Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?  

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Sascha

Very strange, my bearings are quite silent. They are noisy when misaligned though (I do test then before assembly). They can also be noisy when dirty. Have you used any lubrication on them?

Peter

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Sascha

Very strange, my bearings are quite silent. They are noisy when misaligned though (I do test then before assembly). They can also be noisy when dirty. Have you used any lubrication on them?

Peter
They were all noisy from the start, even right out of the sealed plastic bag. I mean, they're not that noisy. It's just me who wants to further optimize the printer's noise levels 🙂

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Sascha

I understand; I have had to turn up the motor current (and hence the noise) to ensure reliable prints; being old and quite deaf does help with the noise levels!

Peter

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

I received the bearings today and installed them only on the Y-carriage so far as there is too much hassle to dismount the whole X carriage and replace its bearings. Plus, the X axis is way more silent than the heavy Y-carriage.

Results: Way, way more silent drive! It's even slightly more silent than the X-carriage. Can't imagine how silent that one will be with these sleeve bearings installed. Will probably do that when I need to do some other maintenance/repair work on the X-carriage.

Bearing play is almost non-existent and the quality on these sleeve bearings are really good. I highly recommend this mod! Even you will notice the difference, Peter 😉

Plus, I got a bag of gummi bears too

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Hi Sascha

I received some of these bearings today. On checking the tolerances of these are extremely variable, from being rather loose to a tight push-fit.

Definitely not impressed

The ones I received (from a German eBay seller) are labelled RJ4JP-01-08 "drylin by Igus".

I will try them out when I build my reworked (big) version.

Peter

EDIT: very disappointed; no gummi-bears... 🙁

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Igus bearing are the worst solution for prusa i3. After they are on place and tight by zip-tie, microncon will not able to move axis, and if you will add moe current, motor and driver will be hot. Use good grease and add it between steel balls to ensure that they will not rattle. Good help is add cork between Xmotor-end and motor (don't forget to move X pullye.)

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

That's a shame. I guess I was lucky in getting a pack with good tolerances. When I installed my bearings I checked thoroughly that the resistance wasn't too high on the rods by just sliding it back and forth without any connection to the stepper motor. While it had that "sleeve feeling" to it, it still didn't require much effort to make it move. The motor runs great even in silent mode, though I haven't checked its current draw.

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Sascha

I think Tomas is referring to possibly over-tightening of the cable ties and squeezing the bearings. This is obviously not an issue for you, be is something to bare in mind.

As for motor current, there is no need to measure it as it is set in firmware - there are 2 settings "Quiet" and "High Power". These settings to control the current to the motors (the motors are driven by current-limiting circuitry on the RAMBo).

Peter

EDIT: I would not use grease on the slides as I have a rather dusty environment. Grease collects dist and prematurely wears out the bearings...

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Ok, yeah I'll go with the gut feeling and say that these works good for me (for now).

But.

A big but.

It turns out that these bearings I've linked may be some chinese knockoffs and not authentic Igus bearings.
http://www.igus.com/wpck/3542/DryLin_R_Lineargleitlager

I can't find the bearing marketed on the Ebay page on Igus's own product page! This could mean that, combined with the questionable tolerances you got, that these might not be the real deal. I'll post any updates I find around this issue.

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

There you go: http://www.igus.eu/wpck/12157/Motek14_N14_6_3_Vollkunststofflager?L=en

Peter

EDIT: Tolerance quoted as 8mm to 8.04mm That's not what I have!

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Get in touch with the guy that sold it and try to have it replaced. Tolerances shouldn't be breached!

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Sascha

I think Tomas is referring to possibly over-tightening of the cable ties and squeezing the bearings. This is obviously not an issue for you, be is something to bare in mind.

As for motor current, there is no need to measure it as it is set in firmware - there are 2 settings "Quiet" and "High Power". These settings to control the current to the motors (the motors are driven by current-limiting circuitry on the RAMBo).

Peter

EDIT: I would not use grease on the slides as I have a rather dusty environment. Grease collects dist and prematurely wears out the bearings...

Peter, are you suggesting no lubrication on the rails at all?

Thanks,

Dennis

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Hi Dennis

Yes, that is correct. I have a Chinese clone, which I lubricated with a copper-based grease and I ended up changing the bearings every couple of months.

With the Original, lubrication is not mentioned in any manual, so I didn't lubricate at all and the bearings have lasted 5 months so far, still with no more noise and play than when they were installed. My printers are in use 24/7.

Peter

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Hi Dennis

Yes, that is correct. I have a Chinese clone, which I lubricated with a copper-based grease and I ended up changing the bearings every couple of months.

With the Original, lubrication is not mentioned in any manual, so I didn't lubricate at all and the bearings have lasted 5 months so far, still with no more noise and play than when they were installed. My printers are in use 24/7.

Peter

OK Wow, I haven't lubricated mine either since it was not mentioned in the manual. I built my Original in October but I estimate I have no more than 150 hrs so its good to hear your printer is OK, good enough for me.

Thanks,

Dennis

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

I thought I have the responsibility to follow-up on this now that I've used it for a few months.

While the noise level sure is (was) lower than ball bearings, what I've noticed it that after a few months of wear, the Y axis has started to vibrate, which can be seen on both the flat surface finish and on the outside of perimeters as small and evenly placed "bumps". Overall I'm not quite happy with my choice of buying these, and will most probably revert back to the old ball bearings when I'm upgrading it to MK2.

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

Just for info. After about 6 months you should lubricate some bearings.

I own a genuine Prusa I3 Mk1 and an Ultimaker 2+ below is a link to lubricating bearings.

https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/150-lubricating-the-axes

One drop of sewing machine oil helps bearings on any axis. Do not apply wd40 or any grease. Approx every six months is good.

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

I'm not sure that Ultimaker maintenance should be used as a baseline for the Prusa i3.

The Ultimaker 2 design is different, with slider on each side of X and Y axis. For this design I can understand the need for lubrification, since a minimal difference of friction on each side will apply an important torque, which is proportional to the radius.

In the Prusa design there is no outside sliding rods, the constraints are different. PR does not provide recommandation to use lubrification, and Peter reported that lubrification actually reduced his bearing lifetime, having a dusty environment.

It may help in specific cases, with non dusty environment, but this should not be a generic recommandation 'just in case'.

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

They are loud , and often I can hear rattling noise . Solution for me was printed PLA bearings . they have the same dimensions. you just print them and when you have them all prined just change them . Before its important to drill thru them with 8mm drill bit wich will help. Then its good idea to wear them in by running them back and forth . Once intalled let them dry and let motors wear them in for coulple hours, then put silicone grease on them I have been printing on them since december on other printer and the only thing you can hear is fan . And they slide so much better and nicer, even the print quality improved.

From here : http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:24990/#files

Use slic3r for slicing , gives best results 0,2 mm

its the LM8UU_0.5 Nozzle V3

Re: Linear ball bearings are too loud - solution?

@kozef.n Interesting solution with PLA. I have learnt something today, thanks. As regards one drop of sewing machine oil, it can be applied to the 8mm bearing shafts of the Prusa I3 if you have noisy bearings, thats all I am saying. It may help.

@christophe.p sewing machine oil may help, we are only talking about one drop. The linear bearing ball bearings are oiled with it in the first place. Did you not notice the oil around and within the linear bearings when you unpacked them as part of the Genuine Prusa i3 kit? Did your bearings feel oily? If not wow....dried up old bearings.

My linear bearings are silent. Did you dislodge some balls when assembling the printer? ie are some balls missing? It wasn't broke, no need to fix that for me.