Ultimaker 2 Extended + Creaking noise

[RetromanIE 41]

Does anyone have any idea what might be causing the creaking noise in the video? It's not affecting print quality, not scraping off the printed parts, I can't see anything rubbing and its not the feeder. Everything is lubricated well.

I've looked at everything and just cant track down exactly where the sound is coming from, but it does seem to be towards the back right hand side of the printer. All screws are tight, as are the long ones in the print head.

Could it be a problem with s stepper motor? It's not the normal sound you hear when a stepper is faulty or starting to fail.

Any help is appreciated folks

You can really hear the creaking towards the end of the video.

 

Edited March 30, 2017 by Guest

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

It might come from too high tension in the long belts in your case. I see you use belt tensioners on all long belts. They are not necessary as there is a strong spring inside the sliding blocks providing the tension. If you think the tension is not equally distributed on one belt, untighten one pulley of that belt, move the printhead about three times in each direction of that belt and re-tighten the pulley again. Be careful that the axis the pulley sits on does not have any play afterwards.

Edited March 30, 2017 by Guest

[RetromanIE 41]

Thanks, will give that a try and report back.

[RetromanIE 41]

So I removed the belt tensioner and did all of the above. Still the same sound.

The axis that pulley sits on does have a few mm of play, and has done for a while. By axis I mean the bars that also can be seen/moved from the outside of the printer(well, the ends of them can be seen and pushed). Should they be locked in?

[Torgeir 242]

Hi RetromanIE,

There is four 8 mm shafts (or rods) that the pulley are installed into.

We also have the two 6 mm shaft in the "middle" moving the extruder around the bed.

When you said locked in, do you mean the two in the middle locked into the black colored sliding block's. Those two bars should be locked by the friction in the traces/cutout for the bar in the sliding block. It should hold it quite good..

If you mean the 8 mm rotating shafts, they are hold in place by the pulleys. If the shafts can be moved/have play in out (alongside the shaft), this can make noise.

Do you have play on the shaft itself, or only at the pulley(s)?

Do you have play on the extruder unit? There should be no play here, if there is play this will make noise and sometimes also amplified by resonance in the stainless steel fan housing.

Thanks.

Torgeir.

[rowiac 53]

The creaking noise seems to occur only when the print head is moving left/right. Is that correct? If so, that could narrow down the areas to look for excessive or loose parts.

If you move the print head left/right by hand, do you hear any creaking, or feel any rough spots? If so, I wonder if the "x" linear bearing in the print head has gone bad.

[celso-santos 11]

In fact I am now sure that this comes from the sliding blocks. I replaced all the other parts and will soon replace the sliding blocks that seems to beworn out.

The noise of my printer is even worse than yours and it started like 1 year and half after I bought the machine.

[RetromanIE 41]

Heres a quick video with me moving the print head around. It moves ok, not butter smooth though. You can also hear the 8mm shafts moving a bit.

Apologies for the background noise, thats two Trinus printers working away behind me

 

[neotko 1,417]

The spacers near the pulleys must have move somehow. They should syop that from happening

[RetromanIE 41]

The spacers near the pulleys must have move somehow. They should syop that from happening

 

Can i just tighten them? Or is there more to it?

[Torgeir 242]

Hi RetromanIE,

This video is good for analysis. What we can hear here is a slamming shaft (twice), so either one of the across shafts (forward or after, or even both) may have to much play and is slamming to the end stop (the two pulleys inside the printer meting the bearings in each side of the side cover).

You can actually check all four shafts by trying to put them in from the outside and then try to push them out from the inside, you should just be able to feel a little play not very much as you have here..

You'll need to loose the two set screw on the double pulley on the "after across" shaft, push the shaft in from the outside L/H aft. While holding the shaft in this position with the fingertip (don't press hard, it will be the other pulley that preventing the shaft to go further), on the inside of the printer push the double pulley toward the wall, re tight the set screw's but not very tight at this moment, as you might have to readjust. Now try to move the shaft out/in along shaft, there should be "just" a little play sometimes hard to feel -so pay attention to this little detail. When this is done, then tightening the two set screw. It might be good/smart to check the pulley set screws tightening on the other end of the shaft at this time..

Note: Do not turn the pulley when it is loose just push it along shaft.

The same adjustment process can be used on the forward across shaft as well, but on this shaft there is only two pulleys.

(It is important to note that, this is not any kind of calibration but just an adjustment to cope with a single play. There is tools and setup for such demand.)

PS. By listening to the sound of the belt on your printer when moved manually, I'll think your belt is to tight.

The hex tool to be used on the set screw here is 1.5 mm.

OK. Good luck.

Thanks.

Torgeir.

[celso-santos 11]

Torgeir

If you could please make a video of your explanation would help us a lot. I really didn't understand your explanation, and think that this shafts adjustment could help many people.

reds

Celso

[RetromanIE 41]

I've got some Misumi LMUW6 linear bearings coming next week. So will replace the standard ones in there with these. It won't fix everything but they are a nice upgrade anyway.

Although I think LMUW6 is technical linear bushings? Any experts here on that?

Edited April 6, 2017 by Guest