TronXY X5SA Pro - Need help with pulley/belt adjustment.

[crabjoe]

I got my X5SA Pro today and put it together. I haven't powered it up yet, and other than issues with missing hardware and crap parts, I've found an issue that I feel needs to be addressed. When I move the X axis front and back on the Y, the belt on the right front pulleys moves up and down. My question is, can this be adjusted or is it a problem with the pulled itself? The video was taken from the side so it's the pulley on the left.Thank you

[fred_dot_u]

The vertical travel appears to be within the belt, not the pulley. Either way, it's the horizontal action of the mechanism that matters. Have you experienced artifacts in the print that you think may be caused by this travel? Generally speaking, I'd expect that this is not a factor of concern.

[crabjoe]

The vertical travel appears to be within the belt, not the pulley. Either way, it's the horizontal action of the mechanism that matters. Have you experienced artifacts in the print that you think may be caused by this travel? Generally speaking, I'd expect that this is not a factor of concern.

Fred, when I took the video, I hadn't even powered it up yet. I was finishing up the build.

Well I found the problem. The one thing that fixed the problem was just tightening the dang pulley itself. I guess when there's tension on the pulleys, there was enough play that caused it.

Things I tried that didn't help. The number #1 thing that shocked me, because it made the problem worse was adjusting the pulley on the motor. That pulley sits about a 1/4 inch lower, in relationship to the frame, as this pulley. When I moved it to match, it made the problem way worse.

What made me think it was the actual pulley the belt was riding up and down on.. Well, I had check the angles on it without the belts on. I tried shimming it, which made the problem worse.. sometimes in the opposite direction, blah, blah, blah, then I just started messing around with belt tension. I took the belt in my hands, and just pulled back and forth to see what happened... I tried different positions as in in holding the belt slightly high than my right and what not. Tried more tension and less tension. I just wanted to see what happened based on belt tension and angles. That's when I had the light bulb moment. I noticed the less belt tension, the less vertical movement. At that point, I took an allen wrench and just tightened the center bolt by a 1/4 turn. put the belt back on and bam! then problem was like 50% less. I gave it another turn and checked and it was fixed.

[fred_dot_u]

You've just discovered a common factor in some 3D printer designs. Belt tension can be too much and cause problems. You won't know what it would have done to the print, but that's a good thing at this point in your project. The teeth of the belt transfer energy, not the tension, as is the case with v-belts. Too loose causes skipping, too tight showed you in your printer at least.

[HubertCucumberdale]

Fred, when I took the video, I hadn't even powered it up yet. I was finishing up the build.

Well I found the problem. The one thing that fixed the problem was just tightening the dang pulley itself. I guess when there's tension on the pulleys, there was enough play that caused it.

Things I tried that didn't help. The number #1 thing that shocked me, because it made the problem worse was adjusting the pulley on the motor. That pulley sits about a 1/4 inch lower, in relationship to the frame, as this pulley. When I moved it to match, it made the problem way worse.

What made me think it was the actual pulley the belt was riding up and down on.. Well, I had check the angles on it without the belts on. I tried shimming it, which made the problem worse.. sometimes in the opposite direction, blah, blah, blah, then I just started messing around with belt tension. I took the belt in my hands, and just pulled back and forth to see what happened... I tried different positions as in in holding the belt slightly high than my right and what not. Tried more tension and less tension. I just wanted to see what happened based on belt tension and angles. That's when I had the light bulb moment. I noticed the less belt tension, the less vertical movement. At that point, I took an allen wrench and just tightened the center bolt by a 1/4 turn. put the belt back on and bam! then problem was like 50% less. I gave it another turn and checked and it was fixed.

Could you go into a little bit more detail about how you tightened the pullies? I'm running into this same problem, I've loosened and tightened the screw holding the pulley on the right bracket a few times, but with little difference. Did you tighten the nut between them too? What was your process?

For what it's worth, I am running the printer, and it does not seem to have any effect on the quality of the prints, no ringing, no z-artifacts, etc, it just sounds like it's chewing itself up.