alan025

I've just resigned myself to editing the gcode after Netfabb generates it. I've learned to live with everything except that long travel move from one corner to the other at Z=0. I hand edit it to Z=20 for safety.

I've upgraded my X and Y stepper motors to the larger ones sold by Ultimachine. Printing appears to be smoother when there are rough spots in the blue tape or the previous print layer . However, I'm a little concerned about the motor temperatures during longer prints. Using a thermocouple on my multimeter, the bottom case of the motors seem to stabilize at 120 F (49 C). Is that too hot? The extruder motor (original part from June 2011) only runs about 90 F (33 C). (All temperatures measured when ambient temperature was 68 F, 20 C). If 120 F is too hot, any suggestions on how to reduce the temperature? I can think of two that could be quickly done - lubricate the x/y rods and dial down the stepper currents (I think that's what it's called). I have been lubricating the x/y rods with a white lithium grease, but a thinner machine oil may be more appropriate, I don't know. Any thoughts? Finally, if anyone can suggest a good reference for learning the in's and out's of stepper motors (voltage, current, torque, speed, temperature) I would be eternally grateful. Old dog, new tricks, and all that!

I just tried the forum search feature with various combinations of "motor", "stepper", "temperature", "ABS". In each case the forum engine told me the words were ignored because they were "too common", and that I needed to specify a search word. Somehow that doesn't seem to me to be normal ...