1 Topic by DePartedPrinter (edited by DePartedPrinter 2013-08-08 22:59:07)

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Topic: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

So my extruder stepper motor is pulsing as it extrudes at low speeds.  You can see in the picture that this is causing the plastic to lay down in a wavy pattern which is causing some strange effects in my prints. I am assuming this means I need to order a new motor.  Any thoughts? Anybody else experience this?


http://www.soliforum.com/misc.php?action=pun_attachment&item=2980&download=0

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SD2 with E3D, SD Press, Form 1+
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NYLON (taulman): http://www.soliforum.com/topic/466/nylon/

2 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

That is uneven microstepping. If you Google Nophead and stepstuck you will find  an in depth explanation.  If you turn the extrusion speed way down in RH and run a few mm  you will hear the pulsing.   Turn the trimpot on the driver until you hear it smooth out,  and it should help.  I could never get it to smooth out completely. Getting a driver with 1/32 microstepping will help too.   It is the effect of low resolution extrusion,  there is just enough pause between steps to create a variation in pressure in the extruder.   The effect of this is the moire pattern you tend to see in all Solidoodle prints. .   Anything you can do to increase the steps/mm will smooth it out,  such as 1/32 microstepping or a geared extruder.

3 Reply by DePartedPrinter

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

I adjusted the trimpot on the driver until it smoothed out a little but it is still there.

Anybody know of options for a plug and play driver with 1/32 microstepping?

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4 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

Pololu - http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/2133

Panucatt - http://www.panucatt.com/product_p/sd8825.htm

5 Reply by DePartedPrinter

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

thanks Ian!

SD2 with E3D, SD Press, Form 1+
Filastruder
NYLON (taulman): http://www.soliforum.com/topic/466/nylon/

6 Reply by agentsmith (edited by agentsmith 2013-08-10 09:41:28)

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

Very interesting, I've noticed the same phenomena on straight walls and I was thinking if it was related to belts, and upgrade to the GT2 belts everybody is talking at, or to the extruder.
Do we need to modify anything in the Marlin firmware to enable 1/32 microstepping?
Does it worth to replace all A4988 stepper driver or just the extruder one?
Keep in mind that I planned to replace z-axis threaded rod with a M3/M5 one.

Thanks in advance smile

Nick

7 Reply by adrian

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

agentsmith wrote:

Very interesting, I've noticed the same phenomena on straight walls and I was thinking if it was related to belts, and upgrade to the GT2 belts everybody is talking at, or to the extruder.
Do we need to modify anything in the Marlin firmware to enable 1/32 microstepping?

Nothing besides adjusting the steps-per-mm.. which roughly speaking are double of that of 1/16th..

agentsmith wrote:

Does it worth to replace all A4988 stepper driver or just the extruder one?

You can replace all, but the benefits are minimal in terms of accuracy vs the slight loss of torque on an already over-torqued system... so I personally only bothered with the extruder where the additional steps provide a direct benefit...

agentsmith wrote:

Keep in mind that I planned to replace z-axis threaded rod with a M3/M5 one.

Thanks in advance smile

Nick

Doesn't matter one way or the other on this point.

Hope that helps

8 Reply by lawsy

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

Adrian, have you found a good Aussie supplier for one of the upgraded stepper drivers?

lawsy's Website

9 Reply by 2n2r5

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

lawsy wrote:

Adrian, have you found a good Aussie supplier for one of the upgraded stepper drivers?


I'm not Adrian but I stumbled across these when I was doing research  http://www.robotgear.com.au/Product.asp … Current-V2

SD3 w/ mods:
Glass bed with QU-BD heat pad upgrade, threadless ballscrew w/ 8mm smooth rod, spectra line belt replacement, lawsy MK5 extruder, Lawsy replacement carriage, E3D hotend, Ramps 1.4 w/ reprap discount controller, DRV8825 drivers, 12v 30A PS, Acrylic case, Overkill Y-idlers, Filament alarm, Extruder fan + more.

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10 Reply by Gomisan

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

Might want to take the fullstop off the end of that URL  wink

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11 Reply by adrian (edited by adrian 2013-08-23 06:10:47)

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

2n2r5 wrote:
lawsy wrote:

Adrian, have you found a good Aussie supplier for one of the upgraded stepper drivers?


I'm not Adrian but I stumbled across these when I was doing research  http://www.robotgear.com.au/Product.asp … Current-V2

Yeah, they look ok... cost wise, its about the same including shipping as Pololu... but would hopefully be 2-4 days vs the 10 or so you wait via USPS 1st Class...

I got mine via Pololu though, so can't offer any comments re specific local supplier for the 8825s

12 Reply by Gomisan

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

OK, this may be an obvious newb question here, but do these just 'plug-in' to the board on the back of the SD3, or is it a job for the electronic engineers?

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13 Reply by lawsy

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

Thanks, 2n2r5.

lawsy's Website

14 Reply by TheBaron

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

Gomisan, if your SD3 is like mine it uses the printrboard instead of the arduino kit the SD2 uses. That means the stepper drives are integrated, so they probably can't be replaced. Switching out to 1/32 microstepping means getting a whole new board, I think. Feel free to correct me on this one.

SD3 w/ RUMBA (8825s), merlin hot end (in pieces). Ender3 w/ silent board for PLA printing. Ender5 w/ silent board, e3d v6, new z lead screw, and glass bed. DiY Kossel w/ smoothieboard (in pieces). Vellman Vertex (in pieces)
Shapeoko2 router in process of being converted to laser engraver (in pieces)
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15 Reply by Hazer

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

TheBaron wrote:

Gomisan, if your SD3 is like mine it uses the printrboard instead of the arduino kit the SD2 uses. That means the stepper drives are integrated, so they probably can't be replaced. Switching out to 1/32 microstepping means getting a whole new board, I think. Feel free to correct me on this one.

Confirmed. New Printrboard has drivers built-in. In order to upgrade, you will have to replace the board.

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16 Reply by TheBaron

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

If you do want to replace the board, now is a good time: http://www.soliforum.com/topic/3738/drv8825-on-sale/

SD3 w/ RUMBA (8825s), merlin hot end (in pieces). Ender3 w/ silent board for PLA printing. Ender5 w/ silent board, e3d v6, new z lead screw, and glass bed. DiY Kossel w/ smoothieboard (in pieces). Vellman Vertex (in pieces)
Shapeoko2 router in process of being converted to laser engraver (in pieces)
Multicam 5000 series CNC Router w/ 11HP spindle, 5x10' table, and auto tool changer (in pieces)

17 Reply by adrian (edited by adrian 2013-08-31 05:04:36)

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

Hazer wrote:
TheBaron wrote:

Gomisan, if your SD3 is like mine it uses the printrboard instead of the arduino kit the SD2 uses. That means the stepper drives are integrated, so they probably can't be replaced. Switching out to 1/32 microstepping means getting a whole new board, I think. Feel free to correct me on this one.

Confirmed. New Printrboard has drivers built-in. In order to upgrade, you will have to replace the board.

or comfortable doing surface mount rework wink

18 Reply by TheBaron

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

adrian wrote:

or comfortable doing surface mount rework wink

I flat out refuse to do any surface mount stuff anymore. My hands have gotten too shaky and I always end up with my fingers burned to poop.

SD3 w/ RUMBA (8825s), merlin hot end (in pieces). Ender3 w/ silent board for PLA printing. Ender5 w/ silent board, e3d v6, new z lead screw, and glass bed. DiY Kossel w/ smoothieboard (in pieces). Vellman Vertex (in pieces)
Shapeoko2 router in process of being converted to laser engraver (in pieces)
Multicam 5000 series CNC Router w/ 11HP spindle, 5x10' table, and auto tool changer (in pieces)

19 Reply by Gomisan

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

I think if someone offered a turnkey, all in one, out of the box upgrade kit I would jump at it.

Especially if I could just plug it into my computer, open up Repetier Host and start printing again.

But I dont want to have to buy components from various sources, troubleshoot slight differences, follow various tutes sattered across 10 topics and mess about with software. I'm getting lazy in my middle years smile

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20 Reply by agentsmith

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

DRV8825 successfully installed for the extruder stepper motor! Now I'm going to test it.
Since I was fiddling with the solder, I unmounted the Sanguinololu and soldered all missing headers...

21 Reply by SandraS (edited by SandraS 2014-10-10 05:32:17)

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

Hey, sadly, I am experiencing the same problem. sad Did you find a way to solve it? I mean, except installing the new driver and all...

22 Reply by worldburger

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

DePartedPrinter wrote:

So my extruder stepper motor is pulsing as it extrudes at low speeds.  You can see in the picture that this is causing the plastic to lay down in a wavy pattern which is causing some strange effects in my prints. I am assuming this means I need to order a new motor.  Any thoughts? Anybody else experience this?


http://www.soliforum.com/misc.php?action=pun_attachment&item=2980&download=0

DePartedPrinter: are you experiencing this same problem (micro stepping) on your Press?

23 Reply by DePartedPrinter

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Re: Extruder stepper motor starting to fail?

This issue on the Press is addressed here: http://www.soliforum.com/topic/9347/sol … to-fix-it/

SD2 with E3D, SD Press, Form 1+
Filastruder
NYLON (taulman): http://www.soliforum.com/topic/466/nylon/