Kobra S1 Full Bed Test. First Layer Troubleshooting Guide.

If you're having problems with the first layer on your Kobra S1, this test and guide will attempt to help you identify and diagnose the problem. Let's assume that you've already completed following standard suggestions: Wash your build plate with hot water and mild dish soap (like Blue Dawn). Not alcohol - alcohol mostly distributes the oil and doesn't fully remove the oil. Make sure to use a clean sponge and scrub thoroughly to loosen any oils that are embedded in the plate's texture. Make sure your nozzle is clean and free of residual/crusted filament and debris. If not, heat the nozzle up and give it a good scrub with a brass wire brush. More specialized measures to make this more consistent including nozzle wiper mods as well as custom firmware mods to try and improve the nozzle wiping performance. This is outside of the scope of this guide. Re-run calibration and bed leveling With firmware mods you can tweak the printer to perform bed leveling at the same temperature you're printing at. This has potential warranty implications so proceed with caution. I've not tried this so this is an exercise for the user if you want to try this. I'll start by explaining how to read the first layer test. Then I'll explain the causes I'm aware of, continue to ways to diagnose the specific causes, and the end with the known fixes to address the problems. Instructions Use a standard high gloss filament - not a matte filament. Use a filament color that contrasts well with your build plate. (Don't print black filament on black plate) Interpreting Results You should see something like this when the print completes. Notice that you can already see bright points of light reflecting off of the build plate texture through gaps in the filament. You'll want to remove the build plate and hold this up in light to inspect it more closely. Below is my annotated image with areas that are high or low. Yellow - Low points. Visible gaps in the printed lines and the build plate texture reflecting