Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
Hi,
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
Im having the exact same issue. I thought the rattle is inside the bearings on motor movement, but it makes sense that it could be motor resonance. I made sure no screws/nuts are lose on the bed, and the rattling still persists.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
I've noticed that I'm able to move the U bolt which holts the Y-axis bearings a little bit. So i reassembled the bed and tightened these bolts just a little bit so I'm no longer unable to move them with my hand.
To be honest I'm not really sure if it helped, maybe a little bit, but the rattling noise in the middle of the bed is still there. Not sure if this is just due to the PCB bed with it's low mass not helping tone down the vibrations or bad bearing.
I'll give an update in case I'm able to resolve the issue, but I'm not really counting on that anymore.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
@simecekjann
I have the same issue. Brand new MK3S. The noise is the worse on slow Y axis moves.
It's not the stepper motor because the rattle is there when sliding the bed back anf forth by hand with the printer off. Holding the stepper motor tightly by hand to absord resonance doesn't make a difference.
I've rebuild the Y axis including repacking the bearings and printing @3d-gussner 's Y bearing holders from Github, but it makes not difference. If anything, it's worse. 🙁
https://github.com/3d-gussner/Prusa/blob/master/Mods/Y-bearing-holder.stl
I've measured the distance between the rods front and back and they are perfectly parallel.
The sound is definitely resonance in the bed, but it's finding the cause of the resonance to eliminate it that is the key.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
I've just done wnother tear down and have found the cause. One of the linear bearings has a very average feel when sliding up and down the smooth rod.
I cleaned and repacked it to be sure, but it's definitely a dud.
Doesn't matter which smooth rod I use. As soon as the bearing is in the bed frame and the rod is slid through it, the whole frame resonates.
The other 2 bearings are silky smooth.
I now have it isolated to the single bearing side. I contact support and they are shipping me a new bearing today. 🙂
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
I've just replied to another member's post with the following.
Yesterday I pulled the X axis apart again and just repacked the bearings again, but without cleaning them first. They had only done about 2 hours of printing since I last did it.
I now have blissful silence from the X axis. 🙂
I believe the key is that when you pack the bearings and then reinstall them, the grease has not fully migrated throughout the bearings. They need to be packed, run up and down a rob a bunch of times and then packed again to ensure they are fully packed.
So here it is - take it or leave it. What have you got to lose?
Do yourself a HUGE favour and do the following:
A bottle of 100% (or as close to) isopropyl alcohol. You need it anyway and 5L is cheap.
Super Lube 21030 (the part number is important!) Find a local supplier.
https://www.mektronics.com.au/super-lube-multi-purpose-grease-3oz-tube.html
Then download and print these these:
Linear Bearing Grease Cap
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1128781
Linear Bearing Grease Cap Lid
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1134114
6 x M3x14 socket cap bolts (there's at least 4 in your spares bag)
Download and print 3 of these:
3DGussner X axis linear bearing holder
https://github.com/3d-gussner/Prusa/blob/master/Mods/Y-bearing-holder.stl
While your waiting for the alcohol and grease to arrive, do all the printing! Use PETG, a 0.4 nozzle and 0.2mm layer height and 0.42 extrusion width for all extrusions. This make the threads and openings accurate.
Pull all of your linear bearings out. Put them in an airtight container with enough isopropyl alcohol to cover them by about 5mm. Give them a gentle tilt around, let them sit for 5-10mins and repeat tilting them around. Do this for 40-60mins to get rid of all the OEM oil.
Pull them out and shake out all the excess alcholol and then let them stand on their end on a couple of sheets of paper towel for about 30-60mins.
Get a bunch of paper towel sheets torn off in preparation as your fingers are going to get messy and it's a pain to get the towel after you have grease everywhere. 🙂
Get the grease cap you printed, put it on the tube, line the slots up with the calls in the bearings, slide the bearing on and then squeeze the tube till some grease starts to come out the top of the bearing. Do this to all the bearings.
Slide the bearing onto one of the smooth rods one at a time and slide it up and down about 20-30 times. You can wipe of the excess grease.
Repack the bearings again and repeat - this is important as I found out the hard way and hard to tear down my printer a second time to repack them. It's needed to work the grease through all of the balls.
Grab you new X axis bearing holders and use a craft knife to make sure the split is actually split all the way down and then install the 3 of the bearings into them. There are ribs in them that locate on the slots in the bearing body. It helps to have a small flat blade screw driver to spread the holders a little to get the bearings past the first rib.
Put your bed fram on a sturdy flat surface and push the bearing holders into their cutouts - orientation doesn't matter. It takes a fair bit of force, hence doing it on a flat surface. Use a small hammer with a piece of soft timber as a buffer to gently tap them down if necessary.
Once there in, press them back out again. You will find a tiny bit of the plastic has been shaved down in the intial press fit. See the attached pics. This needs to be carefully trimmed off with a sharp knife before final installation. They will go in a lot easier the second time.
Use the original nylok nuts from the u-bolts and the 4 spare M3x14 bolts from your spares kit. There are also 2 x M3x18 bolts which are too long to clear the heat bed. I used them and then just trimmed (good side cutters and a fine file) them down as I had no quickly accessible supply of M3x14 bolts.
Here is the beauty of the new bearing holders. They very accurately locate and align your bearings. No trying to be accurate getting them 50/50 yourself. Because the holder fully capture the bearing, there is no risk of overtightening them like you can with the u-bolts. In fact, you want to got quite tight to make sure the flat surfaces of the holders and the bed frame mate well.
Put your printer back together, run a full XYZ, belt and first layer calibration; knock to top off a cold one and enjoy the beatiful silence of properly installed, located and most importantly; LUBRICATED linear bearings! 🙂 👍
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
Haha - cut and paste - the most accurate way to replicate a mistake. All the typos and bad grammar. 🙂
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
@morphias
was it the bearing then? I have the same issue and I've only got 4 print hours on a fresh kit.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
Hello @focal_ratio,
I got my MK3S+ before X-Mas last year and had the same problem. I contacted the Prusa support and got new bearings and rods, but absolutely no change. I was really fed up after I tried a lot of things (other bearing holder, self printed tpu and petg bearings ...).
My solution for now, was to put IKEA felt pads between the rod and the underside of the Y-sledge. On the left side it should be enough to use only one felt pad, which you put in the middle of space between the two bearings. On the right side I put one felt pad before and after the bearing. This way I could eliminate the rattle completely. I don't know how long this feld pads will stay, but the silence is wonderful.
It's important to test the movement. First I used two felt pads left and got calibration errors according to the Y lenght.
Yesterday I ordered 12 Igus bearings-set for about 10 Euro from amazon and will test, if this helps to make all movements more silent.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
Same issue here. Marking this topic for follow up. Hoping that someone figures it out while I am also investigating my setup once it finished printing the tons of stuff on its list 😀 The rattle is getting louder over time.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
@einfach-machen
I found a bearing holder on thingiverse that I printed 3 of them at 100% infill fro Prusament PETG, and I cleaned the lithium grease from the bearings and replaced it with SUPER LUBE synthetic with PTFE - a really low drag coefficient lubricant. Its been whisper quiet!
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
Do check the U bolt tightness. I changed out my bearings last Friday night, and set it on a long print. Next day I noticed that the ironing on the top of the print was kind of messed up - so I investigated. Pulling up at right edge forward corner, I noticed a distinct up/down play that allowed the bed to rock (and rattle). Off with the heated bed, and found that the bearing housings had re-seated over night and needed tightening again. Careful tightening and the rocking is gone - and the rattle with it.-
There are lots of things to make Y axis rattle. If you are printing a high infill (60%) will make the bed shake because well, the motors are shaking the bed. That's normal rattle.
Back axis buzz on motor - I also updated to the different mount that is floating around here, but it also jams the motor body right next to the back frame. I took a plastic bag and cut it to motor width, folded it up, and put it between the back frame and the motor while tightening down the bracket. That buzz is easy to fix.
The other normal Y movement rattle is the case on the control panel. It sort of floats - and will buzz in resonance.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
@focal_ratio
Thank you for your reponse. I also ordered SuperLube and received SyncoLube, which is apparently the same product.
I am now about to install the Igus bearings. I again printed 3 matching holders that also fit the Misumi bearings. All I have to do is print the applicator for the SuperLube tube.
So either the Misumi bearings come back cleaned and then lubricated with SuperLube or I combine the Igus bearings with the felt pads. Either way, the Y-rattle should then go away. Curious that the Prusa support didn't come up with the SuperLube.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
I recently just assembled my MK3s+ and it prints like a dream. However, I noticed some rattle after I installed these (The rubber feet I think just transferred the noise and rattle through the table for where it wasn't apparent until I installed the new feet). I noticed it would specifically rattle when the X axis moved and it sounded like it was coming from the bed.
Solution: After spending a fair amount of time trying to figure out where the hell it was coming from, I tightened the Y axis bearing clamps and that solved it. Must have not fully tightened them during the assembly. Hope this helps!
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
I just assembled my MK3S+ 5 days ago. I didn't notice the rattle the first day but I was overly excited to be printing and not paying much attention much else.
I'm new to printing so don't have any comparisons, but I think it prints great!
I noticed the rattle the second day. I continued to print, circling the printer trying to figure out where it was coming from. I'm pretty sure its the Y-axis, its not constant, just when the Y-axis is moving at a certain speed. Slow is fine as is very fast long sweeps. I loosened the y-axis motor pulley so the motor is not turning when I slide the bed back and forth, There is a definite rattle/rumble when sliding the bed. Its quieter when I slide it than when the printer is doing it, but its there.
So far I've seen two solutions, grease the shit out of the bearings and place thick felt pads between the smooth rods and the Y carriage. Over packing bearings is an old shade tree mechanic trick to get a bit more life out of a worn set of bearings. Its usually a short term solution. The felt pad seems like a fix for the symptom, not a fix for the source of the problem.
Somebody mentioned ordering IGUS polymer bearings, but no report as to their effectiveness. Somebody on reddit said the IGUS bearings were great at reducing the Y-axis noise, https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/mh5sig/my_igus_bearing_experience_on_a_prusa_mk3s/ He did replace the rods also. I just looked and there are many aye's and no's concerning the IGUS bearing on prusa printers.
Still looking for a proven solution.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
I have (quite) new MK3S+ printer and I have the same issue, the Y-axis rattle when it is moving. I tried to lube the bearings as @morphias suggested earlier, but the rattle is still there.
However, I noticed that the bed is rattling only if it is moving at a speed from a certain range. In my case, the rattling starts at a speed of around 4000 mm/s and the rattling quickly diminish at speed of around 4600 mm/s. Also, it is rattling only if the bed is on the front side of the printer. Using a calliper, I checked if the rods are parallel and I think they are because the distance between them on the back side is (177.46 +- 0.02) mm and on the front side (177.40 +- 0.02) mm
In my opinion, the source of the rattling is some "design flaw". When the bed is moving at the correct speed, the vibrations of the moving bed are resonating with something and so we can hear the ratling.
So, if you have this problem I think you should try the solution of @morphias and then if it does not help, try adding the pads as @einfach-machen suggested.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
Hi there everyone,
I have the excat same issue as simecekjann stated. Changed the beraings reagresed them and its still happening. I tried to tighten and untighten the bolts to no awail. I even replaced the rods. Did anyone found any other solutions or problems, that might be causing this!?
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
Please try the felt pads described in my post in this thread.
RE: Y-axis/bed rattle when moving
I will try that and let you know... How did the INGUS do? did you try that? I have those as well gonna try that tommorow!
IGNUS drylins
I like the drylins - but there is a learning curve. My MK3S is nearly silent with respect to noise during infill patterns etc and was the first one I installed the drylins in and learned about the learning curve. On the MK3S, they are not drop in replacements - the X carriage geometry isn't ideal but workable, but the Y carriage U bolts have to be replaced. Fortunately there are some really nice Drylin holders on the print library that do the upgrade on Y nicely.
When I built my MK3S+, I didn't even bother installing the linear bearings on either X or Y, and went straight to drylins. The geometry of the MK3S+ X carriage is very drylin friendly, as are the metal clips. The same learning curve however, applies.
The learning curve has to do with drylins needing to be squeezed just a bit to compensate for dimensional differences compared to the linear metal bearings. When the receivers that hold the bearings are not designed for drylins, you need to use the housing as the way to tighten the drylin into place. Folks who don't go through the squeeze setup often deride drylins as sloppy and quickly remove them. The MK3S+ is 100% drylin compatible, and the MK3S can be made compatible.
They run nearly silent though. My MK3S is much quieter than the MK3S+ due to a motor upgrade. But with both of them on the drylins, and having solved the Y axis rattle problem a year ago, I don't have the noise problems being described here.