Auto leveling

[RobH2]

I don't mean this to be sarcastic, but if you are using the absolute cheapest servo on EBay/Amazon, you can expect performance issues no and then. Granted, I have no idea what kind of servo you bought. But, in my own tinkering, I rarely buy the cheapest item if I have a choice. I buy the next level up and seem to get better reliability and performance. In some things it's true, "you get what you pay for."

Maybe try a more expensive servo and see if it services you better.

[Roxy]

I bet he was spraying hair spray on it!

Seriously... I've been using the same $2.57 servo from eBay from the start. I ordered an extra just in case but have not had any need for it. With limited data, my experience is the cheap servo's work just fine.

[clough42]

Something else must be wrong. I'm using a sub-$3 HXT-900. I buy them by the dozens and use them for everything. I've never had one fail.

Is the servo staying on, struggling against a mechanical stop or something like that? That could certainly damage it. You might also check the voltage to the servo. If it's over 5V, that could shorten the servo life.

[Roxy]

Something else must be wrong. I'm using a sub-$3 HXT-900. I buy them by the dozens and use them for everything. I've never had one fail.

Is the servo staying on, struggling against a mechanical stop or something like that? That could certainly damage it. You might also check the voltage to the servo. If it's over 5V, that could shorten the servo life.

Specifically: Check and make sure

#define PROBE_SERVO_DEACTIVATION_DELAY 500

is defined and has a reasonable value in it (500 to 1500 should be OK)

[clough42]

Specifically: Check and make sure

#define PROBE_SERVO_DEACTIVATION_DELAY 500

is defined and has a reasonable value in it (500 to 1500 should be OK)

And it's worth checking that the servo actually shuts down. (I.e. you can easily move the arm by hand.) A few servos do weird things when the pulse train goes outside of its expected window.

[DrLuigi]

Well i can see when trying to push the servo wish makes the motor of the servo turn, the 3D printers screen starts to flash,
The motor is quiet weak,
When i turn the printer off, and i put the arm somewhere else from its home position, the 3d printer sometimes doesnt have enough eletricity and will reboot, This is a psu of 550 watts i believe.

It still works when i give it a gentle push,
My best guess is that one of the plastic gears is broken.

[clough42]

Hmm...if a gear is stripped, you'll hear and feel a crackling or popping noise when moving the servo by hand. If it's smooth, the gears are probably fine.

It sounds like the servo may be pulling more current than the 5v regulator can deliver. That could cause the resets. Which servo is it, and which electronics are you using? If RAMPS, which Arduino variant do you have?

[Roxy]

I know my PrintrBoard could not supply the power to the servo. I had to grab a 5v line off of my ATX Power Supply and feed that to the servo. I was so confused until I figured that out. I could move the servo around but only in small steps. Big steps would reset the PrintrBoard. To verify I even made changes where it would only modify the position of the servo by 5 degrees at a time and then pause to keep the initial surge current low. That would work and I could position the servo accurately. I just could not do it in one big quick step.

Then.... Everything made sense!

[DrLuigi]

Using ramps 1.4 with Marlin here,

Well i heard yesterday a click, and today due playing with it and probably forcing it, it got even worse,

RIP servo 05/05/14 - 12/08/14