1 (edited by foul_owl 2015-04-28 06:17:28)

Topic: Winder motor not powerful enough

Hi folks,

I bought my kit about six months ago, and sadly I have yet to produce a single full kg at a time from it.

The main issue is the winder. Once the spool is only about 1/3 full (radially, I would estimate maybe 1/4 kg of filament has been extruded, spool is of conventional dimensions), the torque from the filament being wound like a spring (along with the friction from the ptfe sleeving) is too much for the motor, and the motor refuses to turn or the holder slips. Besides for debugging I have followed the instructions and kept the nut loose enough so that the spool holder slips, and my batch is then ruined.

For debugging, I've tried tightening and loosening the nuts along the main threaded shaft, I've replaced all of the bearings, replaced the gears, and adjusted the motor position relative to the large gear. I've also tried adjusting the diameter of the ptfe sleeving loop, hoping that the friction from this would lower.

There is friction very clearly coming from the ptfe sleeving. I've measured the diameter of my filament output, and it is roughly 2.9 mm. When I first start extruding, the spool winds without issue, leading me to believe that the issue is a combination of the friction from the ptfe sleeving and the torque from the spring type effect that winding has.

ABS type is Chi Mei PA-747.

I've made absolutely sure that there are no kinks in the filament as well. It is very smooth.

The only other thing I have noticed is that one of the heatsinked FETs/power regulator chips was burning hot to the touch. I put a fan on it, but clearly that is not normal operation for this device.

So far my results have been pretty frustrating. Why oh why is the motor underspec'd?

Thank you!

2

Re: Winder motor not powerful enough

No thoughts on this?

Thanks!

3

Re: Winder motor not powerful enough

If one of the FET's is getting that hot, it may have a problem with either the motor being bad, or the FET being bad.  The motor is definitely strong enough for the 1.75mm that I use, and I know others have done 3.00mm so I would suggest that there may be some sort of hardware failure.

Send a PM to IanJohnson to see if he may have any ideas since he designed the winder.

-os3dp