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So I'm having an issue where when I print at what sounds like fairly reasonable speeds(60/80 for a .2 res print, for some reason 50/70 at the same res is fine) I'm getting a slip or two in the y axis. One of the belts seems like it might be a little loose and I'd like to try tightening it. However, I've got a newer model without set screws. Anybody know how to tighten the belts on those models? I'm a total noob when it comes to mechanical things, so any help is appreciated. :)
You don't tighten belts with the pulleys. There are adjustments on the back right for the y axis and if you take the right side panel off you should see the X stepper where you can loosen the mounting screws and tighten the belt. You tighten belts by moving the steppers a little.
If you're getting a slip in your y-axis belt, tightening by moving the stepper may not be a permanent solution. What I did when I had belt slippage was to re-grip the belt. Where the belt connects with the x-axis stepper motor fixture, the belt is clamped down by some plastic teeth holding it in place. I loosened this clamp and pulled the belt taught, re-aligning it in the teeth of the plastic gripper, then tightened it really well. Haven't had any slips since. Worth noting that I did this with the x-axis belt, so I can't be sure if it's the same mechanism for the y-axis belt.
Ya, it depends on which belt. There is a drive belt, then the top gantry belt for the y axis. The tension of the y axis gantry belt is set by a spring.
The X axis can be adjusted by moving the motor, but at some point you run out of adjustment room.
Yeah I see the spring on that gantry belt, but if his gantry belt is slipping then it will probably just keep loosening itself until he clamps those teeth down tighter.
The y axis doesn't have teeth to clamp, it is all in that spring tensioner.
These are the teeth I'm talking about:
http://3dprintboard.com/attachment.p...tid=4499&stc=1
I'm saying that if those aren't really tight, then the tension in the gantry belt will cause it to slip one or two notches. Then if you tried to solve this by just tightening the spring tensioner, you would get more slipping and not fix the problem.