Resonances in X & Y Axis?
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 3:57 am
I have an M2E that is about 3 1/2 years old. It's a home hobby machine, so it hasn't been hammered on too hard.
I just ran a test print for a friend, and I'm seeing repeating patterns on the surface of the print in both X & Y that I don't recall seeing in the past, or at least no where near as pronounced. There is definitely a little ringing when the extruder goes around a corner, but the pattern I'm concerned about continues pretty much across the whole face of the model, which is 60 mm wide.
Here's the best picture I could get, going in the X direction:
The period of the waves is about 2 mm. I also get them in the Y direction, but they are less pronounced, and the period is about 1 mm:
There is definitely a speed effect going on. The top half of this feature is small enough that the slicer slows the printer down, and the quality improves dramatically.
I've got the speed set at 4800 mm/min, with an outline underspeed of 40% (MakerGear S3D profile default is 4800 & 60%). I'm not sure how slow it is going when it does the small feature at the top. I have it set to slow to to as low as 20% for layers less than 10 sec (default is 20% for T less than 15 sec).
I'm guessing that I might be hitting resonances in the printer, but unless some of the screws have worked loose, those shouldn't have changed over time.
The only thing I could think of that might have changed is that my belt tension might be off due to stretching. I plucked the Y-axis, and the belt went "boing". The X-axis went "thud". I've tightened up the X-axis so it also now goes "boing", and even at a slightly higher pitch than the Y-axis.
I'm going to run a test print and see if the pattern has changed, but I was wondering if anyone else has run into this & what other things can I play with. Should I grab my hex keys and try to tighten up all ~ 100 screws holding this thing together, or are there particular areas that are worth focusing on first?
Thanks for any comments and/or suggestions.
I just ran a test print for a friend, and I'm seeing repeating patterns on the surface of the print in both X & Y that I don't recall seeing in the past, or at least no where near as pronounced. There is definitely a little ringing when the extruder goes around a corner, but the pattern I'm concerned about continues pretty much across the whole face of the model, which is 60 mm wide.
Here's the best picture I could get, going in the X direction:
The period of the waves is about 2 mm. I also get them in the Y direction, but they are less pronounced, and the period is about 1 mm:
There is definitely a speed effect going on. The top half of this feature is small enough that the slicer slows the printer down, and the quality improves dramatically.
I've got the speed set at 4800 mm/min, with an outline underspeed of 40% (MakerGear S3D profile default is 4800 & 60%). I'm not sure how slow it is going when it does the small feature at the top. I have it set to slow to to as low as 20% for layers less than 10 sec (default is 20% for T less than 15 sec).
I'm guessing that I might be hitting resonances in the printer, but unless some of the screws have worked loose, those shouldn't have changed over time.
The only thing I could think of that might have changed is that my belt tension might be off due to stretching. I plucked the Y-axis, and the belt went "boing". The X-axis went "thud". I've tightened up the X-axis so it also now goes "boing", and even at a slightly higher pitch than the Y-axis.
I'm going to run a test print and see if the pattern has changed, but I was wondering if anyone else has run into this & what other things can I play with. Should I grab my hex keys and try to tighten up all ~ 100 screws holding this thing together, or are there particular areas that are worth focusing on first?
Thanks for any comments and/or suggestions.