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Re: M2 Build Plates Slowly Deforming

Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 4:29 pm
by jimc
Those belts should last 1000's of hours. I have 3 printers here. One dates back almost 4 years and prints almost non stop. Never had a belt break yet. If your breaking belts they they have way too much tension which explains the bow in the rail OR they are not lined up correctly and are rubbing something. Nozzles and hot ends are consumables and will always need replacing on any printer. I do mine maybe every 6mos. As for the plate, i assume its mic6. If its regular aluminum then its going to warp.

Re: M2 Build Plates Slowly Deforming

Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:30 pm
by insta
Unless it's a Makerbot 5th gen, in which case it requires replacement every 120 hours (roughly $1/hr). :lol:

Re: M2 Build Plates Slowly Deforming

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:47 pm
by airscapes
Old thread.. but still an issue I guess
So my gantry is starting to sag, what is the proper way to tension the belts.. of course this may have been this way from the factory as it is only 6 months old.. I have split the difference on the z offset but don't want the belts overly tight if they don't need to be. Any rules of thumb on how to properly tension them and verify it is correct?

Thanks!
Doug

Re: M2 Build Plates Slowly Deforming

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 2:53 pm
by zemlin
Here's how I fixed it:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6428&p=35862

Re: M2 Build Plates Slowly Deforming

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:26 pm
by airscapes
Thanks Zimlin! But what about belt tension? I have them looser than they were from the factory but not sure how loose is too loose. I basically pulled them thight enough to take out any slack but only about 1/2 the original PULLEM tight tension..

Re: M2 Build Plates Slowly Deforming

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 11:15 am
by zemlin
airscapes wrote:
Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:26 pm
Thanks Zimlin! But what about belt tension? I have them looser than they were from the factory but not sure how loose is too loose. I basically pulled them thight enough to take out any slack but only about 1/2 the original PULLEM tight tension..
Belt tension on timing/toothed belts is not that critical. I have an old Dodge engineering guide the says they should be "somewhere between too loose and too tight".

You want the belts tight/taught, but not like a fiddle string.

I installed NEMA dampers on my machine. Those rubbery bits allow the motor shaft to tilt due to the belt tension. I added a couple flat washers on the outboard motor screws (one between the motor and the mount and one between the mount and the frame), so that when loose the shaft is pointing away from the idler pulley. I then adjust the belt tension so the motor shaft is perpendicular and the belt runs true - not up against either flange.

There's a little more discussion about that here: forum.makergear.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3160&p=35012

Re: M2 Build Plates Slowly Deforming

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:32 pm
by airscapes
Yes I saw the post and added a single washer between the frame and the damper. Then snugged the belt and adjusted the pulley height so the belt ran straight. And I guess I have the tension correct from your description. I ran a couple of ringing test prints and then took the dampers off and reran the same Gcoded and I could not really see much difference, so put them back on for the silence they provide.
At this point I am not going to dive into shimming the X rail until it becomes more of a problem I can split the difference and get good adhesion of the first layer so far, but now I know how to fix it if it gets worse.
Thanks for the help!
Doug