1 Topic by thom

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Topic: Random X/Y Screw-ups

I've had the Solidoodle for a couple of months now and it's been working fantastically. Over the last 2 days though it's completely lost its mind.

The X & Y will randomly not move to the correct position and screw the entire print. Yesterday it took me 10 solid hours to get a single 1.3hr print to run correctly. Gods know what I did to even get that to work. I have wasted so much time and plastic over the past couple of days.

I thought perhaps the belts, but those are fine. I thought perhaps the cabling was getting into the belts and messing it up, so I installed a shield, still no luck. Thought the spool might be getting wound up and stuck, nope. I changed power settings to ensure nothing ever got spun down or turned off (including USB). I have sat in front of this thing for hours and watched it screw up and for the life of me, I have no idea what's causing it.

I know it's not the STL or GCode because I've run previously fine code that now goes bonkers. And the same code that failed over and over and over again, eventually just decided to work like a good little printer.

Has anyone else encountered this? Any ideas at all?

2 Reply by pcpoirier

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

Clean and lube the rods

3 Reply by ronsii

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

^^ +1

4 Reply by thom

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

Thanks for the quick response. Any specific recommended cleaner/grease?

5 Reply by 2n2r5

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

A clean rag to wipe the dried or excess grease off the rods. You shouldn't really need more than that.
White lithium grease to relube.

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.

2n2r5's Website

6 Reply by Briggs

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

The ultra lube white lithium grease (lowes) is plant based, and supposedly better than petroleum based greases. It works great for me.

7 Reply by thom

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

Awesome, I'll pick some up this week and let you know how it goes. Thanks again for the quick responses!

8 Reply by dteck

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

I picked up some lithium grease from McMaster Carr for my SD2 when I was ordering some insulation. For $3.66 I got 14oz of

"Mobilux EP 111—Made of oil and molybdenum disulfide, these black greases are wear resistant and suitable for high-speed rotating couplings as well as low-speed open gears and plain bearings"

which if I'm not mistaken is the same or at least is very similar to what mine shipped with, and its been working great.

I will say that 14oz was the smallest size (meant for a grease gun) and its going to be more than enough to last me the life of the printer. I think i used maybe a teaspoons worth when I re-lubed all my parts.

9 Reply by wilheldp

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

If that doesn't work, try putting a fan on your electronics.  It could be caused by your stepper drivers overheating.

10 Reply by jawhn

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

I had a problem with my power supply. I was getting weird X-Y offsets that made no sense. Then one day, it just didn't work at all, and I noticed the AC power supply light wasn't lighting. So I began preparing to replace it, but also figured "Why not take it apart and see what's up?"

Well, it was a very simple fix. The soldering around the part that you plug the AC cable into / where it's soldered to the PCB, was a complete crap solder job, and all 3 points had broken free!

5 minutes of soldering, and haven't had any trouble of that sort since.

Just a possibility, if you're comfortable taking things apart. My guess it that any bump to the table I had my SD3 on probably jiggled those horrid solder joints and the machine paused, then continued, not really knowing what had happened...?

Two SD3s - One with Sang, One with Printrboard, Fans on control boards!!! Do this!!!, Dual Glass Beds, Blacklight "EZ Bake Oven" - Improves Ambient Temp, Sketchup, Repetier, Slic3r. Graphic Designer & Makeshift Engineer. Drinks Lots and Lots and Lots of Rum.

11 Reply by op7ical

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

I had a problem with my power supply. I was getting weird X-Y offsets that made no sense. Then one day, it just didn't work at all, and I noticed the AC power supply light wasn't lighting. So I began preparing to replace it, but also figured "Why not take it apart and see what's up?"
Well, it was a very simple fix. The soldering around the part that you plug the AC cable into / where it's soldered to the PCB, was a complete crap solder job, and all 3 points had broken free!
5 minutes of soldering, and haven't had any trouble of that sort since.
Just a possibility, if you're comfortable taking things apart. My guess it that any bump to the table I had my SD3 on probably jiggled those horrid solder joints and the machine paused, then continued, not really knowing what had happened...?

This makes sense, since the communication aspect is handled with USB voltage ordinarily, so a dropout from the 12V would not interrupt communication.  Since your 12V line would be interrupted, the motors would lose power and the machine would be none the wiser.

Thanks for mentioning this.  I added it as a known issue in the "Motor Skipping Steps" page on soliwiki.

12 Reply by ecka

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Re: Random X/Y Screw-ups

I had similar problem too, and I too do think its the power supply problem, as I notice about 40min into my prints, the led lights on my SD3 will turn off and then come back on again, SD3 continue to print, but just at the wrong location!