I am having some issues here with my Z axis. Originally I thought this issue was caused from the direct wobbling of the Z lead screws. I then put bearings on the end of the screws to keep them from wobbling (and this worked for the direct circular motion of the leadscrew). This print was printed with auto bed leveling on (it’s a Printrbot Go V2 that I made by downloaded the files from YouMagine, so I have to use auto bed leveling). The problem was lessened but this is what my prints still look like: (it also isn’t the filament, I’ve gotten perfect prints on other printers with the same stuff) What should I do to fix it?
You are going to either get a new lead screw and hope that it is straighter or you could print a floating lead nut mount like this: https://pinshape.com/items/14801-3d-printed-anti-wobble-for-k8200
overconstraining your z lead screws is not a solution. If anything, it makes wobble worse.
Try new, straight lead screws.
My printer also makes a loud buzzing kind of sound when the Z axis is moving at full speed, but I wasn’t sure what was causing it in the leadscrew (pitch, or too tight of tolerances). Is there any place where I can but a 8mm leadscrew that will be of higher quality?
Double check current setting on the z axis driver.
Okay. Meaning it is too high or too low?
@Noah_Skrzypczak meaning too high. But motor speed and acceleration could also have a big effect. Powering a motor too agressively could easily lead to missing steps, which could lead to rhe problems you experience.
I’ve been struggling with similar problems for a long time, and most of it was because of running the stepper motors too fast.
When I told the printer to move the bed, let’s say, 10mm, it would do that. But when traveling 0,1 mm, it only did that occasionally.
All this, ( and some mechanical problems) caused a wobble-ish pattern, some layers where the right hight, and others got squished a bit, and the plastic has to go somewhere, right?
I’ve built and designed my printer myself, and redesigned and rebuilt it a couple of times, and one of the things I’ve learned is that creating a reliable Z-axis is one of the biggest challenges one can face. Investing some real money in high quality parts for it, can make things a bit easier, since no software solution can cure bad mechanical parts.
Okay, I’ll mess with the settings and see what happens, and I will keep you posted. Thank you all so much for your responses!!
@Noah_Skrzypczak keep us informed please, so everyone can learn from this.
I turned down the current to a rating of 30 (I think this is a percentage?) It is much quieter, but I still have bad Z-banding. Should I attempt taking the bearings off the top of the lead screws to see what happens? Multiple people have said so, so ill try it. This print is after I turned down the current on the two Z motors.
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Yes, remove the bearings, they only make matters worse. And if your threaded rod is bent, replace it.
I don’t think they are bent, but I’ll indicate them before I put them back in and take the bearings out, and see what happens
Finally got around to make some changes on my machine. This is what the prints look like now with the top of the lead screws unconstrained. (I did cancel the print). A little better, but there is still z artifacts. Maybe its something to do with the couplers? They are both flexible, clamp style ones. Or maybe its a misalignment between the z nut and the motor mount below. Any ideas?
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Do try rigid couplers. But make very sure everything is aligned properly, or else it would make things worse.