Enlarged pict of the black dust on Z axis thread rid grooves. Looks like filings almost. They carry a static charge. When I bring the Xacto blade to touch it, it jumps to a new location on the plastic background.
Still having Z axis issues on +printerbot simple beta.
I got the same, but i keep my printer greesed up. End result is black greese (starts white) Try some greese to keep it contained . Bad alignment on the bearings is what causes it i think, that and or stuff inside the bearings in my case.
Thats because those are filings. Its possible to end up with nearly a bare rod after a while. Thats especially the case with steel or galvanized rods. I prefer stainless rods with brass nuts. Brass is ‘self-lubricating’ and doesnt tear up the rods as badly.
@Addidis_no Thanks for the tip. Last night I put on a bunch of lithium grease and went back to a flexible tubing coupling between the stepper and the rod. The grease is dark gray already. Z Axis is positioning more repeatably.
Trying for my first print taller that 10mm today - a simple hollow tower.
Your bearings are likely not quite aligned. See if you can get them moving nice and freely. I pulled mine 1/16 in out of the clamp and it cleaned up nicely. It was binding on the plastic inside cocking the bearing slightly. This will get really bad the more out they are and contribute to wearing out both the bearings and rods faster. Check your rods next time you lube them after seeing if you can get the bearings sliding better and running it a bit. Hopefully its not gouged, if it is spin the bar a tiny bit so a new place contacts the bearing. You should go threw a few sets of bearings before messing up the rod if it is anything like my experience. Also worth noting, those are not rust proof, keep them lubed even if not using the printer. It keeps them from rusting.
Also, I wiped it clean and re lubed it and rand it and repeated a few times in hopes of cleaning out the bearing. It got moderately more white.
@Alan_McNeil I wouldn’t recommend lithium grease for a printer. For z rods I often use simple 3-IN-ONE but have lately switched to Super Lube Synthetic PTFE grease - its clear and comes in a grey tube and is awesome! http://amzn.com/B000XBH9HI
@Brian_Evans Thanks for the tip. Definitely getting some PTFE.
Found out my threaded rod from the kit is not straight! It is bowed 2mm. That’s not helping. Looking into new threaded rod, brass nut and going metric. Amazon here I come. Found a printable “cover” to hold the metric nut in the inch socket that I hope to print tonight.
