nema17 dampers

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zemlin
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Re: nema17 dampers

Post by zemlin » Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:50 pm

Scroll to near the bottom of page 7 on this thread. I added washers under the mount to tilt the motor shaft out, so then when tension is applied the shaft returns to perpendicular to the machine.

My dampers have not lost tension that I have noticed - or I have removed the motors often enough that I haven't noticed.

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sthone
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Re: nema17 dampers

Post by sthone » Mon Mar 05, 2018 7:30 pm

zemlin wrote:I added washers under the mount to tilt the motor shaft out, so then when tension is applied the shaft returns to perpendicular to the machine.
This is a good idea... I ended up removing the dampers off all of my printers because with the slight angle of the motor that they create it actually wears the belts at the pulleys. One of mine got so bad the belt actually would jump off the idler pulley and I had to replace the belt.
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airscapes
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Re: nema17 dampers

Post by airscapes » Mon Aug 06, 2018 11:17 pm

Just installed the dampers and omg I can now hear the bad X axis bearing! When I was at the RepRap festival in June and saw what looked like cheapo printers running and heard no noise I was like,, hum.. wonder why the m2 sings a song.. Dampers!
So I installed one of the washers from the 2 unused screws between the damper and the motor on the left side facing the motor from the end(rail side) .. is that correct? Looks like from the picture here viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3160&p=35012&hilit=washers#p35014
For $13 not sure why these are not installed from the factory.. Never saw any print issue posted other than the belt problem.. did I miss something?

Gwhite
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Re: nema17 dampers

Post by Gwhite » Tue Aug 07, 2018 2:44 am

I've been considering doing this upgrade. The one downside seems to be that the dampers significantly reduce the heatsinking the motors see. There are 40 mm square heatsinks you can stick on with thermal tape or epoxy.

Has anyone noticed that their steppers are getting extra toasty? Anyone using heat sinks?

airscapes
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Re: nema17 dampers

Post by airscapes » Tue Aug 07, 2018 3:40 am

Yes, I did notice that the motor was HOT and I figured as that was why.. However these motors are rated at a very high temperature so I will enjoy the quiet for now. Others have posted they had them installed on multiple machines running production level stuff for a year and only removed them due to belt issues.
The nice thing is they are $13 and take about 20 minutes to install and probably 10 to remove.. If you didn't have to adjust the pulley it would be really fast. If you printer is in your living space, this is a really good modification.

Gwhite
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Re: nema17 dampers

Post by Gwhite » Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:38 pm

I'm not sure how accurate it is, but I have an IR thermometer, and it claims both my X & Y steppers are only running about 15C above ambient. That's fully clamped to the associated metal bits. I couldn't find any obvious visible markings to get a model/part number on the steppers, so I have no idea what they are officially rated for. Apparently SOME steppers have quite a high temperature spec, but many with some internal electronics are rated much lower. Some folks claim the internal magnetics get affected around 80C.

Eventually, I want to be able to run my printer in an enclosure heated to 50C. With the original metal mounting, that would have them running at a case temperature of ~ 65C. If they get 10 to 15 degrees warmer with the reduced thermal path of an damper mount, they could get hot enough to cook things. I think I will plan on adding heat sinks so that I don't have to worry about the heated enclosure situation.

airscapes
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Re: nema17 dampers

Post by airscapes » Wed Aug 08, 2018 1:27 am

I sent a mail to support to get the operating temperature range of the steppers. I have been printing for a few hours with pla and and external fan over the build platform in a semi-enclosed enclosure (top and 2 sides open and motors are around 120F, room temp is about is 82F. With the enclosure closed printing abs I crack the top when the temp hit 103F but never measured the motor temp. I know the frame get too hot to touch at that point as I have touched the top of it by the Z knob when the print was done..

airscapes
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Re: nema17 dampers

Post by airscapes » Wed Aug 08, 2018 4:05 pm

From Tech support the data sheet on the stepper http://www.kysanelectronics.com/Product ... ordID=8368
Max temp 110C

Gwhite
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Re: nema17 dampers

Post by Gwhite » Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:56 am

Yes, but measured where? Is that case temperature, winding temperature, or what ??? The top of the operating ambient temperature range is only ~ 40C, which makes using them in a 50C heated enclosure a bit worrisome....

airscapes
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Re: nema17 dampers

Post by airscapes » Thu Aug 09, 2018 2:28 am

well then no dampers or heat sinks. One of the support guys that emailed me order the dampers for his machine to try them. I had meant to run some cylinder prints before and after to see how much more the affect the print quality and forgot.. He said he would try and report what he finds.. some people say no issues other say it affects the print.. The heat sink of the frame was a design choice.. just a fact of nature..

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