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Unanswered Y-Axis stepper motor roughness

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by animuL67, May 23, 2016.

  1. animuL67

    animuL67 New Member

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    My R1+ is having an issue with the y-axis stepper. Right out of the box there was considerable vibration / "grinding" when the y-axis was in motion. I pulled the stepper motor out \, spun it around a few times back and forth, plugged it all back in and it ran fine... for one print. On the next print just as it started layer 2 it started the grind again and fails to follow along that axis. I have read all the threads I was able to find doing a search and none are helping. I pulled the bed off, removed the belt and in the stepper motor itself I can feel and hear the grind. Do I need a new stepper motor? BTW, if I help it out a little and apply a tiny bit of torque it seems to spin much better if not just right. Also when sending a y+ or y- command it doesn't always know which direction that it. I'll hit y+ and it goes + then I hit it again and it goes -.
     
  2. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    It could be. You could always swap the y and x and see if the issue follows
     
  3. animuL67

    animuL67 New Member

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    I pulled the stepper out and there is more resistance than I think there should be. I opened it up and it looks perfectly clean inside. runs smooth in its bearings, but when I put it back together the clocking of the end cap makes a difference in the smoothness. Even at it smoothest orientation it still doesn't like to spin. Is this fixable or do I need a new stepper motor?
     
  4. GAmbrosio

    GAmbrosio Active Member

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    if you got it this way from purchase contact Robo and get a new one under warranty.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  5. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    The motors are cheap. I dont know that they are fixable. Like @GAmbrosio says hit up robo for warranty
     
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If it is the motor then they will replace it under warranty. Even out of warranty the steppers are cheap.
    Swapping it to another axis just to test that it works is a good idea, sometimes the stepper driver can fail/go weak and the stepper will start skipping steps.
     
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  7. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    I bought a bunch of spares thinking I would need the steppers...I havn't so far. I would ask for one under warranty but in the meantime do the switch and see if the problem follows.
     
  8. MarcusK

    MarcusK New Member

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    I had a similar issue shortly after buying my R1 last year. The Y axis would grind and sometimes get stuck, and once it got unstuck the print would be shifted. I thought it was the stepper motor because of the noise, but it turned out to be a bad bearing grinding on the rod. I just removed the bad bearing and didn't bother to replace it. It's been running fine on three bearings instead of four and all the grinding is gone.
     
  9. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    I wouldnt run without that bearing :).

    Switching x and y will answer the question for sure regarding stepper good or bad.
     
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  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    You might see more slop without the bearing. They have occasionally had bad bearing batches...
    LM8UU bearings (even good ones) are not super expensive so putting in a replacement is not hard.
     
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  11. MarcusK

    MarcusK New Member

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    Yeah, I've been meaning to do it next time I have that part of the printer torn down. It just solved my immediate problem so I thought I'd mention it.
     
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