Solidoodle 2, Y-axis slipping/skipping (Page 2 of 4)

HAHAHAHAHA pic#4
If it was intentional, nice touch

You are getting skipping. This has been covered many times and the solution may just be a "Search" click away.
Regardless, many have remedied this by adding fans on their Y motors and/or stepper driver on their boards. If you are using an enclosure, the heat may be getting too hot for the motor to perform accurately.
Other possibilities could be:
*overextrusion. A lump cools and snags the hotend
*RH/Slic3r goof. Repetier released a new version and may have a few bugs (as with all software)

The two "before" pics were "BeforeBreaking1" and "BeforeBreaking2". I figured it would only make sense to include an "AfterBreakin1" pic. Would have made more sense of the file names were intact.

I'm going to take all this advice and try some stuff out in the lab come this weekend. Thanks all!

Lube up the bushings and align the left and right Y axis belts.  The popping sound is most likely the belt slipping a cog.
Then print up and order what you need to do the direct drive, you won't regret it.  It is rather simple to do with some basic mechanical skills.

I am no expert but drop kicking your printer will most likely hurt your foot.

The rear Y-drive rod binds in the bushings causing the axis to skip.  I know it may sound crazy but those bushings don't last forever.  Getting some grease in there can help along with slightly loosening the drive motor belt slightly can help identify if that may be causing your issues.

+1 for wanting to know exactly what bushings are.

My assumption was they were the sleeves that hold the Y-Axis rods, but now I'm wondering if it is what I thought were ball bearing joints holding the back Y-drive shaft.

These are a bronze bushing and it is important that they get oil or grease in them where the rod turns.  That may mean loosening things up to slide the rod out of the way some.  Usually you can get oil to seep in without too much hassle.  This is only going to help trouble shoot by eliminating resistance as an issue.  Then as I stated earlier (for testing) you'll want to loosen the motor drive belt slightly as well.

This http://www.soliforum.com/topic/4824/how … -for-ever/ is good mod to make but if you are willing to go that far, might as well just put bearings in place of the bushings at the same time.
Then at that point seems as though going with a direct drive would be a good addition as well.
You guys need to decide just how much you are willing/wanting to do to your printers.  I'll be happy to assist with any mods you decide to take on.

Okay, I'll get some lubricant there first.  When it slipped the first time, I noticed the y-drive shaft protruding by about 1-2 cm on the left.  When I loosened the three set screws on the various clamps, I had a hard time pushing the drive shaft back even - I had to twist it for it to come loose, but now it moves freely.  So it very well could be that that those bushings are causing too much friction.

I did find myself wishing for a more accurate way of getting this stuff aligned.  I was disappointed with the "belt tightening" instructions - not too loose, not too tight...well, that narrows things down...   I'll update once I've tried a few things.

Thanks Wardjr. Solidoodle is calling those bearings, assuming this is the same product:

http://www.solidoodle.com/parts/parts-S … aring-pack

I'll try to lube my up first (the bearings, that is), but know what to get now as a replacement. Cheers!

So when I think I have the left and right belts aligned, I tighten down the right screw, and the left pulley drifts slightly as I move it back and forth, however the rod stays centered.  If I loosen the right screw, both of them are in alignment.  I'm beginning to think my rod is bent.

I'm thinking of trying this Y-Direct mount as it seems like it simplifies the design and has less error and parts involved.

Is this the mount I want to print?  (I have a solidoodle 2)

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:583132

Or is there a better one?

Asking, because I got everything as lined up as I could, but I still here a pop if I pull it fast after about 3-4 repetitions, so I don't know how long this thing will print.

Okay, so I think I have to try to repair this before shelling out for a new printer. 

This is the best link I've found so far on how to do it.  http://tomhorsley.com/hardware/solidood … irect.html

What I want is a clear parts list.  From the link, I see I need:
From Misumi.com
http://us.misumi-ec.com/

2 of parts number SFL686ZZ - the Flange Ball Bearings:  http://us.misumi-ec.com/vona2/detail/11 … s2products
Question:  Do I need 1, 2 or 4 of these?  Am I mounting them in the frame, or do I mount them in the Y-Rod Support piece?  If I mount them in the Y-Rod support piece, how do I ensure everything is aligned?  Do I have to drill into the case to do this?  Best way to do that?  This is the most confusing part of the page for me.

1 of parts number MCOCG17-5-6 - the oldham clamp http://us.misumi-ec.com/vona2/detail/11 … s2products
Question:  Do these clamps require extra screws, or are they built in?  In one of the pictures on the tomhorsley site, he has these taped together.  I'm guessing screws clamp down on the 5/6mm rods, then friction/pressure holds the clamp together?

1 of parts number PSFJ6-340 - the drive shaft
http://us.misumi-ec.com/vona2/detail/11 … s2products
Question:  On the tomhorsley site, he says that he got a 340mm length rod, but you can see from the pictures it sticks out by 3-4cm.  I don't mind it sticking out a little, but less than that would be nice.  Anyone have a better size estimate? 310mm?

If someone is willing, I'll also need the mounts printed.  I tried to print the one mount from last night, but the circles were not remotely close to circles.  I don't mind paying a bit for someone's effort.  PM me if you are interested in helping me.

I'm also not clear on all the screws/nuts/bolts I need.  He mentions swapping out the 10mm with 20mm M3 bolts - would this work:
http://www.amazon.com/Yosoo-Button-Hexa … +m3+screws
I can see where you would screw the motor to the mount, and how you would screw the bottom half of the mount to the frame, but wouldn't the top half of the mount also need to be screwed to the frame?  If so how?

As mentioned above, I'm not clear on whether I'm replacing the bushings completely or not.  He mentiones sliding the new rod through the bushings being difficult, so I assume he didn't, but others in this thread have suggested replacing them with ball bearings.  I'm guessing the ball bearing is just for the Y-Rod Support, which I don't know if I need or not. 

I have a dremel and a old single speed drill.  Are there any other tools or parts I'm missing for this project?  Usually my work stops at the software side of things, so I'm a bit newish to doing hardware mods like this. 

If I can do this project without drilling new holes in the case, that would be great, as that is what I'm least confident about.  If that means doing part of the project (just mounting the Y-Direct, but not having a Y-Support), maybe that's the way to go?  But if the ball bearings help that much, maybe it is worth doing?

Sorry for all the questions - just trying to make sure I have all the parts and know what I'm doing before firing the gun on this project.