only issue I’m hitting is when I try multi-color printing with IDEX: I get a layer shift in the X direction.
Single-extruder prints or IDEX copy is good.
As soon as I switch to multi-color = consistent X shift.
Both extruders are aligned and calibrated according to the guide.
Also did the gantry skew and die VAOC according to the guide twice.
Thanks in advance 🙏
5 Replies
If you print in idex mode you need to do the VAOC calibration every time before the print. There is a good chance that there still will be a small offset. I personally have a small offset every time, but haven't fully calibrated my printer yet. Your issue is not uncommon
Thanks. Yes this is exactly what I did. _VAOC_REST and then calibarion of VAOC before evrey print but none ever had good X layers.
Y is absolutely perfect.
Understanding that you need to do a VAOC calibration before every print in the specific conditions (temp wise), how off should it be when you perform VAOC calibration? I having similar experience -- single toolhead print great, IDEX Copy or Mirror are great, but 2 toolheads in a single print never works. The x offset seems to be way off. Even though I do a VAOC calibration right before the print. It was completely calibrated as well but when I started a VAOC calibration is wasn't just a little off from the last time the calibration ran it was wayyy off. Almost like it's not saving or somehting. It's just wildly off every time I go to do a VAOC calibration, even if I've just completed one within 10 minutes. Any tips on how to fix this kind of thing?
Sorry @rms497, I’ve got the same problem so I can’t really help you there.
Is there a manual way to offset the VAOC?
Mine seems to be very consistent — wrong, but nearly always by the same amount.
Can it be that for heating up both toolheads meet in the middle and touch each other? I can't hear anything wrong, but it might be enough to cause a slight offset.
No, that doesn’t change anything.
For those who want to test, add the following to your printer.cfg:
[dual_carriage]
safe_distance: 75 # (higher values will throw errors during Z-tilt calibration)
I also tried skipping VAOC right before printing, but I still get the exact same offset. So it seems that the "actual" VAOC is not being used.
Update: I tuned it manually in ratos-variables.cfg (I know not the best Idea)
But now it works. So I think this is a software bug or I'm too tupid to do it right.
Good to know. So you can use this offset even when you turn your machine on and off or do you need to recalibrate it again?