Printer seems to be feeding current in both x and y steppers
Hello guys! I have a weird problem with my printer that i have started to notice maybe one week ago.
So, here is what i noticed: whenever the x axis was moving, i could hear a weird stepping noise. Initially i thought there was a misaligned belt, so today i took both x and y belts off. I started to move the x axis (through the printer interface) and the weird stepping noise was still there. So i tried to find the source of it and i seemed to be the y motor. Even though it did not move at all, the motor sounded as if it was stepping. So next i tried this in reverse: i moved the y axis and to my surprise, there was no noticeable noise until i got my ears really close to the extruder motor; the same noise was there, though barely noticeable and i couldn't tell if it was from the extruder motor or from the x motor.
My conclusion is: the printer might be feeding current to all steppers, although not enough to move them, it just moves the one it is told to move. So perhaps there is a short on the board somewhere? Perhaps one of the motor controller circuits is faulty?
Has anyone experienced this before? Is there any way to fix this? Btw: the print quality doesn't seem to be affected at all. Is this how the mainboard is supposed to behave? I might take a board under a microscope to check for any visible damage if needed. (I am thinking it might have been affected by the moisture in the air as it is not fully enclosed?)
Re: Printer seems to be feeding current in both x and y steppers
I don't have personal experience with this, but my understanding is that if the auto-calibration finds that there is even the slightest skew between X and Y axes, then a movement that is logically along only one axis will actually move both axes in order to correct for the skew. The movement along the "non-moving" axis will be very small if the skew is very small.
So only a guess, but that might explain what you're observing.
Re: Printer seems to be feeding current in both x and y steppers
💡 when the printer is in operation, all the steppers are provided with current. even if they don't move... just to hold their position.
that's quite normal and as intended by the developers (so not a faulty driver or something similar).
you can disable the steppers manually thru the settings menue (after a print), but this only affects the x, y and extruder motor. the z-steppers will stay "under current" to keep their aligned positions.
dem inscheniör is' nix zu schwör...
Re: Printer seems to be feeding current in both x and y steppers
I don't think there is any skew between x and y axis. When looking from above the printer, the frame seems to be aligned perfectly with the lines on the bed and when i run the XYZ calibration, it says the x and y axis are perpendicular. I will try realigning the axis and see if it helps.
Re: Printer seems to be feeding current in both x and y steppers
Bogdan
Are you sure it's not the Z steppers that you are hearing?
As you move the X and Y axes, the Z motors will step to compensate the Z height for a non-level bed. The stepping will depend on the levelness of the bed plus any adjustment you have added.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: Printer seems to be feeding current in both x and y steppers
Hi guys! upon rechecking everything, it seems that it is indeed the y axis motor moving as well when moving the x axis motor. I checked it with callipers and indeed it seems that the y axis is moving 0.4 millimetres when the x axis goes from 0 to 250. Does this mean the axis are not truly perpendicular? I will try retightening the frame and see if it helps. Thanks for all your suggestions.
Re: Printer seems to be feeding current in both x and y steppers
Success! I realigned the z axis to the bed and ran the xyz calibration. This time it is truly well aligned, as the printer doesn't feel the need to compensate for any misalignment anymore.
Thanks to everybody that came up with suggestions! My problem has been fixed 😀