Firmware & Guides

Ender 3 V2 BLTouch Firmware Installation Guide by Smith3D.com [Updated –13 November 2022]

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
01
Aug
Contents hide
1 BLTouch Installation
2 BLTouch Mount
3 Firmware
4 Some UI customizations the community has added
5 Some other features were offered compared to Stock firmware
6 And remember to add “M420 S1” in Cura!
7 You can also add G29 for Bed Leveling before every prints
8 Nozzle Crashing Into Bed?
9 Steps to produce a good leveling
10 What if you are not getting an accurate Z Offset from the Tool? (Live Adjust Z Offset)
11 FAQ
11.1 Z-axis won’t budge
11.2 Black Screen of Death after flashed
11.3 Bltouch probe not centered / change probe offset
11.4 Manual Leveled & still printing in mid air or nozzle hitting the bed
11.5 Sometimes Probe doesn’t finish during leveling
11.6 Setting is not saved
11.7 OctoPrint Settings
11.8 Power Lose Recovery doesn’t work
11.9 Motor making noises and freeze during print.
11.10 Sometimes UI/ print progress bar does not reflect to the latest
11.11 Can I use 3DTouch or BLTouch older than v3.1?
11.12 Where can I get the source code? How to compile?
11.13 How to donate?
11.14 What happens If I don’t want a BLTouch anymore?

BLTouch Installation

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
If you are using a different extension wire, please pay attention to the wire colors above.

BLTouch Mount

BLTouch Mount for Ender3 V2 – Link here (Use the two screws provided by BLTouch to screw it in.)

Firmware

Download Marlin Firmware V2.0.1 – Jyer Builds
Download Marlin Firmware 20221002 – Professional Firmware Builds

* Last Update from Jyers has been 1 year ago, Professional Firmware has more features but setup guide maybe different.

The very first thing you should to is go into Control > Advanced and adjust Probe Offset X to -42 & Probe Y Offset -10 (Printed Mount). and Control > Store Setting.

If you are using Creality official BL-Touch set, you have to set it to Probe X Offset -44 & Probe Y Offset -6.

MountProbe X OffsetProbe Y Offset
Custom Mount V3-42-10
Creality Official Mount-44-6

Video Guide by CHEP : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TroPjdkSEOY (Video guide doesn’t include manual leveling, do make sure you do manual bed leveling after adjust the z offset)

Unless your system is well tuned, please use the firmware above instead of high speed. Slow Probe & 5 x 5, which is great for first time tuning.

[8th April] As for Smith3D firmware, we have depreciated our firmware & move on to Jyer firmware as it offer much better features & functionality.

For BTT Filament Sensor & Standard Filament sensor, do enable them
inside Control > Advanced > Filament Sensor/Runout Distance

If you have never change your motherboard, it’s 4.2.2 by default

For 4.2.2 5×5 (High Speed) – download here
For 4.2.7 Board 5×5 (High Speed) – download here
For more info regarding this release
For people who’s suffering random probe fails, please refer to the FAQ below for z switch port firmware.

If flashed & auto leveling doesn’t work, please reset configuration (Control > Restore Default) or try to flash again with different filename. If you are getting Black screen, do format your MicroSD Card to FAT32 and rename the firmware & try again.

Older Build (V1.3.5b)

If you are facing issue on newer builds, you may try the older build

Download Marlin Firmware V1.2.2 – Jyers

What’s BL Touch High Speed Mode?

  • The high speed mode probes multiple points without stowing the needle, making it much much faster. But also prone to crashes if your bed is severely slanted. Please make good use of Manual leveling before you try this.

For Ender 3 V2 no bootloader installation is required. Copy the firmware into your SD card and then slot it in, the printer will begin flashing once you reboot it. Do remember that you need a different filename each time you flash a new firmware eg. firmware1.1bin > firmware1.2bin, else the system will ignore it.

For user who would prefer official firmware from Creality, you may check this guide here

Some UI customizations the community has added

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
For Manual Leveling, please refer to CHEP guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EfWVUJjBdA

Some other features were offered compared to Stock firmware

  • Turn on and off display during printing
  • PID Autotune Menu
  • Change Filament menu
  • Adjust probe offset, filament sensor in the menu
  • __h__m Time Format Setting

And remember to add “M420 S1” in Cura!

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
VERY IMPORTANT Add M420 S1; after the G28 in your start G-code in the starting G-code of your cura profile. To enable leveling on every prints. As the current marlin for Ender 3 V2 is unable to make “leveling enabled” persistent after reboot. M420 S1; Enable ABL (If you are getting error for Fade Height) This line of code always appear in other printer profile such as CR10SProV2/Ender5Plus where there is BLTouch built in.

You can also add G29 for Bed Leveling before every prints

Instead of adding the M420 S1 command above. You can replace it with G29 (Place it after G28). G29 basically starts a new round of auto bed leveling , good for users who would prefer a fresh bed leveling before every prints.

Nozzle Crashing Into Bed?

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]

Steps to produce a good leveling

  • Once you setup the Probe Offset X & Probe Offset Y, Store Setting and go to Prepare > Auto Home. Make sure your probe is directly at the center of the bed.
Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
Picture by CHEP
  • Start with Manual leveling to make sure the bed is leveled as much as you can, by manually adjusting bed spring. This is to reduce the amount of Z compensation ABL will need to apply when printing. Please refer to CHEP’s guide for how you can level your bed with a piece of paper. The firmware has included the buttons needed for printer to go to all 4 corners + center so you don’t have to do it via a gcode print file.
  • After the bed is leveled, get a good Z-offset by using the Prepare > Z-Offset. Remember to pre-heat your nozzle while using this as any remaining material stuck on nozzle tip might interfere the result while gauging with A4 paper. This tool will Auto home and then move Z to 0 to show actual Z offset. Prepare a paper to put between nozzle and bed, then try sliding it in and out, Microstep Up/Down & adjust Z offset until you feel a little friction between paper and nozzle. Use Home Z-Axis to double confirm if the z offset is the right one.
Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
Picture by CHEP
  • Once you got your Z offset, go to main menu and press “Leveling”. It will probe 5×5 points and save the mesh to your printer.
  • Done and start printing!
  • Again, it’s very important to heat up nozzle to 180-200 while using Z-offset (if there is PLA in nozzle) Else the Z-offset will vary a lot depending on the leftover material stuck on nozzle tip.

What if you are not getting an accurate Z Offset from the Tool? (Live Adjust Z Offset)

Sometimes moving the Z axis up and down bit by bit might cause a little slippages, which makes the Z-Offset gauging with A4 paper inaccurate.

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]
Picture by CHEP

If you want a better gauging result. We recommend user to adjust Z Offset via Tune during printing

FAQ

Z-axis won’t budge

Pay attention to the wiring color, some wires are inverted. If you are using 3rd party wiring, most probably the last two orange and yellow are inverted. You have to manually revert it back using a tweezer.

Black Screen of Death after flashed

Please follow this reddit link for full guide on how to do a proper flash
In summary
– Use newly formated sd card, with only bin file
– Rename bin file
– Unplug & reconnect power cord

Bltouch probe not centered / change probe offset

adjust Control > Advanced > Probe Offset X & Probe Offset Y

Manual Leveled & still printing in mid air or nozzle hitting the bed

Use slow probe 5×5 firmware to see if the situation is improving, if not check if your M420/G29 is added inside the start of gcode. Use either G29 or M420. Remember to save setting after leveled.

Sometimes Probe doesn’t finish during leveling

Solution 1:
Some users has issue with the bltouch port. the trigger signal or ground is not attached properly. Connect the two pin to the z switch stop & flash the firmware below.

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]

Download 2.0.x.17 ZSwitchStop 5×5 Fast Smith3d Marlin Firmware

Solution 2:
Try connect via Pronterface and check what’s the error code returned.

Summary (this reddit link explained in detail)
– Make sure bed not totally out of level, probe may out of reach or nozzle hit the bed first
– Check if your bed is badly warped
– Check if your bltouch pin is bent
– Check the XY axis wheel tension
– Check the Z axis for binding

Solution 3:
There is a resistor fix for this, you can solder a resistor and use the bltouch port.

Ender 3 v2 bltouch firmware installation guide by smith3d.com [updated –13 november 2022]

Setting is not saved

Remember to click “Control > Store Setting” everytime you setup completed. Check if eeprom is deleted in SD Card.

OctoPrint Settings

OctoPrint Settings by Jyers

Power Lose Recovery doesn’t work

Power Lose Recovery only works when it reached certain layer. check your SD card if there is a PLR file exist. PLR determine if to display the Resume Printing message.

Motor making noises and freeze during print.

This will happen if you just flashed the firmware & does not reset the configuration. Just turn off and on your printer will do, restore default setting. Another possible issue is the dupont connectors on the motherboard loosen, do hot glue the connectors in place or upgrade it to 5 pin JST connector.

Sometimes UI/ print progress bar does not reflect to the latest

Known marlin bug. Restart, press back, will do.

Can I use 3DTouch or BLTouch older than v3.1?

May not compatible, this firmware is optimized for BLTouch v3.1.

Where can I get the source code? How to compile?

Github Repository is here.

If you are having issue compiling your own marlin, remember to set default_envs = STM32F103RET6_creality in platform.ini

How to donate?

Please donate to Marlin Firmware & https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jyers. Without them, there will be no great firmware for Ender 3 V2

What happens If I don’t want a BLTouch anymore?

You may revert your firmware to the official non-BLTouch firmware downloadable via this link – https://www.creality.com/download/32

Smith3D

1,297 thoughts on “Ender 3 V2 BLTouch Firmware Installation Guide by Smith3D.com [Updated –13 November 2022]”

  1. Graeme Evans says:

    i left a comment the other day. for some reason it seems to have gone.

    was just about a bug where i was priting something and noticed the nozzle was too low, so i adjusted it from -2.44 to -2.40. but the nozzle just slammed into the build plate and started scratching a nice brass pattern into my build plate.

    it seemed to add a further z offset to the one it already had stored if you adjust the z offset while printing. so mine must have gone a further 2.4 down and into the build plate.

    Reply
        • Adam M says:

          Same thing happened to me and I was on 2nd layer when I made the adjustment.

          Steps to reproduce:
          1. Start print with G29 in start code to do ABL process
          2. Wait for layer 1 to finish printing
          3. During layer 2 use the knob on the ender 3 v2 to change the z-offset value to any number other than its current value.
          4. Watch your nozzle slam into the bed
          5. Frantically stop the print as fast as you can.

          Reply
  2. Graeme Evans says:

    okay, not sure if its a known bug but i just had something priting, onm th elatest version, Marlin Firmware V2.0.X.14 and notcied it was smushing the layers a bit too much. so i went into the z offset, which was set to -2.44, so i went in and changed it to -2.34. And it just instantly smash the nozzle into the bed and ground a nice copper pattern into the glass bed before i could kill the power. so it seemed to have offset it by a further -2.33 rather than changing it from -2.44 to -2.34.

    so yeah….

    Reply
    • PetarG says:

      Hi

      Had the same problem. Went to adjust the z-offset while printing secondlayer and the nozzle crashes into the bed, leaving a very deep scratch. Ouch!!!!

      Also it doesnt seem as if there is mesh compensating happening while it is printing. It does save the mesh as I can clearly see it if I use M503 command, it just seems it doesnt use those values at all while printing.

      Reply
  3. JWM says:

    Hi! I was just wondering how you went about creating a custom UI? I have been unable to find information on how to do this and would love any information you could give.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  4. JWM says:

    Hi! I was wondering how you were able to customize the UI with text, images, and functionalities? I would love to add a few of my own features to my Ender 3 V2’s display, but I am unsure where to even start. Any resources you could point me towards would be much appreciated!

    Thanks!

    Reply
  5. Rodrigo L says:

    For this setup do we need to unplug the Z-Axis stopper or can we leave it pluged in?

    I flashed the version: 2.0.X.14

    Thanks.

    Reply
  6. David Peterson says:

    Followed the guide and wired just like shown, had to swap a few pins on the connector that came with the kit. Everything appears to be working, but the bltouch flashes while printing. it’s the slow flashing, but everything else works correctly, is there a way to make it not flash? or even better turn off when not leveling.

    Reply
  7. LouDFPV says:

    Is there any way to put the home position back to bottom left? I now have filament oozing onto the center of my bed every time the printer heats up.

    Reply
  8. LouDFPV says:

    Thanks for the great firmware!
    I just installed my bltouch and upgraded to your latest firmware. I also switched from springs to silicone spacers.
    Some questions:
    Is the z end switch no longer used? I have yet to see any optio. That uses it.
    Why the auto home no longer in the bottom left corner?

    When trying to aux level I used to rely on this stoppage point as the main height. Now with the bltouch i have the spacer in between and I have to set my z offset to -4.85. At the moment I am unable to get a good height and leveled bed.

    Reply
  9. Adam M says:

    I tried to install the new firmware and my screen is now blank. It never shows anything. What’s going on? I even tried all the different versions listed on this page.

    Reply
  10. felipe sanchez says:

    Hi, first of all good job, i have a question about if i want to use a filament run out sensor its posible to do? i tryied with creality firmware and github but doesnt work any option, your firmware sometime will add this?

    Regards

    Reply
  11. Steven Rosburg says:

    I love your firmware, I really appreciate the UI customizations you’ve added. Although I’ve never tried to build it, I know Marlin is open source. My question is: if I wanted to change some settings to suit my highly customized Ender 3 V2, could I build *your* firmware? If so, and it’s not too much trouble to ask, can you tell me where to get started? I have the 4.2.7 board.

    Reply
  13. Chris Davey says:

    Powering off disables Z-axis
    The initial setup works great, Aux, Offset, and leveling. Settings are saved.
    Printing works great, using M420 S1 Z2 ;Enable ABL using saved Mesh and Fade Height

    Turning off Ender3 V2 and off seems to wipe out something.
    Next print begins by home X and Y, then raises Z and stops.
    BLTouch blinks red.
    Screen shows printing progress to 100%.

    Ender3 V2, BLTouch 3.1 and Marlin Firmware V2.0.X.9 (SlowProbe) – Smith3D:

    Reply
  14. Marcel says:

    Hi, I have been using this firmware for a while and everything works perfect. Thank you for that.

    But I’m planning an upgrade to a different V6 style hotend. According to the manual I need to change the temperature probe in marlin. Does this mean I have to change the source of your firmware and compile my own?

    Regards,
    Marcel

    Reply
  15. Benjamin says:

    I’m running into an issue where the display does not load. I can manage to get auto level going my clicking around. Has anyone experienced this, or is it a know issue?

    Reply
  16. Steven Rosburg says:

    I’ve applied the 2.0.X.14 firmware to my 4.2.7-based machine, and have it successfully printing. However, when I do an automatic leveling, the 5×5 grid is way off the center to the left. I have heavily modified my Ender 3 V2, it has the Micro-Swiss direct drive extruder with modified Hero5 base and custom 50×20 fan shrouds on either side. This puts the BLTouch pretty far wide left of the nozzle (69.5mm, to be precise). I’ve performed an M851 command to compensate for the probe offset. Is there anything I can do to center up the built-in mesh leveling?

    Reply
  18. Zachary Neac says:

    Hey guys I noticed that the probing grid is based towards the left and is not symmetrical with the bed, is there a way to fix this?

    Reply
    • Carter says:

      If offset to left is the same as my V2 the X axis micro switch is about 5 mm to the left of where it needs to be. There is no adjustment so I built a 5 mm shim that attaches to my BL touch mount to contact the switch. Now it prints in the center of the bed. Unless Creality has a compensation in the firmware it was like that out of the box and I didn’t notice.

      Reply
      • Carter says:

        Sorry, please disregard my answer. I misread the post. Mine was “Printing to the left” I read “probing to the left wrong.

        Reply
  20. Smith says:

    Thank you for the firmware, it really is a step up from the original firmware! Really makes the visibility that much easier and I love the Z-offset tool.

    Just a few small remarks
    1. The versions still states 2.0.x.13 instead of 2.0.x.14
    2. When printing going to the stop button the stop text shifts up one of two pixels and creates “artifacts”. After leaving the stop button the text comes down.
    3. When the printing is done time remaining is 00:01 and the progress bar goes to 0%. This was 99% in the previous version if I remember correctly. Guess it should be 100%.

    One thing I would love as a feature is the displayed text from the original Ender 3 series. With gcode m117 you can show a piece of text on the LCD screen. Sounds like a gimmick, But we use this on our Ender V3 Pro for testing gcode, and to show which user is currently printing (you can add this gcode to your personal stop and start gcode).

    Reply
  21. Paul Gaertner says:

    My bed is slightly (~0.1mm) out of level. Using G29 in Cura. I have tried both 3×3 and 5×5 firmware with the same issue… when printing the system goes completely through the leveling process, but does not compensate for the bed being out of level. Set or a proper layer in the high corner, the nozzle remains off the bed in the low corner. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Paul Gaertner says:

      Still hoping for advice here, as I assume are my +2. My current situation. I have my bed very well trammed, and can get an excellent first layer print of five circles with void writing in them, center plus each of the four corners, plus a three line skirt.
      If I make a small adjustment in one corner — say 1/8 turn on a wheel in either direction — I can easily see it in the resulting print, indicating that the BL Touch mesh is not being applied.
      I have an Antclabs BL Touch on an Ender 3 v2, have tried several different firmware, and am currently on your recommended one. The printer runs a 5×5 touch off grid before every print, and from all external appearance is correctly preforming the BL Touch leveling. It seems clear that the printer is not using this mesh to do any actual leveling.
      Any tips, comments, pointers? Absent same, I will need to revert my printer to the Z end stop and ditch the BL Touch.

      Reply
      • AngryPrinter says:

        +1

        I have the same issue that the bed is not only not compensating for the unevenness of my print bed, but also think that my bed is slightly tilted. After successful ABL and check with Bed Visualizer on Octoprint and loading the mesh, it is always too close to the left side and too far on the right side. This happens eventhough I did a very careful manual bed leveling right before that. (AUX leveling of the 4 corners and center)
        I found that this might have something to do with the Marlin firmware, there is an open issue:
        https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/issues/19839

        Reply
      • Ashlee says:

        Did you ever solve this?

        I’m having the same issue, where there’s no compensation at all and it’s driving me nuts!

        Reply
  23. Joejoethejoey says:

    Hi, thanks for the guide. I have a few questions before I attempt to install mine. I purchased mine from Amazon UK. It’s listed as Creality Improved BLTouch V3.1 Kit, but the box that it comes in is a Creality Box and v1 is ticked on the box flap. There’s a metal mount already inside which I assume is for the first gen Ender 3 (v1). The colours of the cable to the BL Touch is different to your images. It has a black connector with Red, Blue and Yellow wires. Then a red connector with black and white wires. After watching countless videos on YouTube, I still haven’t found a single video with the same colours as mine. I’m starting to suspect it might not be genuine BL Touch. Any tips please?

    Reply
  24. melsvdv says:

    I experienced a bug using version V2.0.X.14. This bug was already present in V2.0.X.13, but since it hasn’t been fixed or maybe it hasn’t been noticed I thought I might report it. When I adjust the Z-offset (“Probe Z Offset”) inside the “Tune” menu while printing, the z-axis goes down and the nozzle crashes straight into the bed. I hope this will be fixed in a later version. Btw, I love your firmware, this is definitely the best Ender 3 V2 software out there. Keep up the good work!!!

    Reply
    • PrintsPhilip says:

      I noticed this too. I cannot for the life of me determine why this happens. I cannot tell if the z-offset is not accounted for, or if the homing action using the probe instead of the z-min-endstop switch causes the ‘homed’ z origin to be too high and then its not accounted for in the z-offset tool…

      Any number of things could be wrong, but for me, this build of the firmware is totally useless.

      Reply
    • valkokir says:

      Bumping this as I also see this behavior. I think it will probably need to be noted in the Marlin issues as it is not Smith3D specific. I actually thought this was fixed but just experienced it moments ago since I can’t leave well enough alone.

      Reply
    • Valentin says:

      Same Problem here.
      When i adjust the z-offset the first time it doubles the offset.
      Like i have a offset of -1.93 after adjusting it to -1.95 the nozzles crashes into the bed and i need to put 0.00 then the offset actually fits. Next time i restart the printer i need to put it manually back to -1.93 or the nozzle is to far away.
      This is very disturbing as i want to live-adjust the z-offset during printing the skirt.

      Reply
    • LouD says:

      Same problem here. Tried to raise the nozzle 0.01mm during printing from octoprint and the nozzle crashed straight into the bed. Could barely save my glass bed ?

      Reply
  25. valkokir says:

    I noticed the configuration.h uses NOZZLE_TO_PROBE_OFFSET { -42, -12, 0 } but the author of the suggested BLTouch mount says it is designed to -42,-10 not much difference but might be worth looking at. Thanks for all you do.

    Reply
    • PrintsPhilip says:

      As noted in configuration.h:

      – Probe Offsets can be tuned at runtime with ‘M851’, LCD menus, babystepping, etc.

      So you could do this yourself, just don’t forget to save the configuration.

      Reply
  30. Maverick says:

    The brand new 2.0.x-14 5×5 fast probe firmware binary still seems to be a x-13, not a E3V2-2.0.x-14 version – please check about it. The others seem fine.

    Reply
      • 3dWannabe says:

        getting the same. flashed 4 times with slow and fast probe bin files and keeps reporting version 2.0.x.13.

        Would be interesting to know if this is just cosmetic and the firmware is really 2.0.x.14 or uploaded files were swapped.
        Thanks for the great Firmware btw!

        Reply

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