X axis jam
Dear community
Yesterday, I received my very first 3d printer - a Prusa Mini+ (pre assembled). I have no prior experience with 3d printing. Unfortunatelly, the self test for the X-axis fails intermittently. It came to my attention that the moving part of the X-axis tends to jam. What I mean by jam is: I can move the moving part manually with ease at various speeds in both directions. Sometimes, the movement suddenly stops and I cannot continue to move the part in the same direction. Moving it a little bit in the other direction resolves the jam.
It does NOT happen on every move. It DOES happen for both directions (left to right and right to left). It does NOT happen always at the same location. It does NOT happen at multiples of the pulley circumference (i.e. the motor is NOT always in the same position when it happens). It DOES happen with the belt loosened (but still in place so that moving part is still coupled to motor).
My limited knowledge would suggest that I could disassemble the X-axis and find out if the motor jams when nothing is attached and also if the X-axis moving part jams when the motor is not attached.
But I wanted to ask for some feedback first - maybe I am missing something obvious and could safe the time of disassembling the machine. I can handle the disassembly, I am just not experienced enough to, for instance, know how a faulty linear bearing behaves.
So: any advice? 🙂
Best Answer by simon:
Turns out that the stepper motor itself was the problem.
Disassembling the motor (not just removing the motor from the printer but disassembling the stepper motor itself) and gently blowing it out with some compressed air appears to have solved the problem. Apparently, there was some debris in the motor that caused the jam.
I can no longer reproduce the jams by manually moving the X-axis (I could reliably reproduce the problem before).
Printer has now been printing for 20 minutes straight without any problems (I had jams every few seconds before).
Problem appears to be solved.
RE: X axis jam
Maybe as an additional question: is this something that is to be expected on printers in this price range or should I just have customer service deal with the problem (i.e. issue a claim warranty)?
I like the idea of understanding my printer and tinkering on it. But I don't know what level of tinkering to expect from hardware that comes fresh from the factory.
RE: X axis jam
Have disassembled the extruder part, and removed the X-axis belt. Turns out that the linear bearings work as expected. The jams come from the X-axis stepper motor or the pulley on the motor axle (not exactly sure how this part can cause jams though, so it's probably the motor...).
Will continue to disassemble the machine and test the X-axis motor in isolation.
RE:
Turns out that the stepper motor itself was the problem.
Disassembling the motor (not just removing the motor from the printer but disassembling the stepper motor itself) and gently blowing it out with some compressed air appears to have solved the problem. Apparently, there was some debris in the motor that caused the jam.
I can no longer reproduce the jams by manually moving the X-axis (I could reliably reproduce the problem before).
Printer has now been printing for 20 minutes straight without any problems (I had jams every few seconds before).
Problem appears to be solved.