Product Review: Maker Farm i3 Prusa 8"

[DrLuigi]

DrLuigi,

It might just be the sensitivity of the recording but I can definitely recommend adjusting the pots again to get the stepper motor noise down. My Prusa sits on a sheet of neoprene I cut from an old laptop sleeve and it doesn't make a sound aside from some nice robotic motor noises from the steppers. Then again, I do print very slowly, 20mm/s on all fronts and have adjusted settings in my firmware that deal with jerk speed, so my steppers don't work as hard and vibration is minimal. My thinking is, why print fast and have it look ok when you can print slow and have it look fantastic!

Well i already thought to get my multimeter up and check its voltage, But i just cant seem to find a decent picture that tells me where i have to measure it with,

And what Voltage it should have.

So far i have let it standard and didnt mess with the pot, so that could help me with the noise.

[MeoWorks]

I sorta just play it by ear. I'll dial everything down and test print something at the speed I want and adjust each pot manually till the motor moves freely. I'll give it a final tiny turn and call it a day. My printer sounded a lot like yours in the beginning too, like mechanical drums beating lol, now it's just a gentle, rhythmic hum.

[RobH2]

Good point MeoWorks about the stepper pots. I found that my motors were running very hot right out of the box. I adjusted them back about 1/8th of a turn and now they run at about 140F instead of 180F. I think they are quieter too since that adjustment.

[RobH2]

You probably know this but just do "tiny" adjustments with the pots. Don't make big turns or you can really mess them up. They don't bottom out and if you go past a specific point it's hard to get them back to where you started. That's a caution I read.

[DrLuigi]

Well nobody seems to have a idea how to measure it then eh? with a Multimeter?
I just wanna be sure as if you dail it down to much it will miss steps, If to much it will run way to hot and might break.

[RobH2]

This might help. It's what I used. I'm sorry I but I didn't use a multimeter. I just made a tiny adjustment and my motors ran fine and ran cooler. You could probably go by temperature but probably not very scientific. During a print measure with a laser thermometer. Then turn the pot a tiny bit, say 1/16 to 1/8 turn. Measure the temp again. If it's around 160 then your are done. That's a good temp. Mine were running around 180 to 190F. Now they run between 1505 and 160F and are plenty strong and precise.

http://bootsindustries.com/portfolio...s-adjustments/

[DrLuigi]

Edit: Heard it has to be 0.39v,

Most of my steppers were 0.4 - 0.38.
Only one, the one that missed most steps aka the Y axis, It was 0.378, Changed it now back to 0.389,
Seems to be better to be honest, the sound is a little diffrent i think, it may be just me.

With that ive also found how to measure it,
If the chip is facing down, the left second last pin and the POT screw.

[RobH2]

That's great info. Maybe I'll do a check of mine just so I know.

[MeoWorks]

Nice discovery. I have a thought though, theoretically if the motors are working harder (due to print speed) with the combination of the tight belts, extruder gears, z axis weight etc, wouldn't they require a higher voltage than specified?

[DrLuigi]

Nice discovery. I have a thought though, theoretically if the motors are working harder (due to print speed) with the combination of the tight belts, extruder gears, z axis weight etc, wouldn't they require a higher voltage than specified?

Doubt it,
The voltage your giving it, is the recommendation from the factory, Aka its what it needs to work properly,
When its more then * torque as power goes it will just not work, and you would need a stronger stepper motor.