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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Solidoodle Discussion → Hot Stepper Motors
Hi all,
I was having issues with my SD3 prints sticking/curling so I did the standard mods: glass plate and case enclosure.
I had some 1" foam insulation laying around so thats what I used except for the top, which is 1/8" polycarb.
It works great but I have noticed that the Y axis and extruder steppers are screaming hot after a print. Should I be concerned about this? Is my insulation enclosure a little too overkill perhaps?
Hot motors are totally normal. Hot stepper chips can sometimes cause problems, but you should notice that if it happens. In that event, put a small fan to cool the chips and you should be a golden.
Hot motors are totally normal. Hot stepper chips can sometimes cause problems, but you should notice that if it happens. In that event, put a small fan to cool the chips and you should be a golden.
This advice is questionable. Rated maximum ambient on the steppers is 50C. On top of that, Solidoodle overdrives the steppers beyond spec, so I wouldn't go over a 35C or 40C ambient.
Just my 2cents... my ambient reaches about 43C and I don't hear any complaining from the steppers, my enclosure isn't 'airtight' and when I do tidy that aspect up I'll probably add fans to the steppers to get a bit of air flowing over them.
If you can touch the stepper motors they're probably OK. Yes, lifespan is technically not as great, but steppers can easily be run at 70C for a looooooong time, so long as the manufacturer didn't use an incorrect coating on the wires. 70C is quite hot.
If in doubt, add a fan to your printer's mobo & steppers.
It won't hurt anything.
solidoodlesupport wrote:Hot motors are totally normal. Hot stepper chips can sometimes cause problems, but you should notice that if it happens. In that event, put a small fan to cool the chips and you should be a golden.
This advice is questionable. Rated maximum ambient on the steppers is 50C. On top of that, Solidoodle overdrives the steppers beyond spec, so I wouldn't go over a 35C or 40C ambient.
All solidoodles run with hot stepper motors. The user didn't give a temperature, but I suspect there is nothing wrong with the SD.
With an IR thermometer I get temps on the Y-axis stepper in excess of 90C. I don't exactly trust it though, so I will attach some thermistor based sensors and report back. The motor is nearly untouchable so it can't be too far off.
Still, these are the best prints I've done yet, but I feel like I'm killing the work life of my motors pretty fast.
I remember we have a calibrated Fluke thermocouple, so I tried that out.
56C ambient when the probe is placed roughly in the path of the Y Stepper.
Put the probe against the side of the stepper right after printing and it was 76C
If you can't touch the motor for like a second (and aren't particularly low-tolerance of heat), then it might be a hair too hot. You can lower that current a bit and feel more comfortable, at least I don't need to run my Y remotely that hot. Just the X
print one of the stepper fan mounts found on thingiverse and slip a 40mm fan over the y axis motor. the extruder already has a fan, and the x and Z motors are mounted to the steel case (huge heatsink) so they shouldn't be a problem.
Came back to say oops, I meant to say its the X motor that gets too hot. It actually looking like the X-axis carriage has warped considerably, unless this is normal for other people?
Wow, definitely not normal!
Looks like that 90C wasn't far off at all, holy crap!
Better print a new one before it can't anymore!
Any STL to replace this part?
My x motor also get's screaming hot. Whenever I make a very skinny and tall print, after about 50 layers, the motor skips steps and I have to let it cool down before I print any part again. Even with a normal part that isn't super skinny/tall, they get SUPER hot. Starts making a horrible grinding noise, it really grinds my gears.
The first thing you need to do is adjust the VREF for that axis that's why your motor is getting so hot. As far as .stl goes I don't know unless you switch to lawsy's linear bearings.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:89742
Might give that a try.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:96058
That one seems to be an improved stock replacement for the whole carriage assembly. I haven't tried them myself but it's a start.
This one looks better for the SD4 from what I can see:
I can't find any documentation on how to set the VREF to get the temperature down. Does anyone know how?
If they are adjusted properly your motor will run cooler. You can do this with a meter or even by ear while the motor is turning. Just tweak that axis trim pot slightly until it runs as smooth as possible. Adjusting VREF's has been covered many times if I remember correctly there's even a post with pictures of motors that got too hot looking just like yours.
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