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donhuevo's E3D Bowden fed X-Carriage

Discussion in 'Show and Tell' started by donhuevo, May 26, 2014.

  1. Bob64

    Bob64 Member

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    No issues changing the steps.

    Below are 4 pieces. The top two longer pieces are after the z-modifications printed at .2 layer height. The bottom two pieces are printed at .1 with some of the tweaks to the stock z axis that ziggy recommended.
    [​IMG]
     
    #101 Bob64, Jul 1, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 1, 2014
  2. donhuevo

    donhuevo Active Member

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    It's not regularly spaced to be z related. Is your hot-end loose at all in the x-carriage? If you hold the x-carriage still, can you move the nozzle in any direction?
     
  3. Bob64

    Bob64 Member

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    I'll check when I get home from work. Thanks.
     
  4. Bob64

    Bob64 Member

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    Darn. hot-end is pretty solid. Can't really move nozzle.
     
  5. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    Top two photos appear to have classic ribbing PLUS whatever is causing the ragged layers in the bottom two photos. There appears to be no classic ribbing in the bottom two photos.

    If I am interpreting the photos correctly, the "raggy" layers get worse as the Z height increases - is that correct???

    Also, looking at the bottom two models do whole layers shift around? If so, that's Z wobble or maybe some X/Y belt slip/sloppiness. If the "raggy" layers do in fact get worse as the height increases, that's a big hint the root cause is a Z axis stability problem.
     
  6. Bob64

    Bob64 Member

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    Allright, i think I have a theory.
    The ribbing might be caused by the printed adapters for this z mod. It may not have printed out dead-accurate for me, so it might be causing some wobble that gets worse as it goes up - especially since these don't have couplers to buffer out the wobble caused by the bad adaptors.

    I'm going to re-tension my belts and see if that cleans up the print.
     
  7. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    Huh??? Printed adapters - can you post a pic?
     
  8. donhuevo

    donhuevo Active Member

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    Some upper z smooth rod supports may be in order. They helped me until I had better bottom z supports and the new z steppers. Now I'm running with only bottom supports and I'm not having any issues at all. The stl attached is the bottom support I went with.
     

    Attached Files:

  9. Bob64

    Bob64 Member

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  10. donhuevo

    donhuevo Active Member

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    You may be at a point now where you can reprint the POM nut adapters and the z smooth rod base supports.
     
  11. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    I'm still none the wiser as to what your Z Axis looks like. But I assume you have done some kind of a significant mod. TBH your print quality now appears to have suffered.
     
  12. donhuevo

    donhuevo Active Member

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    Ziggy, on page three of this thread you'll see the z upgrade I did. Bob did the same.
     
  13. Bob64

    Bob64 Member

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    Yeah, I agree. This mod is really back-firing. However, to be fair. I also did the Y-axis upgrade at the same time. So there's more then one variable at play here.
     
  14. donhuevo

    donhuevo Active Member

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    My z rods were like a couple of hula dancers right out of the box. The stock supports were broken. Of course I didn't know that. Thought that's how it was supposed to be. Eventually printed the upper brackets that get double-sided taped to the inside of the lid. That helped some. I agree checking your belts would be a wise thing. It wouldn't hurt to double check the geared pulley set screws too. The two big y-belt pulleys. Make sure everything is tight. I do remember you saying you put the stock z supports back in when your printed ones cracked. Check them too.
     
  15. Bob64

    Bob64 Member

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    well crap. after taking a close look at my y-axis bed, i noticed one of the corners where the smoothrods connect with the heated bed holder has a crack in it.
     
  16. donhuevo

    donhuevo Active Member

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    crap is an understatement.
     
  17. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    Ok I see you have now a one piece solid motor/lead screw assembly on the Z Axis.

    Unfortunately I think you will find that the inevitable misalignment between the lead screw and the X Carriage nuts will result in the smooth rods having to move to accommodate the misalignment. This appears to be what the prints are showing too.

    Maybe

    - you could have the X Carriage nuts take up the misalignment (which I think is what you are aiming to do with the printed adapter) or

    - you could mount the motor so it can move enough to take up the misalignment (ie maybe springs or grommets).

    Either way I think you will find it tough to improve on the fixed motor + helical coupler (modded with a thrust bearing) + separate threaded rod design.

    Maybe you can get everything perfectly aligned, possibly you can anchor the smooth rods so they can not move (and push any misalignment back on the lead screw and motor bearings) - a big ask though.
     
  18. donhuevo

    donhuevo Active Member

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    this was my first .1 print after z stepper upgrade.
     

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  19. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    Bit hard to judge the degree of change. Is this print better quality than you were getting before?
     
  20. donhuevo

    donhuevo Active Member

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    Before on the left. Both printed at .2 I increased the contrast to better show the ribbing.

    comparison.JPG
     

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