Shifting Y-Axis

[gimungus]

Has anyone had this happen or know what could be going on. (see images)

I've had several prints on my cubex duo suddenly start creeping forward on the y axis several hours into a print.  It doesn't happen often and seems to happen most with large footprint objects.  I'm pretty sure the table is secure and not drifting.  The build was going very well.  Smooth with no collisions occuring.  I just re-leveled the table and set the z-gap.  There was no peeling up of the file occuring. The attached pictures are of a print about 4 hours into an estimated 10.5 hour print.  Large X-Y footprint small vertical ( < 1 inch) build. PLA White.
This is extremely frustrating.  More so because it's intermittent.
I think my next move will be to rotate 90 degrees in the z axis and see if it happens again.

Any suggestions or solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Chris

[Peter Gregory]

I've had that happen to me once while printing a white build.  (That's the only color that did it.  It happened once and not again)

I was printing using firmware 1.05.  I'm currently running 1.07 and have not seen any problems.

There are other posts in this forum of other users having the same issue, but on a smaller scale (the print had an offset in the middle  of the print)

[gimungus]

I'm using firmware 1.07 also.  Now that I think of it, the last time I remember this happening was also with PLA white but an older firmware.  The color couldn't be causing the problem though...could it? 

[Bill Dempsey]

Slide your print head back and forth (forward and back) on the rods to see if it is binding or encountering excessive resistance at any point. They may need to be lubricated. Also, make sure the belts are still tight on the pulleys. If they start slipping, you'll get results like that.

[gimungus]

Print head moves relatively smoothly.  A little jerky but that may be due to the motors.
There is plenty of tension on the belts.  I've contacted Tech support and I'll see what comes of that.  they've been pretty responsive and helpful to me in the past.

thanks,

Chris

[CubeX 3D Printman]

This is a very odd coincidence.

So far I only had once a shift in the print layer, but it was also with White PLA and in the y-axis. It only shifted ~ 1mm.

Maybe this is a weird bug?

 

 

Rick

 

On Saturday, August 17, 2013 2:12:13 PM UTC-7, gimungus wrote:

[J.Andre.]

hey everyone.

hope you've all been doing well.

i just got my replacement machine running correctly again.

.

the whole reason that they sent me a replacement machine was because of it adding 1mm shifts into models in random places.  (similar to Ricks photo).

.

First they tried to replace my main board, then they just replaced the whole machine.  So while it would suck (due to them taking forever to ship things), it might be worth it in the end calling Cubify about this.

.

.

sorry to hear that the parts aren't coming out the way you want them!

[Matt Dub]

This is a strange occurrence.  Same thing happened to me this week and it's the only time our machine has done this.  Also with the PLA White. Coincidence?

[J.Andre.]

I know that at least once, it shifted with mine while using PLA white.

I can't remember the other times, because I've pained over them, and given them away.

[CubeX 3D Printman]

Regarding the print layer shift:

 

Check these things:  (from Cubify Support).

The issue could be related to a few things.

The first step is regenerating the file to rule out corruption as a possible issue.

If this doesn't resolve the problem, you can check the pulley for the belt to see if it is loose.

Finally, the issue could be related to the voltage for the stepper motor chip. I've attached the manual for correcting the voltage to this email.

----  Since everything else on my system seems ok, I will check the voltage for the stepper motor chip per attached procedure.

 

Rick

[Scott Giacomin]

I've had this happen also, but not to the extremes you are seeing. Mine would shift the layers (layers 20-30?) about a millimeter. I'm using PLA industrial gray and running v1.03 still.

Its got to be a bug when building the .cubex file. It seems to replicate itself very consistently, but always appears fine in the cubex software. Does the cubex software prompt you when loading in your .stl file with an error? Asking for it to "fix" problems with your model? Maybe there is something happening in the geometry that the software doesn't like when trying to "build" the print file.

good luck.

SG

[gimungus]

With the file that I posted about, yes there was an error loading and the CubeX software attempted to "fix" it.  It looks fine in software but was shifting pretty badly.I've had shifting with both PLA White and Gray.  Recently I also had significant back and forth shifting on a very small part, only about 5cm X, 1cm Y and 1cm Z.  Shifted back and forth about 4 times over once cm height.

I've looked onto all the things 3D systems tech support suggested as well as I could.Biggest help I found was really tightening up the screws that hold the extruder heads in place.  I had them pretty tight but if I tugged at the extruder nozzles there was some slight movement along the y axis.  Applying a bunch of force I managed to tighten the screws about another 1/4 turn and the movement has stopped.  I also tried reprinting the file I posted about in PLA gray and this time it ran with no shifting.  Not sure if that was ultimate solution though, I may have just been lucky this time.

[CubeX 3D Printman]

Chris,

Have you checked the stepper motor chip voltages? See my post above with the instructions from cubify support.

I was going to check it on my CubeX but have not had time yet.

 

Rick

[gimungus]

Yes, I check the voltages per CubeX instructions and they were all within a couple hundredths of a volt on target.
another thing they wanted me to check was the y-axis belt gear screws to see if the gears were slipping but when I tried to get there the screws holding the gear housing together were so tight that I stripped the heads of several trying to get them out so now I can't get in to look at them.

chris

[bcarpenti...@gmail.com]

Hi,

I have the same issue and after I print a perfect square piece like 15x15x15mm
I see the shift is only in one axis ( in my case the x axis ).

I take a look on the manual Cubix motor and belt replacement.

I remove the motor to see inside and take a look on the pulley (gear are fix to the step motor) and I realize this part are broken...so that explain the shift.

I replace that pulley (gear) and after that everything come back well.


I hop[e this help you or other people...because I lost lot of time before find what is not works

Regards

[Hugues]

I get the same problem with this pulley, someone know where we can buy a metal one instead of this plastic one ?

I asked 3ds for a new one, and they send me with the motor...

[bcarpenti...@gmail.com]

Le jeudi 21 août 2014 13:25:02 UTC-4, Hugues a écrit :
> I get the same problem with this pulley, someone know where we can buy a metal one instead of this plastic one ?
>
> I asked 3ds for a new one, and they send me with the motor...

Hi,

I buy parts on amazon internet shop but I can give you different option I found on the net

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/RepRap-Pulleys-Timing-printer-MendelMax/dp/B00GNWBUW6

RobotDigg (Chinese company)
http://www.robotdigg.com/product/9/GT2-Pulley-20-Teeth-5mm-Bore


http://www.aliexpress.com/item/T2-5-timing-belt-pulley-20-teeth-10mm-belt-width-5mm-shaft-borewith-aluminum/757369986.html

regards

[Jetguy]

MINOR PROBLEM THERE.

"Hi,

I buy parts on amazon internet shop but I can give you different option I found on the net

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/RepRap-Pulleys-Timing-printer-MendelMax/dp/B00GNWBUW6

RobotDigg (Chinese company)
http://www.robotdigg.com/product/9/GT2-Pulley-20-Teeth-5mm-Bore


http://www.aliexpress.com/item/T2-5-timing-belt-pulley-20-teeth-10mm-belt-width-5mm-shaft-borewith-aluminum/757369986.html"

 

Both of my Cubex Duo printers shipped with MXL belts and pulleys AKA 2.03mm belt pitch. Using 2mm GT2 pulleys on MXL belts results in a period jump because the teeth don't line up.

 

Not that you cannot change belting and so on, but now you also have to change steps per mm somehow in the firmware.

 

AKA, DO NOT buy any of those GT2 pulleys and think it's going to work on a stock setup.

You need MXL pulleys.

[Hugues]

How you setup a 20 teeth pulley ? It's a 17 one...

Do you use a custom main board ?

[bcarpenti...@gmail.com]

Le jeudi 21 août 2014 14:19:01 UTC-4, Hugues a écrit :
> How you setup a 20 teeth pulley ? It's a 17 one...
>
> Do you use a custom main board ?

Hi,

in fact at this stage I don't have any pulley spare in my hand, but to are able to continue to print I repairs the plastic pulley with a industrial glue we have here.

after that I check visually the Pulley to find replacement in future (because I don't know how many time the glue still fix the pulley).

maybe I ,ake a mistake a I count 20 and is maybe only 17...I don't have any spec about that pulley from manual from cubex so...

but thanks I will check that to make sure to buy the good one.

regards

[Rodney Wells]

I use aluminium Pulleys 18 teeth you can use 18 teeth G2 There is no building errors with this combination 
I have a few spare i will send you. 

[Hugues]

I'm not sure I saw this on a other forum, and with 3ds they can do some wired things ! I will count it tomorrow !

[Rodney Wells]

Oh I also have original black plastic pulleys from my both my printers as i have replaced them all as they are always breaking 

you are correct about the XML belts They are just a bit different. The standard G2 belts cause build errors i have tried them but the pulleys are ok actually better than ok. 

[bcarpenti...@gmail.com]

hi all,

anyway I would just add other option of shifting on axis. more than the voltage ,file corrupt or belt.

I would say that it is possible for the pulley(plastic)to be broken because I experienced this on my cubex duo printer.

and also a good test is to verify both axis by printing a square piece(cube in fact) to se each which axis is defective.

this is give a good idea of the potential issue around the pulley.

regards

[frf...@gmail.com]

Rodney, you have been a wealth of information on this board. I have been having this same shifting issue almost from the beginning of using my Duo. Where can I purchase these and is there any documentation on how to replace them? I'm very frustrated that after contacting 3ds about this issue they didn't come up with a reasonable solution to fix it. Thank again!

[Frank Fisk]

I had same issue. Both y stepper gears had come loose. You can get the gears from Gary. They are the original factory units so buy more than 1. Contacting 3ds is a waste of time.

[Frank Fisk]

[frf...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, October 8, 2014 9:18:26 AM UTC-4, Frank Fisk wrote:
> I had same issue. Both y stepper gears had come loose. You can get the gears from Gary. They are the original factory units so buy more than 1. Contacting 3ds is a waste of time.

Thanks Frank.3ds was not very helpful with this issue, tried twice. I'll check out the pieces from Gary.