Newbie Problem - Layers not aligning across Y-axis (Page 1 of 2)

Skipping on the y-axis. Do a search.

Possible causes:
Belts not tightened evenly
Y-axis motor being under driven by stepper driver
Binding along the slide rails

My guesses.

Electronics could be overheating
Or the print is not sticking.
Or trying to print at too high a speed.

There doesn't appear to be a heat-related or sticking-related issue, as I've powered down the unit for 12 hours and tried again, and get the same results.  I've printed a few two or three level test prints, and they seem to stick to the bed just fine.

I've tried ronsii's suggestion above, and as far as I can tell, both X and Y axis travel smoothly.  There's no obvious spot in the path where movement becomes significantly more difficult.

What I've noticed in a few more hours of troubleshooting is that when I'm using Pronterface to move the head along the Y-axis, I get frequent, but intermittent "stuttering", during which, the head moves far less than the intended distance.  It seems to be worse when I am moving the head 10mm, as opposed to the 100mm button, which typically seems pretty smooth, but also sometimes stutters significantly.

Also, the stuttering doesn't seem to occur at a specific point along the Y-axis.  It seems to happen more at the end of the rails closest to the front door, but not always.

I emailed support [at] solidoodle.com about this last night, but have had no response.  Does anyone know how long it normally takes to get a response from Solidoodle on this sort of thing?

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated, as I have to say, I'm a little disheartened so far.

Thanks.

Check the set screws in the pulleys in the back of the printer.  There should be three pulleys along the back, two connected to the long rod across the back and one on the y motor.  Solidoodle has a few videos and the circle alignment one will help make sure the belt tensions are correct.  If these don't help, the next step would be to wipe down the rods on the left and right to make sure there is no little bit of glue or plastic catching and then relube them.

I've spent a few hours tweaking the tension on the Y-axis belts (by which I mean, randomly tightening and loosening them) and seem to have resolved the problem.  I found a belt tensioning gauge on Thingiverse, which I intend to print tonight so that I can ensure both belts are tightened equally, and will probably be performeing the "Perfect Circle Calibration" from the Solidoodle video over the weekend.

Thanks for all of the help, feedback and suggestions.  I've learned a great deal about how the Solidoodle works from the suggestions, and feel much more comfortable making adjustments.  I feel like I still have a fair way to go before I'm printing "well", but I am printing now!

Thanks again.

mine is similiar not as bad but I can not get that last 2mm dialed in. It is around the 5-6th layer everytime. i got it to hold by 9 but print is shot.

what I did:
Y video adjustment at least 3x
Adjusted the stepper voltages they were all low.
lubed the shafts
adjusted the back rod so it does not shift left or right (maybe 1mm) and set collars
then I realized belt tension is super critical but I find it so hard to believe it worked fine for weeks then wham loose and impossible to get back.
What have you found on a circle looking top down. I think if I see it pull or skip to the corner then I tighten that belt to pull it back in and reiterate.

I tried the loose slip video gimmick and felt super loose and great and gave worse prints.

then after trial and error for days I got it to where cal cubes will print but once infill is added it gets goofy and consinetely steps out

circles are worse I was able to get some squares to print ok but the have severe banding (not banding but every 1/2" it kicks out and reprints about 5mm forward) I redid my z wobble cal and found that was now totally off . That reset helped

but again what is the tension method for this dam thing do I go drum tight or super loose? should the the front belt section be looser or tighter then the back ? impossible to feel if both are same

I wish I got a machine that worked, I want to print not tweak this much

Also, add in improper stepper chip voltages.

Are you cleaning the rods with a paper towel before lubing them?

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:38952

Ian made somethng that's on thingiverse, but if you're unable to print you won't be able to use this one.  You could however fashion something up similar with a paperclip and some tape.  At least then you know you have equal tension and take one thing out of the equation.

Hmm yes I thought of the filament but it seems to be loose and fine. you know to eliminate any doubt I should just cut a few meters off and print with no spool

Mine started out like this, and loosening the belts fixed it. It later came back after the front Y bearing holders cracked then snapped. Maybe check them aswell?

Cheers

Well new problem now
I thought I had it fixed after alignment and switch to glass bed. Which was night and day for level pritns, quality 1st layer starts stick etc. made a big differance for calibration very consitent

Well I amde 2 small prints nop problem and went for a big part. half way through 141 of 250 layers. machine stops frozen and shifted to front now not back (a first) whihc tells me maybe it was too much flow now or dragging?

Either way it appears board is fried? I can connect and turn heaters on/off but the RH shows all the m code values as 0? I tried reloading firmware and it loads up fine but all motors will not respond just heaters. I can send manual M92 codes then try to move and they all grind a little but basically seem broken?
WTF was this my problem all along a bad board?