Z steppers warm after idle for hours.
I just noticed that the Z steppers on my MK3 kit are just bit warm after the printer has been idle over night (>12 hours). The other steppers are not the least bit warm. Any idea what is going on and is there something that can be done to resolve this?
Otherwise, the printer is great, prints are great, and it has been very reliable. I'm just worried that this issue may lead to early failure of the steppers.
Re: Z steppers warm after idle for hours.
I believe the Z motors are kept energised to prevent the z axis drooping under gravity. so it is design intent.
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: Z steppers warm after idle for hours.
I believe the Z motors are kept energised to prevent the z axis drooping under gravity. so it is design intent.
regards Joan
Are they energized when the printer is off?
Re: Z steppers warm after idle for hours.
There is only so much magic in the world.
No they are not energised when switched off. However when switched off there is percieved to be less liklihood of issues because nobody is likely to be working around the printer.
This situation is based around the software engineers view of the world.
The motor is warm at rest because that is design intene. If you are unhappy with the waste energy. The off switch is within reach
If your x axis gets out of level because of settlement whilst poweredoff. Simply drive the z motors up until the two sides of the x axis supports top out on the z axis end supports and ballance will be restored
If you want 5o leave your power on but have the motors de activated put a request on the prusa git hub for consideration
Pronterface has a de energise stepper motors option so there is probably a g code or codes to de energise the motors
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: Z steppers warm after idle for hours.
Thanks, that makes sense. Wasn't really worried, just curious.
Re: Z steppers warm after idle for hours.
It's a learning curve.
Most situations have been considered. Prusa have done a lot of background wirk on safety and performance.
Where perhaps the anet manufacturers and some others are prepared to supply printers with open mains connections and lacking thermal runaway protection for example. Prusa have provided ready installed covers for mains connections ,cables cut to the correct length and terminated in proper connectors and ready configured safety settings.
I bought a geeetech printer. And never got it printing successfully.
The frame is poor. Covers are not provided. The extruder was almost impossible to load. The bearings and rods were poor and the suppliers were unresponsive.
It now gathers dust in my attic...
My prusas are in use nearly every day...
Sometimes prusa are a bit slow. But so far they have always come up trumps...
I have worn some bits out... but spares are accessible and there are many folk on here working to support the community.
Indeed the larger community benefits from Prusa's open source policy.
If you have any other questions dont hesitate to ask.
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: Z steppers warm after idle for hours.
M18 should disable all steppers.
Re: Z steppers warm after idle for hours.
I believe the Z motors are kept energised to prevent the z axis drooping under gravity. so it is design intent.
regards Joan
That does explain why things don't want to move by hand with power on.