I went to calibrate my Zortrax before a print. When the bed started to raise, it made a squeaking and grinding noise. Every so often while the was raising, along with the grinding noise, there was a popping sound. The bed would jump when it popped. If you go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okvLeehfPaA you can hear the noises.
The sound quality is not the best ever, but once the bed starts to rise, you will be able to hear it. I was using my phone to record it.
I checked all the screws I could find, and none of them are loose. I also cleaned the z axis rods and screw to make sure nothing was on them. It was working fine yesterday. I don’t know what happened.
If you turn off the machine and turn the z axis by hand, you don’t get all the squeaking, but you do get the popping at regular intervals.
If anyone has any ideas on specific areas to check, I will check them again.
OK, tried adding the grease and it did not help. I noticed when turning the screw by hand the only place you could “feel” the popping was by the motor. So I was going to check it. But when I started to remove the anti backlash, I discovered the problem. It was broken. See photos here: http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/dgtaylor45/library/anti%20backlash.
The large part was attached to the screw, the smaller piece to the motor. I guess what was happening was it was riding up and the popping noise was when the broken part would fall back into place.
What do I need to do to get another anti backlash piece?
You should check how well the stepper is centered to the lead screw with the bed all the way down… the flexible coupling looks like it broke because there is too much offset… Just a thought…I don’t know exactly how adjustable the stepper position is.
Thanks, I was sort of thinking I might need to check the alignment when I put it back together. I really didn’t look at how adjustable it was when I took it apart.
