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Partial Answer Click / Pop on Z axis (R1)

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by PropLord, Jul 21, 2017.

  1. PropLord

    PropLord Member

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    Hey, I'm back. With more problems. I swear, I've had more fails than successes since I've gotten this printer. Anyways...

    I thought my problem was with the Y-Axis, because it seemed to be slipping a tooth back and forth. So I tightened it up as tight as it can go. I oiled up the rods for good measure, and tightened all screws throughout the printer that seemed loose.

    I started a simple hemisphere test print. Flat side down, obviously. After the first 1-2 layers it looked nice (YAY!) Wrong. Oh so very wrong. Now the right Z motor seems to click / pop almost rhythmically ever 1 second. It seems to only do this during long movement or print travels and not infill. Though I can't be sure. And yes, I've tried slowing it down. It simply slowed down the rate of which it "popped."

    Now, *popping* "might" not be the best description. It's like it gets a random "LETS GO FASTER!" idea and zips either upwards or downwards. How much it travels I can imagine is minuscule. But evidently enough to waste an entire roll of filament until I figured out it was the Z-Axis.

    -Back to the Y-Axis a moment. After applying machine oil, one of the rod housings makes a rattling sound like a loose ball bearing.

    So far as I know, I do not have the R1-Plus. Just a refurbished R1. It does, however, have the special brass "bearings" instead of the "ball bearings."

    What the heck do I do?
     
  2. anngeelow81

    anngeelow81 Member

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    Sounds like your stepper driver needs to be tuned.
     
  3. PropLord

    PropLord Member

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    How might I go about doing that?

    Also, I forgot to mention that my print settings were: 300 microns - 0.15 infill. Everything else was default.
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  5. PropLord

    PropLord Member

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    I set all my motors except for Z to .275v at first. Z was set to 500. As the video on the thread page suggested.

    Z looks printed ok. But X and Y didn't have enough power. Possibly E as well.

    So I bumped XYE to .375v. It printed way better than it did when it was at .275v, but it's slipping back and forth on the Y axis.

    As per the instructions on the link you gave these should be the "correct" numbers.

    - X: .342 V
    - Y: .340 V
    - Z: .452 V
    - E: .321 V

    Should I dial it down to these numbers? Or boost Y up a bit more? (Again, the belt can't get tighter, and it isn't exactly skipping an entire tooth).
     
  6. PropLord

    PropLord Member

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    I tried the new settings: Y slips during infill (faster movements). Z went back to almost being "jerky" so I bumped it back up to .500v. I upped the Y stepper to 405v, as .375v seemed better than .275v. I'll find out in a moment if upping it fixes it. If not... I have no idea what else to do.
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Correct numbers are whatever make the stepper work.
    If you can't get that to happen then either:
    a) one or more of the stepper drivers is bad
    b) stepper motors are bad

    I usually assume (a)
     
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  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    This is in part why I am loathe to try tuning the stepper drivers.
    They are tuned initially when you buy and install them, if they don't work at some point I replace them.

    It is not a huge investment since they are really cheap parts (which is another reason I don't trust or tune them).
     
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  9. PropLord

    PropLord Member

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    .405v had it running way too hot for comfort.

    The new "correct" numbers still have the Y motor slipping.

    It looks like I may need to at least replace the driver. Is there a particular place you get your replacements?
     
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Amazon
     
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  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Add heatsinks to the steppers ... That is what I did on the delta. Works fine.
     
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  12. PropLord

    PropLord Member

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  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The voltage is a way to indicate to people how much current the drivers are going to provide.
    They do not provide 'voltatge' pe se, but a current source to drive the steppers.

    The Z motors move very little and very slowly in comparison to X/Y and thus need far less current to work, they only need enough to step properly. So one driver can easily source both Z steppers.

    As the driver cards age they may become weak or detuned. You can retune them, but my experience is that it becomes a game of tune, print, retune, print, retune again later... Just replace them.

    Yes, those stepsticks you linked to are the correct ones. Make sure they have a heatsink installed when you put them in place on the RAMPS
     
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  14. anngeelow81

    anngeelow81 Member

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    i agree with mark, theyre so cheap it isnt worth the time nor headache. just replace and be happy
     
  15. PropLord

    PropLord Member

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    I just got the drivers. I assumed they would be plug and play, lol... no. So I guess I need to adjust the potentiometers anyway?
     
  16. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    yep still need to set them :D (if they dont work out of the gate)
     
  17. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I would try them without touching them -- my experience is that they generally work out of the box.
     
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  18. PropLord

    PropLord Member

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    The Elegoo A4988s were all set between .590v - .612v when I checked the voltage after I had replaced them. (I replaced all the drivers, by the way).

    I checked the XYZ, and X seemed to barely have enough power to move. I went ahead and test printed the calibration circle just in case: Nothing. Z didn't budge at all.

    I dropped them to the "proper" values. That was even worse. All motors stalled.

    I incrementally increased the power by .050v to all motors until they started moving the way I'm accustomed to and reprinted the calibration circle. The voltages read something like this:

    X: .700v
    Y: .740v
    Z: .850v
    E: .500v

    It took that much to get them zipping the way they were when I first got the printer (about 2 years ago). Z started to move correctly around 700, but "stalled" after moving up or down 5mm~.

    It's raining right now so I'll check the printer to see if it prints the hemisphere correctly in a bit. The first 10~ layers were looking ok.

    -The motors seemed to stay pretty cool for the hour I was test printing.
     
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  19. PropLord

    PropLord Member

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    My memory was off on the voltages, it was:
    X: .500v
    Y: .520v
    Z: .850v
    E: .500v

    I upped Y again, and X just for good measure. The new numbers are:

    X: .600v
    Y: .600v
    Z: .850v
    E: .500v

    The Y axis is still slipping a LOT. Here's a picture of the latest print.
    The last pic shows the shifts in Y (back and forth).
     

    Attached Files:

  20. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    That is slipping enough I would be willing to blame a loose belt.
     

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