Any recommendations for a stepper motor for Z?
I added a Dewalt 660 today, and now my Z will not go up or down. I removed the spring and coupler nut from the Nut / Spring / Coupler configuration but still no go. Its very hard to turn the all thread by hand with the dewalt attached.
My stepper just vibrates. I checked the voltage on the stepper, and all looked good.
So any recommendations for a good strong stepper for Z?
Jeremy
Doesn’t sound like the stepper is the issue. It should be very easy to turn the Z allthread. Check for some interference. is it easy and smooth without the tool on it?
If not check the whole z alignment. I just put one together yesterday and the z axis was super hard to turn and I broke the z motor mount. Turns out I had the Z rails twisted a bit.Unscrewed the all thread from the coupler, pulled the z off, loosened everything up, made sure the mount was on right and snugged it back down, now it moves great.
I just noticed that the Z Nut lock is a little crooked. I loosened it to give a little wiggle room and reinstalled the Z assembly. It may have helped but only after I raised the voltage to 1.00v it moves up and down a little , but there are still lots of points where it still binds. I have run the all thread through the coupler nut a few times with my cordless drill, but no change.
Without the tool, and the “All Thread” connected the Z assembly rolls like ice skates on ice. It has a very smooth movement by hand.
I am using a ramps 1.4 from Geeetech (old 3d printer kit) with DRV8825 drivers and Nema17 Stepper Motor 2A 64oz.in. Power supply voltage is set to 12.0v
I still think its my steppers since your using 76 oz/in.
Any more ideas?
1V is really high for a single stepper, make sure the z motor doesn’t get too hot, and that drv8825 will need a fan on it at that temp.
The problem here seems to be the 660. Did you mount the bottom bracket upside down like in the pictures? If not it might be slightly bending the z mount. Are you sure it isn’t hitting something it is very tight fit.
Put up a few pics, maybe I can spot something off. If it works without the tool nice and smooth the tool is causing something. that z motor is extremely strong at.42v. I originally used a 42oz/in stepper and even it would break the brackets if I moved it into the table on accident.
I think I found the issue. The tool was hitting the bolt for the lower bearings. Rotate the tool slightly and all is fixed. The clearance is very tight.
I was able to lower the voltage and all is good!
Sweet!
Sorry about the tight tolerances, but it helps rigidity. To me every mm counts. Probably too much, I need to zoom out when I design once and a while to keep the scale in mind.
