Y Axis Noise and relationship to Speed
I spent a little bit of time this weekend trying to diagnose why my Y Axis is so noisy, especially when doing large diagonal infills. I'm not sure if it's always been this noisy, or it's just that lately I've been printing larger things with larger diagonal infill. I tried playing with belt tension to little effect, and I verified that the bearings themselves are all sliding smoothly. The U-bolts are all snug. The motor itself is snug as is its pulley.
The one thing I found that had a dramatic effect was speed. My Slic3r settings has maximum infill speed set to 200mm/s, and Octoprint showed that I was currently at ~ 100mm/sec. Adjusting the feed rate down to 80% had a dramatic effect, returning the printer to nearly silent operation.
Just curious if other people have experienced the same relationship between speed and noise. Most of the discussions I've found that talk about Y axis noise are in the context of bearing replacement. I'm certainly not opposed to replacing bearings, but I'm also unsure if it will do any good. I'd also like to know whether my noise experiences are typical or indicative of a problem.
Scott
Re: Y Axis Noise and relationship to Speed
Scott - I don't think you are crazy. Diagonal is actually worst case since both X and Y axis are moving. It also puts rotational forces onto the bed. When my Y-Axis bearings were failing (I assembled without packing them with grease) the bed got sloppy and started making more noise, even rattling. I strung a rubber band from the left front bed frame to the right rod, the idea was to preload the table and remove any rotational backlash. It did a good job quieting things down, and print quality got better. It worked so well I was going to add an extra bearing and use a spring to preload the bed to it ... but found some 6 row bearings and decided to try them. So far, having 6 rows instead of 4 rows has really helped - and probably the fact I packed the new bearings with grease, helped too.
Re: Y Axis Noise and relationship to Speed
Grease and printed bearing clips instead of U bolts made a huge difference in noise on my printer... the grease (instead of oil) dampens better, and the clips surround the bearing and either damp more of the noise or simply prevent it from vibrating as much.
Re: Y Axis Noise and relationship to Speed
Hello Scott,
the cause of the noise on the axes is due to the stepper motors. The vibrations are speed-dependent and transfer to the unstable Prusa frame (resonances). For example, a sturdier metal frame from Bear, Zaribo, or Haribo-3D might be useful to reduce these noises. Altered stepper motors and other additions are of little help. The resonances are transmitted through the entire frame and can be felt right down to the last corner.
The Prusa frame is truly an unstable jalopy and you're not the first to notice. 😀
Greetings, Holger
2x Personal MK3IR-BMG09 (Full) BEAR + MMU3 mod., ...
Re: Y Axis Noise and relationship to Speed
Grease and printed bearing clips instead of U bolts made a huge difference in noise on my printer... the grease (instead of oil) dampens better, and the clips surround the bearing and either damp more of the noise or simply prevent it from vibrating as much.
Do you have a link to the printed bearing clips you're using?
I am thinking of ordering myself some new bearings. I never greased the original ones and I've put about a half-dozen spools through the printer since purchase. I figure maybe some new bearings and rods, and grease them up real well would be helpful. If I'm going to go to that effort, I might as well rebuild anything else in the y axis that needs rebuilding.
Re: Y Axis Noise and relationship to Speed
Grease and printed bearing clips instead of U bolts made a huge difference in noise on my printer... the grease (instead of oil) dampens better, and the clips surround the bearing and either damp more of the noise or simply prevent it from vibrating as much.
Do you have a link to the printed bearing clips you're using?
I am thinking of ordering myself some new bearings. I never greased the original ones and I've put about a half-dozen spools through the printer since purchase. I figure maybe some new bearings and rods, and grease them up real well would be helpful. If I'm going to go to that effort, I might as well rebuild anything else in the y axis that needs rebuilding.
aye, I used to have these:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3009203
but switched to these recently because they are more serviceable (screw is on the bottom so no need to remove the heat bed:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3068363
Note the latter needs some button head screws, the standard prusa ones are too tall and will hit the frame.
Re: Y Axis Noise and relationship to Speed
but switched to these recently because they are more serviceable (screw is on the bottom so no need to remove the heat bed:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3068363
Note the latter needs some button head screws, the standard prusa ones are too tall and will hit the frame.
Thanks, I'm going to have to give those ones a shot.
It worked so well I was going to add an extra bearing and use a spring to preload the bed to it ... but found some 6 row bearings and decided to try them. So far, having 6 rows instead of 4 rows has really helped - and probably the fact I packed the new bearings with grease, helped too.
Which 6 row bearings did you purchase? I've been looking at the Misumi bearing that everyone seems to talk about, but I believe they're only 4 row.
Re: Y Axis Noise and relationship to Speed
I bought some LMK8 for the Y-Axis. Used standard LMU8 for the X and Z-Axis. I had to print sleeves for the LMK8's ... attached what I made for the task. Depending on material, you may have to alter size a bit, they should be a tight fit, but not break when pressing them on. I made mine in PETG, but will use annealed HTPLA next round. Changing both X and Y to the LMK8's next time. Z is fine with 4 row bearings and using sleeves these could be an issue.
https://us.misumi-ec.com/vona2/detail/110302037730/?HissuCode=LMK8
Re: Y Axis Noise and relationship to Speed
I bought some LMK8 for the Y-Axis. Used standard LMU8 for the X and Z-Axis. I had to print sleeves for the LMK8's ... attached what I made for the task. Depending on material, you may have to alter size a bit, they should be a tight fit, but not break when pressing them on. I made mine in PETG, but will use annealed HTPLA next round. Changing both X and Y to the LMK8's next time. Z is fine with 4 row bearings and using sleeves these could be an issue.
https://us.misumi-ec.com/vona2/detail/110302037730/?HissuCode=LMK8
Thanks, I'm going to give those bearings and sleeves a shot. Would also be interested in updating one of those printed bearing holders to fit, though that's a little beyond my remixing skill level.
Update: Ended up ordering the 4-row LMU8 and some new rods. Was seriously considering the 6-row, but I figured the fact that they're a different OD adds some complication, in particular with printed bearing mounts.