E-Steps are one of the commonly neglected settings on a 3D printer that if the setting is incorrect you will get crazy results from your 3D printer.
The simplest way to calibrate the E-Step is to pass 100mm of filament through the extruder and then measure the extruded filament to see if it is actually 100mm long. You can then calculate the new E-Step by taking the old E-Step value times 100 then divide it by the length of the extruded material.
If your E-Steps are not calibrated properly your prints will likely come out looking like this.
What Is The E-Step On A 3D Printer?
The E-Step value on a 3D printer is a calculation that tells the extruder the accurate amount of filament to pass through the hot end. If your e-step value is too low the extruder will under extrude filament and if the value is too high the extruder will over extrude filament.
There are two popular methods to calibrate your 3D printer e-steps. The first is mainly for bowden extruders and the other for direct drive extruders.
How To Calibrate Your 3D Printers E-Step. (Bowden Extruder)
The bowden extruder E-Step calibration is very similar to the direct drive calibration. The main difference in the two calibration strategies is the bowden extrusion is more accurate and you don’t have to mark up your filament.
What You Will Need To Calibrate Your E-Step Using The Direct Drive Method.
- Filament
- Calipers
- Filament Cutters (Typically your 3D printer comes with cutters)
- Calculator (There is an E-Step Calculator lower in the article)
Step 1 – Heat Your 3D Printer Nozzle.
Heat up your hot end to 200°C.
Not every printer requires the hot end to be heated to extrude material but the Ender 3 does require the hot end to be heated for the extruder to move even if there is no material loaded.
Step 2 – Remove The Bowden Tube From The Extruder.
Remove the bowden tube from the extruder end of the tube. You do not have to remove the bowden tube from the hot end side, only the extruder side.
Step 3 – Load The Filament To The Extruder.
Load filament to the extruder and cut the end of the filament at the edge of the extruder to give a clean end.
Step 4 – Extrude 100mm Of Filament.
Extrude 100mm of filament through the extruder and then cut the filament at the edge of the extruder.
Here are the steps to move the extruder for an Ender 3 Pro.
Motion > Move Axis > Extruder > Move 1 mm > Scroll to + 100
Step 5 – Measure The Extruded Material.
Measure the length of the piece of extruded material that you just cut from the extruder.
I have found that it is easier to measure by holding the material against a flat surface to straighten it out, then using calipers to measure the length.
As you can see in the photo below my filament measured 94.10 which obviously is way under 100mm
Step 6 – Collect The Previous Extruder Steps Per MM.
Collect the previous extruder steps per mm.
The Ender 3 is default 93 steps per mm.
Step 7 – Calculate the new E-Step Value.
Similar to the direct drive E-Step Calibration the bowden E-Step calibration is calculated by the old E-Step value times 100 / the actual length.
In my case 93 X 100 = 9300 / 94.10 = 98.8
Step 8 – Input Your New E-Step Value.
Input your new E-Step value in to the Steps/mm page
Configuration > Advanced Settings > Steps/mm > E steps/mm.
Don’t forget to store the setting!
Step 9 – Double Check Your New E-Step.
Double check your E-Step value by extruding another 100mm of filament through the hot end. Cut the filament at the edge of the extruder.
Your E-Step should now be calibrated and 100mm of extruded filament should now read almost exactly 100mm with calipers.
A small amount of variation is normal but you should be within ±1mm of the 100mm nominal.
How To Calibrate Your 3D Printers E-Step. (Direct Drive)
What You Will Need To Calibrate Your E-Step Using The Direct Drive Method.
- Filament
- Marker
- Calipers
- Calculator (There is an E-Step Calculator lower in the article)
Step 1 – Heat Up The Hot End.
Heat up the hot end of your 3D printer to the correct temperature for the material the you intend to use. If you are using PLA preheat to ~200°C and for PETG preheat to ~235°C.
Step 2 – Load The Filament.
Load the filament to your extruder. The filament doesn’t have to be running through the hot end for an accurate E-Step calibration.
It is recommended to use a lighter color filament like white, light gray, yellow, or tan.
For the most accurate measurement do not use a flexible filament like TPU.
Step 3 – Measure 110mm of filament from your extruder.
Measure 110mm from the opening of the extruder and make a small hash mark with your marker.
We mark the filament at 110mm in the case that the 3D printer over-extrudes past the 100mm mark and hides the mark that we created.
Step 4 – Extrude 100mm Of Filament.
Extrude 100mm of filament through the extruder. This is the moment of truth to know if your extruder is actually calibrated to the right mm/step.
Theoretically, when you tell your machine to extrude 100mm of filament exactly 100mm of filament will pass through the extruder so if you get more or less filament you know that you will need to make an adjustment to your E-Step value.
Step 5 – Measure From The Extruder To Mark.
Measure the distance from the opening of the extruder to the mark that you created with the marker. If the E-Step is perfectly calibrated the distance from the extruder to the mark will be 10mm.
Any distance more or less than 10mm means you need to make an adjustment to your E-Step.
As you can see below my printer measured 16mm from the extruder to my mark.
Step 6 – Calculate The Extruded Distance.
This is NOT your new E-Step Value!
Subtract the distance from the extruded to the measured mark from 100mm and then add 10mm to that number.
So if the distance from the extruder to the mark is 17mm then.
100mm – 16mm = 84mm + 10mm = 94mm
If the distance from the extruder to the mark is 8mm then.
100mm – 8mm = 92mm + 10mm = 102mm
I have created a calculator as well to make the process less painful!
Step 7 – Collect The Previous Extruder Steps Per MM.
YOu will need the original steps per mm of your extruder to calculate the new E-Step value. All Ender 3 machines have a default of 93 extruder steps per mm.
Here are the steps for an Ender 3 Pro to see your current extruder steps per mm
Configuration > Advanced Settings > Steps/mm > E steps/mm.
Step 8 – Calculate New E-Step Value.
The E-Step Calculation is the previous extruder steps/mm times 100 divided by your measurement. The default extruder steps/mm on an Ender 3 is 93 steps per mm.
For the first scenario where the calculated distance is 93mm.
93 x 100 = 9300 / 94 = 98.9 steps per mm.
100 is the new E-Step Value.
For the second scenario where the calculated distance is 102mm.
93 x 100 = 9300 / 102 = 91.2 steps per mm.
91.2 is the new E-Step Value.
Here is a calculator to help calculate your new E-Step.
Step 9 – Input Your New Extruder Steps Per MM.
Input your new extruder steps per mm into your machine interface on the steps/mm page.
Configuration > Advanced Settings > Steps/mm > E steps/mm.
Don’t forget to store the setting!
Step 10 – Double check the results.
At this point your E-Step should be calibrated and you will be able to make another mark at 110mm, extrude 100mm of filament, and the mark should be 10mm from the extruder.
Conclusion.
Calibrating the E-Steps of your machine is something that every person should have in their knowledge toolbox if they are running a 3D printer.
The E-Step can make or break a good print and there is nothing more frustrating than checking a print after hours of work and discovering a lumpy mess.
