Are these normal sounds or did I do something wrong during assembly?
I assembled my MK3S+ a little over a month ago, and I've been tuning it (with a calibration-die, Maker's Muse Clearance Gauge and Clearance Castle, etc), and along the way I've been trying to iron out things I did wrong (that I could figure out I did wrong) during the assembly.
But one thing I haven't been able to remedy is that it's very (consistently) inconsistent with sound levels, and it's in no way a somewhat silent printer. But the sounds it makes doesn't really sound "right" to me.
I have it set up on a IKEA Lack-table (I'm working on printing parts for the Prusa Enclosure V2), and the Lack-table itself is standing on a pilates-mat to help keep sound-reverberations down.
Here is a clip of it printing while moving at higher speeds: High speed (high noise)
Notice there is a low constant background noise in the clip.
Then here we have it (during the same print) moving at a slower speed: Low speed (low noise)
The background noise is actually the same, but the printer was being to much quieter that my camera started amplifying all sounds, when moving slow it's easy to forget that it's on even in the same room, while when it's moving fast I can hear it through walls and closed doors.
Lastly there's a very strange sound it does when printing arcs (so any circle or non-straight line really): Strange sound (starts at the 6-7 second mark)
It always does this sound when printing any curvature along the X/Y-plane...
Now to me it sounds like it would be the ball bearings, but then I can't figure out why it wouldn't make that sound when making diagonal lines..
When it makes slow diagonal lines (like for the first layer of a print) it's dead quiet.
When it makes fast diagonal lines (like subsequent bottom shells) it sounds like in the loud video.
But even when going slow (and even on the first layer) if the print has a curved line, it makes that strange sound...
My best guess for the loudness is that something is vibrating in the frame when the print-head is moving fast, and there's just a certain breakpoint that makes it vibrate, though I can't pinpoint what it is. I've tried different levels of belt tensioning (on both X and Y), I've tried re-aligning the straight rods on the Y axis, and I've re-fastened the LCD-holder (a tip I found online when googling about noise from the MK3).
So if anyone has any tips on more things I could try there it'd be much appreciated!
I don't really have a clue as to the strange sound, so any ideas there are welcome, toss em out and I'll try. =P
RE: Are these normal sounds or did I do something wrong during assembly?
Try the pilates mat under the printer feet
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Are these normal sounds or did I do something wrong during assembly?
Putting the pilates mat under the printer feet helped lower the overall volume, but there's still a very noticeable sound when it's moving fast, and the strange sound when making circles/arcs is still there.
I think I've isolated two different parts of the loud sound though, one part is the Y-axis and that part sounds more like vibrations reverberating, the other part is the X-axis and that is more of a ball-bearings-rolling type of sound.
I'm gonna try and print a replacement Y-axis-motor holder to eliminate that motor vibrating against the chassis as a variable.
Not sure what I can try regarding the X-axis, and still no clue what the strange sound is.
RE: Are these normal sounds or did I do something wrong during assembly?
have you tried a paving slab between the prusa feet and the pilates mat.
the mass of the concrete, should damp the noise. a little
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Are these normal sounds or did I do something wrong during assembly?
Haven't tried that yet, I'll give it a go. Thanks for the tip!
Does it need to be a thick slab (like 50mm thick), or would a thinner one (say 20-30mm) work just as well?
Since I'm planning on putting it in a Prusa Enclosure v2 (with a MMU2S attached) I'm slightly worried about the added height with both a slab and a soft mat...
In case you know, is granite better or worse than concrete? Cause I can get a hold of that as well, and in my head at least it should be even more resistent to reverberations...
RE: Are these normal sounds or did I do something wrong during assembly?
Granite is certainly Prettier than concrete and almost certainly more dense, probably having a lower moisture content than concrete,
BUT I have never had chance to try it. chances are it will work well
Lesser thicknesses may be less efficient at sound deadening, but it will almost certainly be better than the top of an ikea table
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Are these normal sounds or did I do something wrong during assembly?
That sounds like bearings to me, and a bit or resonance from the work platform. The corner is also, likely reflecting the sound. Did you lube grease the bearings or put them in as shipped? The stepper drivers/motors always make funny sound on diagonal lines for me. Nothing terrible, just a different tone.
RE: Are these normal sounds or did I do something wrong during assembly?
I've run it sitting on a granite slab, which helped quite a bit, I also printed Taurus feet which helped further reduce resonance.
For anyone running into this thread in the future: a 400x400x30mm granite slab was enough for my printer to not be able to vibrate.
@HBPrint
The corner was definitely reflecting the sound, I realised that by accident when I moved the printer to another room for an unrelated reason. 😅
I didn't grease the bearings, I put them in as shipped (since that's what the instructions explicitly said), I suppose that's (unfortunately) what I'll have to do next, cause I agree that it really does sound like the bearings are making a sound I don't quite like... 😕
Good to know that the stepper motors make that sound when changing speed like that, makes me a lot less worried!