3DPrima

Introduction:

Creality has updated the mainboards for their K1 Max 3D printers to accommodate a change in the X/Y axis motor size. This change has resulted in two versions of the mainboard. Currently no visible difference indicating the variant of mainboard has been found, it may only be the firmware that is different. It’s crucial to identify the correct version when replacing the mainboard to avoid compatibility issues as both variants are not backward or forward compatible. 

Symptoms of Using the Incorrect Mainboard

A) When homing it only moves slightly on one or both axis before moving and possibly crashing towards the left. This is due to the soft endstop being triggered immediately, as the mainboard incorrectly believes the motor has reached the homing point. Theoretically should only affect K1 Max with 42-48 X/Y motors accidentally using 42-60 mainboard.

B) When homing it moves and crashes into the corner homing point momentarily before stopping. Theoretically should only affect K1 Max with 42-60 X/Y motors accidentally using 42-48 mainboard.

The motors on the K1 Max are open loop rather than closed loop meaning they do not return any detailed positioning data to the mainboard. To solve this the mainboards are calibrated to rely on specific signal changes when the X/Y axis motor reaches the homing point. This works when the motor size is the same, however when the motor size changed they needed to develop a new mainboard variant calibrated to the new motor size. A normal signal strength from a large motor would be considered a spike from reaching the homing point for a small motor mainboard and vice versa.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter said symptoms when the machine is new or has recently had a mainboard replaced:

• Verify the motor size (42-48 or 42-60) of your printer.
• Replace the mainboard with the corrosponding mainboard version.

Sadly the mainboard variant cannot be changed with a firmware flash according to Creality.

End of guide.