MakerVault Wiki – Creality Ender Series and CR-10s

This quick-start reference guide is for the Creality Ender 3 series (Pro, V2 Neo, S1) and the Creality CR-10. These manual machines share a nearly identical workflow and are the longstanding workhorses of the MakerVault.

1. Manual Bed Leveling (The “Paper Test”)

Leveling (or “tramming”) ensures the nozzle is a uniform distance from the bed at every point.

  1. Home the Printer: Navigate to Prepare > Auto Home.
  2. Disable Steppers: Select Prepare > Disable Steppers. This allows you to move the toolhead and bed freely by hand.
  3. The First Corner: Move the nozzle directly over the front-left adjustment knob.
  4. Insert Paper: Place standard piece of paper or single “sticky note” between the nozzle and the bed.
  5. Adjust the Knob:
    • Clockwise: Raises the bed (closer to nozzle).
    • Counter-clockwise: Lowers the bed.
    • Adjust until the nozzle creates slight resistance on the paper without tearing it.
  6. Repeat: Do this for all four corners. Go around the bed at least twice to ensure consistency.

2. Manual Filament Procedures

You must preheat the toolhead before loading or unloading filament.

  • Loading:
    1. Preheat for PLA (see Menu Navigation below).
    2. Cut the filament end at a 45-degree angle for easier feeding.
    3. Squeeze the extruder arm lever and feed the filament through the sensor and into the Bowden tube until plastic extrudes from the nozzle.
  • Unloading:
    1. Heat the nozzle to at least 200°C.
    2. Squeeze the extruder arm and pull the filament out quickly to prevent the softened tip from cooling and jamming the tube.

3. Essential Menu Navigation

The “Prepare” and “Control” menus are your primary command hubs.

  • Preheat for PLA: Prepare > Preheat PLA (Sets nozzle to ~200°C and bed to ~60°C).
  • Cooldown: Prepare > Cooldown (Turns off all heaters).
  • Move Axis: Prepare > Move Axis > Move Z (Useful for raising the nozzle to clean it).
  • Reset Settings: Control > Reset Configuration (Use if the machine behaves erratically).

4. Printing from an SD Card

The MakerVault provides SD cards for member use—you do not need to bring your own.

  • File Naming: Your printer can only read Latin letters and numbers. Avoid spaces or special symbols (e.g., use Benchy_V1_02mm.gcode). Descriptive names help you find your file quickly on the small screen.
  • Starting the Job: Insert the card into the front slot. If the menu does not update, select Init. SD Card. Then, select Print from SD and choose your file. Some machines may need a quick restart while the card is installed in order to read them.

5. The 15-Minute Monitoring Habit

For manually leveled printers, it is a critical safety and quality habit to watch the first 15 minutes of your print. Most failures—like the model detaching or a nozzle clog—happen early on. Monitoring this window ensures you can stop the print before it creates a **”Blob of Death”** on the toolhead or wastes filament.

Helpful Resources

Does this cover everything you need for the manual fleet, or would you like to move on to the Prusa XL multi-tool guide?