Thanks for this! Yes, I do know they aren’t necessary related. However, I had no problems with the Z-offset on my machine until I did auto bed leveling. And subsequent leveling have also left the nozzle too high for proper adhesion (at least with PLA). So they are related in terms of my process of adjustment, whereby I have to adjust Z-offset after a bed level.

For the first few months I’ve had the machine, it’s moved around my shop a bit so I have been running bed leveling more frequently than perhaps normal, since I assumed movement is bad for leveling. Now I think I have it somewhere semi-permanent it should be less of an issue going forward.

I can also adjust Z-offset on-the-fly, which I usually do during a specific bed leveling test print.

What did you replace it with?

I didn’t even time it to remove right after completion, that’s just when I came back to the shop after dinner. But it did feel warm, so maybe it had just finished. Judging by the print, though, it was pretty thoroughly embedded… I’m not sure any amount of cooling would have helped, but now I’ll never know!

I’ve been trying to figure out what the Ender 3 V3 SE comes with by default, simply so I can order another. But it definitely has a textured coating of some kind.

What would you recommend instead?

I’d not heard anything negative about Ender, and until now have not had issues. I even printed this giant-ass computer case and fan shrouds with good success: https://www.printables.com/model/1616167-amd-bc-250-case-atx-psu-fan-duct

I think the problem in this case is my inexperience, and unearned confidence due to previous success.

This is good advice, thank you. The printer did include another nozzle, although I don’t know what size it is. Or even the process for changing it. The plate is double-sided so I have something to work with until a replacement arrives.

I’ll do an auto-level, write down the Z-offset, and then print the leveling test in each material, resetting Z-offset in between, and noting the relative adjustment.

No I did not change plates. I’ve been using the included plate without issue … until now!

It’s just the default firmware, V1.0.6.

Z-offset is set at 0 in all the gcode I’ve checked so I think it’s the printer.

Thanks for confirming… luckily these plates are double-sided so I have a backup while I order a replacement. As I mentioned in another post, the auto-leveling leaves the nozzle just a bit too high and so I’ve consistently had to lower it. I primarily print in PLA and so usually do my bed-leveling prints in that material. I’ve previously used PET-G with zero issues, so something about the sequence of leveling and adjusting must be different this time around.

Now I know to run the leveling each material change, which is annoying but probably not too surprising.

It’s possible that it was scraping… my printer is in a detached shop and because it was a repeat print, I though it was all good and walked away.

I had some trouble with the printer auto bed-leveling before which would leave the Z-offset too high and I had multiple failed prints due to poor/no adhesion. So I’ve made a habit of doing auto-leveling and then reducing the Z-offset .06mm to .08mm. I last did this with PLA since that’s what I use most. It did not occur to me to do that when changing materials, since I don’t recall it being a problem before… but it’s possible I never did this exact sequence before.

Thanks for confirming.

Yes it’s definitely “etched” into the textured surface of the plate, although I don’t have a microscope to confirm, it feels that way. There’s no edge to catch with a scraping tool. And you can see in the photo from my previous reply that material is embedded in the bottom of the print!

It’s possible it made god-awful noises, because it’s in a shop and because this was a “repeat print” I just set it and walked away.

Sorry, I edited the post to add: Creality Ender 3 V3 SE, with the stock plate.

It does indeed feel like a depression. Or more accurately, it feels like the texture surface has been removed. This seems to be confirmed by dark residue on the bottom of my print, which I can only see because I happened to be using a light filament.