X-axis vibration
Hello guys,
After some printing I've recently noticed weird sound in the X-axis, it sounds like vibrating rods. After the completed kit it got just Z-axis vibrations while moving all the way from the top to the bottom, but now it started vibrating in X. Any ideas what can cause this kind of sounds? There were no sounds before.
To be honest, I havent lubed the linear bearings while assembling, there was nothing written in the manual, thought that lube from factory would be engouh. I've just lubed the rods itself.
Video:
RE: X-axis vibration
Two more videos:
Z axis vibrations:
X axis vibrations while printing bigger object, first layer:
RE: X-axis vibration
My guess: Print fan bearings on the X-Axis moves. Normal noise, and it gets much worse as the fan ages.
RE: X-axis vibration
How should it be normal if the parts of the printer are less than month old.
I will try to disassemble and lube bearings properly with thicker grease.
Maybe someone have more guesses before disassembly?
RE: X-axis vibration
I've disassembled, cleaned and lubricated all the bearings, then swapped the Y carriage U bearing holders to plastic ones, tightened the belts (X 269 Y261) and the vibrations are still there. It seems like its coming from PSU but I got the kit with the black one.
Any ideas?
Thank you:)
RE: X-axis vibration
There are two screws at the back of the heat bed, and if the spring steel sheet isn't touching them firmly or held off them a fraction, the sheet can rattle and buzz against them.
You'll also get play and buzzing in the Y-axis bearings. I'm using a rubber band to hold tension on my Y-axis right now because of the rattle I have there (with fresh bearings, it was tolerable). Again, wear and tear after a few hundred hours of use. Prusa's adhoc rod/bearing attachment design and lack of structural rigidity makes for excessive bearing wear. I mean really, ZIP ties?
One test for Y-axis rattle is to try touching the center front bed bushing with a plastic spudger. For some reason this is a great place to see if you can stop the bed from rattling. I at first thought it was a loose screw in the bed... but turned out to be bearings.
And I have the silver power supply, and yes, one of the transformers (or chokes) in it rattles and buzzes. One of these days I need to take it apart and hot glue or epoxy the wiggly parts.
RE: X-axis vibration
Where have you installed rubber band? Could you take a photo please?
I've tried even more things to get rid of Y and X vibrations but now I see that it is really coming from bearings. When I touch the heated bed while printing it stops buzzing.
I've installed more rigid Y motor bracket, better belt tensioner, plastic bearing holders, reagreased everything. Its still vibrating. Im thinking of making those plastic bearing holder a little bit smalled at Z axis, so that I would be able to compress those bearings a little more. Because its plastic it won't destroy the bearings itself. What do you think?
And I would like to point out that the new PSU (black) is buzzing too. Its not only silver PSU problem. I removed belt from the Y axis and rotated the stepper motor and PSU was buzzing from really light motor moves which transmits little vibrations to the frame and to the PSU itself.
RE: X-axis vibration
@l-kesiunas
Did you ever solve your problem? I've noticed this week a buzzing sound coming from certain X-axis moves, as if two vibrating parts are touching. Not all the time, it seems to happen at certain speeds. It's definitely coming from the left side of the printer (not the extruder and not the Y or Z movements), and seems to coincide with the X-axis motor turning. My printer is lubricated, the sound doesn't seem to be coming from the einsy enclsoure, belts are tight, I checked the tightness of all the screws (particularly the grub screws) and I found nothing amiss.
My printer used to be whisper quiet. It does its thing next to me on my desk while I work. Now it has this annoying and distracting buzz.
RE: X-axis vibration
@anachronist
Hello, good that you've asked, because not that long ago I found interesting solution (which came to my head from motorcycle repair experience 😀 ). I've made simple gaskets from cardboard for different parts of the printer where metal to metal contact is. The most noticeable was Y axis motor gasket.
Just cut some cardboard from filament box for example and put it in between Y axis motor and metal frame and screw it completely. It feels so much better when motor is moving. There is no resonance anymore. I even plan to make those gaskets for the whole printer but maybe only after I will buy another Prusa because I don't want to reassemble it all.
You could try to make them for Z axis motors to frame.
Hope that helps.
And please tell me if that helps. Maybe I will make 3D models for all gaskets to print from Flex filament.
RE: X-axis vibration
@l-kesiunas - thanks, I can see how that would help with the y-axis (the bed).
I don't see any metal-to-metal contact on the x-axis motor; it's attached to a plastic part. And that's where my noise seems to be coming from. I could try a cardboard gasket there, to see if it helps.
Doing this on the z-axis motor would put the z-axis slightly out of vertical unless I installed gaskets at the top of the screw shaft bracket also.
RE: X-axis vibration
@anachronist
Yes, I understand that its not metal-metal but it still gives vibrations as the motor transfers energy to rigid plastic which doesnt absorb any of it.
and yes you should add the same gaskets at the top.
Talking about Z axis, I found out that when Z axis is moving all the way down the threaded rods resonates very badly and if I put fingers on both of them from the inside, it helps to reduce it. So maybe there is another option to edit Z braces plastic parts at the top to have a bigger hole there and add little rubber “sock” on the Z threaded rod itself. If it will touch plastic part a little bit, it will act the same as my fingers touching it and it may prevent some more vibrations because of the rubber.
And new video by CnC kitchen may help you even further with all those sounds that doesnt let us sleep:
Hope that helps,
Looking forward to your thoughts
RE: X-axis vibration
@l-kesiunas
Great video, thanks!
One of the very first things I did with my printer is to create six sorbothane feet for it. I put it on Thingiverse here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3962453
Sorbothane is fantastic a vibration damping material. As far as I can tell, the feet absorb nearly 100% of the vibrations that would otherwise be transmitted into my desk. They're more compact than concrete and foam blocks as shown in the video, and way better than springs because they let the printer jiggle and shake but each movement is damped to make sympathetic vibration impossible. I believe they reduced a bit of ringing in my prints because the momentum changes from sudden movements of the extruder and bed are transferred into the printer structure, and the feet end up absorbing those momentum changes.
These feet prevent the printer from disturbing our family dinner on the other end of the room 5 meters away. But now this buzzing has developed with x-axis movements.
That video advocates felt gaskets, but cardboard worked for you? I have both materials here. Even better would be to print my own from flex filament as you suggested.
RE: X-axis vibration
@anachronist
Yes even cardboard helped with my Y axis resonances. Because even when the belt is removed and when I rotate Y axis motor by hand it gives huge vibrations to the whole metal frame. I can even feel few steps of the motor going through the whole frame when rotating motor very slowly.
Maybe there are more things to consider but it helped me.