<![CDATA[SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/topic/12730/solidoodle-4-yaxis-belt-tension/ Sun, 08 Nov 2015 19:19:42 +0000 PunBB <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/109184/#p109184 Tin Falcon wrote:

A little lubrication is  also in order
A drop of light oil on the axle bearings  way oil or a light coat of grease on the guide rods. .
There has been lot of discussion on what lube is best.
Lubricate early and often keep the rods clean and lube application light.
Tin

this!

and if you are in a "dusty" environment (i live on a dirt road - the dust is terrible!) clean and re-lube very often! pretty much a weekly exercise for me in the summer, not quite as bad in colder weather when windows are closed.

]]> Sun, 08 Nov 2015 19:19:42 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/109184/#p109184 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/109167/#p109167 A little lubrication is  also in order
A drop of light oil on the axle bearings  way oil or a light coat of grease on the guide rods. .
There has been lot of discussion on what lube is best.
Lubricate early and often keep the rods clean and lube application light.
Tin

]]> Sun, 08 Nov 2015 16:30:42 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/109167/#p109167 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/109107/#p109107 jago - i think he is referring to the 6mm drive rod in the back...

and yes, those bushings can be upgraded to bearings, but may require a little sanding of the rod to fit correctly

]]> Sat, 07 Nov 2015 16:49:37 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/109107/#p109107 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/109076/#p109076 You can upgrade to bearings. Look at the printable XY carriages thread in Hacks/Mods.

]]> Sat, 07 Nov 2015 01:54:01 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/109076/#p109076 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/109074/#p109074 Hey, just got home and finally got the printer adjusted! The Y axis axel seemed to have quite a bit of friction, preventing me from setting the Y tension too high. I wiggled the axel back and forth a bit to let the grease get into the sleeves and the friction decreased. I wouldn't have minded paying a little extra for the printer to have actual bearings.

]]> Sat, 07 Nov 2015 00:52:28 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/109074/#p109074 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/109055/#p109055 heartless wrote:
TangentDelta wrote:
heartless wrote:

hate to say it, but getting a response out of SD right now may be iffy.

the fan is needed on the stock set up to keep the motor cool - if it gets too hot it will start skipping steps causing problems during prints.

Make sure all wiring connections are tight and making good contact & verify that it is getting power.

If the fan is indeed dead, find a replacement for it asap - any 12v 40mm fan will work. in a pinch, if you have the fan on the back of the case (upper right corner), you can use that one as it is not a necessity. fan on the motor is.

Yeah, checking the connections was one of the first things I tried. Unfortunately the fan is well and truly dead, so I'll have to see if I have a random 40mm fan laying around or not. Worse case scenario, I have to buy a fan.

Edit: Just pulled out the fan. One of the leads soldered to the fan's motor had fallen off, taking the pad underneath with it. I was able to replace it with a random fan I had laying around and it works perfectly!

Good job! smile
Now go print some better parts for your printer! LOL
(stock printed parts are notoriously weak)

Well, I still need to get the belts adjusted (something I'm having a hard time doing) before I can start printing. There seems to be a very fine line between the belt slipping and the motor grinding. Also, how impotent is it that the idler are straight?

]]> Fri, 06 Nov 2015 17:42:39 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/109055/#p109055 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/109054/#p109054 TangentDelta wrote:
heartless wrote:

hate to say it, but getting a response out of SD right now may be iffy.

the fan is needed on the stock set up to keep the motor cool - if it gets too hot it will start skipping steps causing problems during prints.

Make sure all wiring connections are tight and making good contact & verify that it is getting power.

If the fan is indeed dead, find a replacement for it asap - any 12v 40mm fan will work. in a pinch, if you have the fan on the back of the case (upper right corner), you can use that one as it is not a necessity. fan on the motor is.

Yeah, checking the connections was one of the first things I tried. Unfortunately the fan is well and truly dead, so I'll have to see if I have a random 40mm fan laying around or not. Worse case scenario, I have to buy a fan.

Edit: Just pulled out the fan. One of the leads soldered to the fan's motor had fallen off, taking the pad underneath with it. I was able to replace it with a random fan I had laying around and it works perfectly!

Good job! smile
Now go print some better parts for your printer! LOL
(stock printed parts are notoriously weak)

]]> Fri, 06 Nov 2015 17:34:26 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/109054/#p109054 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/108964/#p108964 heartless wrote:

hate to say it, but getting a response out of SD right now may be iffy.

the fan is needed on the stock set up to keep the motor cool - if it gets too hot it will start skipping steps causing problems during prints.

Make sure all wiring connections are tight and making good contact & verify that it is getting power.

If the fan is indeed dead, find a replacement for it asap - any 12v 40mm fan will work. in a pinch, if you have the fan on the back of the case (upper right corner), you can use that one as it is not a necessity. fan on the motor is.

Yeah, checking the connections was one of the first things I tried. Unfortunately the fan is well and truly dead, so I'll have to see if I have a random 40mm fan laying around or not. Worse case scenario, I have to buy a fan.

Edit: Just pulled out the fan. One of the leads soldered to the fan's motor had fallen off, taking the pad underneath with it. I was able to replace it with a random fan I had laying around and it works perfectly!

]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2015 19:18:16 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/108964/#p108964 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/108957/#p108957 hate to say it, but getting a response out of SD right now may be iffy.

the fan is needed on the stock set up to keep the motor cool - if it gets too hot it will start skipping steps causing problems during prints.

Make sure all wiring connections are tight and making good contact & verify that it is getting power.

If the fan is indeed dead, find a replacement for it asap - any 12v 40mm fan will work. in a pinch, if you have the fan on the back of the case (upper right corner), you can use that one as it is not a necessity. fan on the motor is.

]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2015 18:15:37 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/108957/#p108957 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/108956/#p108956 It was fairly common for that fan to have the polarity reversed.  You might try reversing the plug.
I would get it working at least for longer prints.

]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2015 18:11:48 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/108956/#p108956 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/108953/#p108953 Awesome. I'll give that a shot when I get a chance.

Kind of off-topic, but the fan attached to the heatsink on the extruder motor was dead on arrival. I already emailed solidoodle support but haven't gotten a response yet. Am I fine operating the printer without that? I'm assuming it's to keep the print head from cooking the motor.

]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2015 17:51:47 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/108953/#p108953 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/108949/#p108949 Those are ABS parts so you could always brush on some Acetone and hold the crack together.  The bond will be stronger than the original printed layers.  Then print good solid replacements.

]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2015 17:25:50 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/108949/#p108949 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/108947/#p108947 Well, as I was tightening the right belt using those two screws the bracket cracked. It seems to be holding at the the moment so I could attempt to print a new one. All of the 3D printed parts that make up the printer are pretty poor quality so I'm worried that another part is going to break. Luckily the replacement part stl files appear to be available on Thingiverse.

]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2015 17:13:19 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/108947/#p108947 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/108937/#p108937 wardjr wrote:

Those two "pitch" screws on the front idler are also your tension adjustment.

^^ yup.

both belts need to be reasonably the same tension as well.

]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2015 14:11:30 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/108937/#p108937 <![CDATA[Re: Solidoodle 4 Y-Axis Belt Tension]]> https://www.soliforum.com/post/108911/#p108911 Those two "pitch" screws on the front idler are also your tension adjustment.

]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2015 03:42:20 +0000 https://www.soliforum.com/post/108911/#p108911