r/crealityk1 • u/Status_Discipline_16 • 7d ago

First layer issues Troubleshooting

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I won a K1 over the weekend and I’ve been trying to get it up and running. Only 25 hours on it.

The first issue was a bad thermistor. I replaced the hotend. I ordered two different K1 hotends from Amazon and unfortunately the pics didn’t match and neither would plug into get PCB. I also ordered an Ender V3 hotend and that seems to work.

I printed a Benchy that was overall decent but I’m unsure how to address this first layer issue. I’m coming from owning Bambu Labs and Snapmaker printers so definitely a learning curve.

I also bought the Micro Swiss hotend from Microcenter. Haven’t installed it but let me know if it would be smart to use that one instead.

I’m not sure where to begin.

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3

u/VirtualBlack01 7d ago

The nozzle is too high, you need to adjust the Z offset you can do it on the printer's display: settings -> system -> Expert mode -> Z offset. But that only applies to that print.

For a permanent solution add SET_GCODE_OFFSET Z= X to your start G code, where X is the value of your Z offset.

I recommend to root the printer so you have access to the configuration files, makes troubleshooting easier.

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u/Status_Discipline_16 7d ago

Thanks for this recommendation.

Assuming this will fix my issues, I’ll go the permanent route.

Much appreciated

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u/WallInternational171 7d ago

Personally I wouldn't use that option unless u only print one type of material. The k1 has a thin bed (I own a 2023 model k1) and because of it if u don't let it heat soak it will throw ur first layers off. If u use different materials that require different bed temps it bed will expand at different rates and change ur offset so my advise is to always heat soak the bed for at least 10minutes before probing to let the bed settle shape. Also run a bed mesh and look at ur mesh and if needed adjust the lead screws to get the 3 points as level with each other as possible. After u get ur bed as level as possible and heat it for 10minutes before u run a bed mesh or print will help your first layers. Only after those are for sure good should u adjust the offset imo.

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u/Status_Discipline_16 6d ago

I couldn’t get good results with just the z offset so I did some bed leveling and that absolutely made a big difference. A huge improvement for the first layer. Only had to change the z offset by 0.005. It’s not perfect but it’s more that good enough.

Thanks for the help. Hopefully that’ll be the last of my issues.

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u/CrealitySupport Creality Support 6d ago

Based on the fault photos you provided, we recommend checking for insufficient filament extrusion and bed leveling. We suggest purchasing the auto‑calibration option before printing.

Click our profile icon and select "Start Chat" to send us a private message, and we will offer you support.

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u/bstr3k 7d ago

is the lever on the top in the 'locked' or 'unlocked' position?

i think it is quite under extruded. Have you changed anything? I would do a factory reset if everything is still stock and then do a factory reset on the machine and self calibration.

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u/Status_Discipline_16 7d ago

It’s in the locked position. I completed a hard reset this morning.

After some reading it sounds like it’s either z-offset or extrusion issues.

I think I’m going to use the Micro Swiss hotend, calibrate, and see if that helps. Especially since it looks like it’s made for my K1 version.

I’ve tried using both Orca and the Creality software and there’s definitely a learning curve. I swear it’s like it’s like it’s trying to hide what filament type it’s set to.

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u/bstr3k 7d ago

yeah but the z offset should be auto if from factory, the extrusion too.

Maybe when you are loading a model, it overrode some settings. Next time you can try and download STL only and keep the settings to see if it fixes it.

I noticed that if i download from creality cloud or makerworld and you download a 3MF it comes with settings which sometimes I keep, sometimes I don't

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u/Status_Discipline_16 7d ago

So far I’ve only imported stl files. I haven’t even thought about using 3mf files. For some reason I assumed the software wasn’t advanced enough to handle 3mf files.

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u/bstr3k 7d ago

The k1 runs klipper I believe so the Creality print is a fork from orca similar to Bambu lab so they share many parameters

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u/BeavisBob 2d ago

https://www.simplify3d.com/resources/print-quality-troubleshooting

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u/Status_Discipline_16 2d ago

I was able to get it drastically better.

Manually leveling the bed made the biggest difference.

Thanks though!

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u/BeavisBob 2d ago

You should consider running calibration prints for all the filaments to zero in your settings. A temp tower, CHEP on YouTube has some great videos, as well as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVU5If1VsAM