Makerfarm Calibration Thread of Grand Proportions

[AbuMaia]

Any advice for getting the belts to the "correct" tension? I've been struggling with it lately, and circular objects I've printed are coming out not-so-circular. I keep hearing how belts shouldn't be "too loose" or "too tight", but I have never found any more detailed description. Do I just pull on the motors until I get the belts as tight as I can get them, or what?

[old man emu]

Any advice for getting the belts to the "correct" tension? I've been struggling with it lately, and circular objects I've printed are coming out not-so-circular. I keep hearing how belts shouldn't be "too loose" or "too tight", but I have never found any more detailed description. Do I just pull on the motors until I get the belts as tight as I can get them, or what?

I'm in the same boat! I'm about to pull my i3 down for a major service which will include belt tensioning. I have noticed that when I assembled my printer, I ended up with the X-axis motor screws at the distant left hand end of the adjustment slots in the holder. This means I can't adjust tension by moving the motor more to the left.

I saw some designs for belt tensioners on Thingiverse but it think this is the best first step, since we are having problems printing nicely because he belt tension is wrong. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:298142

I'm going to grab a couple of them from the from the wife's laundry-peg bag.

Old Man Emu

[gmay3]

Any advice for getting the belts to the "correct" tension? I've been struggling with it lately, and circular objects I've printed are coming out not-so-circular. I keep hearing how belts shouldn't be "too loose" or "too tight", but I have never found any more detailed description. Do I just pull on the motors until I get the belts as tight as I can get them, or what?

Yeah I can understand the frustration, there isn't a good way I know of to numerically communicate how tight the belts should be.

This probably will sound as dumb as any other description but I hope it communicates the tension a little bit better. Use the maximum strength of one hand to pull the motor to tension the belt and the other hand to tighten the screws down. Don't use two hands to tighten it or any tools to get the belt tight. I don't think you need to worry about breaking the belt by just using one hand.

As long as you aren't one of these guys you should be fine.
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