<![CDATA[SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Very hot X stepper motor]]> 2013-07-01T03:41:13Z PunBB https://www.soliforum.com/topic/2914/very-hot-x-stepper-motor/ <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> adrian wrote:

^^ a fan seems way easier and less hedgehog at this point.... Not sure this is any 'easier' and its definetely not more effective... but anyway...

Easier to deal with since it took about 5 min to mount it

adrian wrote:

Note that most of the heat is generated on the base of the stepper, not the side.... do the bulk of that arrangement is going to be cooling 2 poles of the motor and thats about it... it really needs to live on the base OR all around the motor.. not just on the side.... theres a whole bunch of other poles on the motor not getting any cooling at all.

Motor outside is all metal and thermal conduction is quite high as is thermal mass.  Outsides are steel/ferrous metal while bottom and top are aluminum.  I think the bottom being hotter is more an artifact of the aluminum versus steel than actual temp.  Its not the most accurate, but using an IR thermometer, the sides were actually hotter while the bottom felt hotter.

adrian wrote:

I'll stick with my much more compact and far more effective fan shroud that allows full enclosure of the SD thats also a lot neater and cools all the motor...  I just really think your effort-and-hardware-required-for-a-return on this approach is totally out of spec.. Do the maths on the cooling coefficent of passive fins vs an active fan in an enclosed build environment at 50-60°C ...

The heat sink would have fit underneath the whole point of putting it there was to get it out of the 50°C build environment.  If you did not notice by the picture it is isolated by an inner wall of cardboard for now.  With the much cooler air and way higher surface area and good conduction path this is effective.  The temp reached on the heat sink is measuring higher than the bottom and the same on all sides of the motor.  Its running at 50°C with the IR thermometer where it was running 75°C with that on my big print before I installed.

Is there a way to get motor temps through the computer to get actual running data?  I'm sure internal temps are higher.

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/2296/ 2013-07-01T03:41:13Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28588/#p28588 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> ^^ a fan seems way easier and less hedgehog at this point.... Not sure this is any 'easier' and its definetely not more effective... but anyway...

Note that most of the heat is generated on the base of the stepper, not the side.... do the bulk of that arrangement is going to be cooling 2 poles of the motor and thats about it... it really needs to live on the base OR all around the motor.. not just on the side.... theres a whole bunch of other poles on the motor not getting any cooling at all.

I'll stick with my much more compact and far more effective fan shroud that allows full enclosure of the SD thats also a lot neater and cools all the motor...  I just really think your effort-and-hardware-required-for-a-return on this approach is totally out of spec.. Do the maths on the cooling coefficent of passive fins vs an active fan in an enclosed build environment at 50-60°C ...

It also seems way more involved than just bolting a fan on....  But each to their own... smile

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&amp;ik=c8f351b4d9&amp;view=att&amp;th=13f933756402e542&amp;attid=0.1&amp;disp=inline&amp;realattid=1439238105319079936-local0&amp;safe=1&amp;zw&amp;saduie=AG9B_P9sQQO1lMBbxpU-3E9mrSaI&amp;sadet=1372564472425&amp;sads=e8C5p6TXwmrZGWEceyu49wPV6kI

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/663/ 2013-06-30T03:45:02Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28441/#p28441 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> fischelbyxa wrote:
autoxer wrote:

This heat sink seems like it would be effective enough and fit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6835999031

Don't you thing you'll move the center of gravity too far away from the mounting points, creating too big a twisting strain?

I just ordered a couple of these:
http://uk.farnell.com/abl-heatsinks/bga … dp/2084439

Will add them one at a time (up to four) and monitor the temperature and behavior in between.

Yes, that one I linked was rather heavy.  I browsed Microcenter and went with this one (under 2 ounces):
http://www.microcenter.com/product/2533 … e_Heatsink

They also had some RAM heat sinks which I put on the bottom, but the surface area isn't that much.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/viars3/Solidoodle/IMG_20130629_185851_crop.jpg

mounted it to the side and put some isolation from the bed.  Thinking easy to add a fan blowing on the heat sink hanging on the case and this doesn't effect the mass much.

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/2296/ 2013-06-30T03:43:33Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28440/#p28440 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> For an extra $50 bucks, I feel like solidoodle could have made these things technically in spec. They did a great job of sourcing low cost parts and making them work. However, the electronics didn't need to be pushed to the limits. You can get the A4988 within range (up to 2A) with the following for about $10-15 including shipping.

Printable Fan Shroud
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:86223

4 bucks +shipping for 20 (only need 4 total)
http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Aluminum-C … 26MC43SQCQ

And a few of these.
$4 per fan shipped
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002OF … &psc=1

Can't do too much with that motor though. Over driven is over driven. Back down the Vref to .4 and keep your rods lubed.

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/1906/ 2013-06-29T23:35:05Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28421/#p28421 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> 2n2r5 wrote:

Is it the motors that are being over driven or just the drivers? I know the A4988 is only 1A max without cooling. The new Printrboard should be good though. They are A4982 which look like they are good for 2A.

  I was having trouble finding the post that had the data sheet for the original stepper motors. I thought it was in the wiki but I can't find it there either. Just replacements.

http://www.soliforum.com/topic/459/soli … iciencies/

I misremembered - A4988s are at 130% rated max, x-axis stepper is at 110% rated max.

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/221/ 2013-06-29T22:41:53Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28417/#p28417 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> Is it the motors that are being over driven or just the drivers? I know the A4988 is only 1A max without cooling. The new Printrboard should be good though. They are A4982 which look like they are good for 2A.

  I was having trouble finding the post that had the data sheet for the original stepper motors. I thought it was in the wiki but I can't find it there either. Just replacements.

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/1906/ 2013-06-29T22:19:28Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28415/#p28415 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> The rated max ambient on those motors is 50C @ 100% rated current. Solidoodle drives them at 130%, though...

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/221/ 2013-06-29T22:01:30Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28414/#p28414 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/nema- … d_734.html

This would lend me to believe that 70C is fine but wouldn't hurt to have a fan on it. No need to go nuts though.

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/1906/ 2013-06-29T21:54:23Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28413/#p28413 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> autoxer wrote:

This heat sink seems like it would be effective enough and fit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6835999031

Don't you thing you'll move the center of gravity too far away from the mounting points, creating too big a twisting strain?

I just ordered a couple of these:
http://uk.farnell.com/abl-heatsinks/bga … dp/2084439

Will add them one at a time (up to four) and monitor the temperature and behavior in between.

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/1430/ 2013-06-29T21:15:37Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28412/#p28412 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> So I have had my printer for less than a week and have noticed this.  Does the motor have early failures due to this?  If its an all metal construction it should be able to take the heat.

After seeing this I was thinking that solutions for north bridges would probably be the perfect size.  A heat sink wouldnt be completely passive because the motor itself is constantly moving.  I would think a good heat sink would be better than a fan without the heat sink.

This heat sink seems like it would be effective enough and fit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6835999031

Other than that there are a few actively cooled option that seem like they would be more effective have a heat sink and fan:
http://www.amazon.com/Deep-NBRIDGE-Nort … ge+cooling
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … alParent=1

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/2296/ 2013-06-29T16:54:58Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28394/#p28394 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> Would help a little, but since passive heating is interactive (coefficent ?) with Ambient, its not going to be as good as a fan, and perhaps not even effective if you utilise an enclosure.

But worth experimenting with, but I feel it would be at best a 30% solution of a fan....

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/663/ 2013-06-29T11:34:30Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28365/#p28365 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> As I'm too lazy to attach a fan, I'm thinking about gluing heat sink(s) to the motor.

Should do the trick. Or?

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/1430/ 2013-06-29T11:22:19Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28363/#p28363 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> THank you! I was looking to attach a fan to it!

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/1581/ 2013-06-29T02:38:12Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28353/#p28353 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> pmerana wrote:

Mine gets WAY over 70C and feels hotter than the bed. The X axis has a distinct disadvantage that the other two do not, The Y and Z axis motors are attached to the metal case and that syncs heat off of them. The X is hanging out in the middle of plastic ville with no heat dissapation.

Most people use this or a derivative of it: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:38399

Solves the problem entirely. I use temperature reactive plastics, and when the fan is in operation, the motor stays <25°C

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/663/ 2013-06-28T06:08:33Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28238/#p28238 <![CDATA[Re: Very hot X stepper motor]]> Mine gets WAY over 70C and feels hotter than the bed. The X axis has a distinct disadvantage that the other two do not, The Y and Z axis motors are attached to the metal case and that syncs heat off of them. The X is hanging out in the middle of plastic ville with no heat dissapation.

]]> https://www.soliforum.com/user/1581/ 2013-06-28T04:49:03Z https://www.soliforum.com/post/28235/#p28235