I3 A8 clone build problems

Hello all, I hope this is the right area to post in, i did post under the more general list Rerappers with my earlier issues.
My pride n joy is a freshly built i3 a8 clone

And i am a total newbie at everything 3d printing so please forgive any blunders in nomenclature,

After a quick bodge on the z axis limit switch to raise the extruder above the bed level i downloaded an A8 bed leveling gcode file from thingiverse and have hit a further snag leaving me clueless as to progress..

The X axis isnt set up correctly which results in the first position it lands on to level the bed being well towards the centre of the bed front, and on attempting to reach the second point it slams into the end of the carrage while the motor continues to drive and the belt is skipped over the drive wheel. while there is a limit switch on the other end of the X carrage (left side from the front) on the right hand side from the front there is no limit switch?

If i ask the printer to position home, it does so correctly but it does slam into the X axis limit switch in the process.

Do i need to perform a full calibration on the machine as detailed [reprap.org]
I was under the impression that this wouldnt be necessary and todays 3d printers were build/plug n play?? (perhaps not if you buy the cheapest kit you can find...)

thanks in advance

It sounds like you haven't installed or setup your micro stepping jumpers. Without these the machine moves much further than it expects and much faster,...
On most low end machines this is 3 jumpers under each stepper driver
But looking at the pictures of your controller, its doesn't seem to have any manual way to set these..


And then yes, all machines apart the real prusa machines need calibrated, as the default setting from manufacturers are only rough and need tuning.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2019 08:14PM by Dust.

Cheers Dust, I shall get googeling on the stepper motor config/jumpers.

The calibration should be a good learning experience too. One thing for sure is that i am getting to know the machines details..

thanks again..