1 Topic by mobius1ace5 (edited by mobius1ace5 2015-09-12 05:37:24)

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Topic: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

Now for the 4th time my press has snapped the first wire on the extruder.  I constantly solder it back on, but there has to be a better way..  I am thinking about extending all the wires and re-positioning the motor maybe 90 or 180 degrees from where it is.  Has anyone else dealt with this issue and if so, how do you fix it permanently?

And while I am at it.. is there a good way to keep the cables from getting in the way?  I have tried a rubber band tensioner but it does not seem to work effectively. I just feel like this entire cable assembly was designed to a very small price hmm

2 Reply by paul99

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

Ive had to solder the wires to the stepper motor quite a few times.
So I printed a support  that clips on to the base of the connector and zip tie the wires against it.
Also use elastic band mod but place it higher on the lid than what I've seen posted.
Not optimal as I can only print with the lid open but at least the filament does not interfere anymore with any of the cables and the stepper wires  at the solder joints do not move.
Hope others will post their solutions.
http://members.freemail.ch/paulg/3dprint/support.jpg.

3 Reply by mobius1ace5

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

I am really trying to keep the lid shut when printing to keep the internal temps up.  I figure this is what is causing issues

4 Reply by trayracing

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

Solder isn't a great way to terminate a wire in a high vibration/motion environment. It concentrates the strain right at the edge of the solder and the wire fatigues and breaks.

Best bet is to order a new cable off of ebay or somewhere while your latest solder job is holding. You may have to crimp a connector on the end that goes to the system board. If you don't have a crimper tool, swing by a nearby makerspace on their open house night, and someone would probably be glad to help you out.

You can also try crimping a new connector on the motor end of the cable, but those connectors are pretty small and hard to do manually.

5 Reply by mobius1ace5

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

Do you know what cable I need and the length?  I have plenty of crimpers, but I really dont feel like this should happen...

Could I rotate the motor 90 degrees to relieve some strain?  There has to be a way to somehow help it.

6 Reply by paul99

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

trayracing wrote:

Solder isn't a great way to terminate a wire in a high vibration/motion environment. It concentrates the strain right at the edge of the solder and the wire fatigues and breaks.

Best bet is to order a new cable off of ebay or somewhere while your latest solder job is holding. You may have to crimp a connector on the end that goes to the system board. If you don't have a crimper tool, swing by a nearby makerspace on their open house night, and someone would probably be glad to help you out.

You can also try crimping a new connector on the motor end of the cable, but those connectors are pretty small and hard to do manually.

That's why I printed the support that clips over base of the connector.
The zip tie presses the wires against the support so that below there is close to no movement/strain.  There had been lots of posts on the stock crimped wires going loose from the connector. I had one wire break off. That's why I did this mod which has been working very well. 
http://members.freemail.ch/paulg/3dprint/suppport.JPG
Just my 2c

7 Reply by trayracing

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

mobius1ace5 wrote:

Do you know what cable I need and the length?  I have plenty of crimpers, but I really dont feel like this should happen...

Could I rotate the motor 90 degrees to relieve some strain?  There has to be a way to somehow help it.

The motor end is "JST PH 2.0 6-Pin Connector". The other end is either a .1" shell or maybe 2.5mm, 4pin.  I haven't had to replace it yet, so I don't know the cable length.
Check down by the motherboard - there may be some slack in the cable that ypu can feed up.
If have the right crimper, good eyesight and a very steady hand, ypu might be able to crimp a new connector on. A cable with the JST on it is almost as cheap.

I agree that this shouldn't have shipped this way. See the SD Press rework page to see their suggested strain relief. http://support.solidoodle.com/hc/en-us/ … structions

8 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

You can get stepper motor cables on ebay with the motor connector already on them. Just search stepper motor harness.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
Anycubic 4MAX best $225 ever invested.
Voxelabs Proxima SLA. 6 inch 2k Mono LCD.
Anycubic Predator, massive Delta machine. 450 x 370 print envelope.

9 Reply by mobius1ace5

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

trayracing wrote:
mobius1ace5 wrote:

Do you know what cable I need and the length?  I have plenty of crimpers, but I really dont feel like this should happen...

Could I rotate the motor 90 degrees to relieve some strain?  There has to be a way to somehow help it.

The motor end is "JST PH 2.0 6-Pin Connector". The other end is either a .1" shell or maybe 2.5mm, 4pin.  I haven't had to replace it yet, so I don't know the cable length.
Check down by the motherboard - there may be some slack in the cable that ypu can feed up.
If have the right crimper, good eyesight and a very steady hand, ypu might be able to crimp a new connector on. A cable with the JST on it is almost as cheap.

I agree that this shouldn't have shipped this way. See the SD Press rework page to see their suggested strain relief. http://support.solidoodle.com/hc/en-us/ … structions


Huh.. I never got a spring with mine.. Do they give kits out for these or something, if not any idea where one can get that spring?  Would not want to buy one that is too strong. The zip tie trick I can try though.  Will just solder it back on and try I guess although I may just extend the wire a bit too as I am sure it is a bit short now.

10 Reply by mobius1ace5

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

So I just checked the support page listed, my wires are nowhere near long enough to do what they are saying to do. Any idea why?  If I put the zip tie on the back side of the black connector the carriage can only move about 50% of the bed length.

11 Reply by mobius1ace5

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

never mind, had a bunch in the side panel and under the press, now to route the cables properly so they do not catch while moving.

12 Reply by rrssll

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

I've recrimped the connector a couple times. Going by my digikey invoice I think this was the housing http://www.digikey.com/product-search/e … 55-1162-ND (JST PHR-6) and these are the pins http://www.digikey.com/product-search/e … -1127-1-ND (JST SPH-002T-P0.5S). These are JST connectors. When I went looking for a part number on the connector in my Solidoodle Press it was printed with "JSY" which is apparently a copy of JST.

The cable itself I haven't figured out how to source yet. If someone has a part number I'd like to know what it is.

Lucky for me there was a crimp tool at work that I could use. The parts are really cheap but the crimp tool is quite expensive. It also helped to have a magnifying lens.

I recently did the Bowden drive E3Dv6 upgrade so now my extruder motor doesn't move.

13 Reply by juesvic

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Re: Stepper Motor Wire failure constant

does anybody know what is the wire's gauge?