1 Topic by pakiii (edited by pakiii 2015-02-24 23:14:55)

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Topic: Grinding Noise When X Carriage Moves

Hi All,

I'm hearing a massive grinding noise on my SD3 when I actuate the X-axis stepper motor. It seems to get worse the farther left the extruder goes.


I've checked to make sure everything is tight (I think), lubed the rods, checked the voltage on the mother board (1V). Am I overlooking something dumb, or is this what a failing stepper motor sounds like? The jingling in the background is my puppy coming to see what all that noise is.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Video link: http://youtu.be/hyqmR2Q24-w

SD3, E3D v6, printrboard

2 Reply by pakiii

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Re: Grinding Noise When X Carriage Moves

Edit: I took a video, I will link when I get my post count up.

SD3, E3D v6, printrboard

3 Reply by Serin

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Re: Grinding Noise When X Carriage Moves

One thing I could never fix on my SD2 was its noisiness. Best bet? Upgrading to a Lawsy set of carriages and nice shiny new bearings.
Second bet is experimenting with belt tensions and alignments of the rods etc.

This is a crowd funding thing that I'm running: http://www.gofundme.com/bvi140 It's for pretty selfish reasons tongue

4 Reply by jagowilson (edited by jagowilson 2015-02-24 01:52:41)

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Re: Grinding Noise When X Carriage Moves

You can probably go below 1V. Turn it down until it's quiet but can't be skipped  easily by hand. Observation works better than a multimeter.
If the noise persists you've got sometning rubbing. Time to take the belt off and do some analysis.

5 Reply by pakiii

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Re: Grinding Noise When X Carriage Moves

Thanks for the help guys,

Turning the voltage down solved the problem first try.

As a follow up, it ran fine for about a year and only started  making this noise a few days ago and it came on pretty suddenly. Is this something that should be of concern or just par for the course as these machines age?

SD3, E3D v6, printrboard

6 Reply by jagowilson

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Re: Grinding Noise When X Carriage Moves

That's definitely a little odd. I suppose it's possible for the potentiometer to float out of calibration over time, perhaps it's been cumiulative and you just now noticed it. My other thought would be that something is causing your axis to be more difficult to move. Does it slide easily by hand?