Printer skipping along X axis

[bez_93]

Hi, I recently purchased a FlashForge Creator Pro. Being a newbie to 3D printing I’ve had a lot to learn and still have a lot more to learn. Its been working well when I have set it up correctly, however recently it has started to skip along the X axis. I initially thought that it was a problem with the belt and/or the bearings. The belt wasn’t the problem and I greased the bearings and it began to work again.

However it now is continuing to skip at random points during the print. I was using an ancient computer that just about coped with running the printer. Could this be the issue? I’ve just upgraded to a newer PC and I’m currently running the same print job for the 4th time!

Any help and tips would be greatly appreciated.

[Jeremy_Orange]

first print from the SD card always. second did u lubricate it?

[ro3dcreator]

Try to interchange the controllers between X & Y and see if the “skipping” moves to Y. If yes, then it’s the controller. Usually they work to hot and should be better cooled. If not it’s a mechanical problem, less probable mainly if you are saying that have checked the belt to have correct tension.

It also can be bad electrical contact on the X electrical path, from the controller to the stepper motor.

We’ll see after the first check.

[av8rt0m]

Are you printing via USB? If so STOP doing that and print from the SD card. Was your printer an Amazon purchase?

[3dprintwiz]

Never use USB via pc, coz pc might sleep or it may have some sort of disturbance during the print such as refresh of some sort. Just save it to your sd card and print from there. Printing SD card is faster, and you will free your PC for use for other things. Just for added info, I use simplify3d as a slicer.

[Calan]

Hey a few ideas, first check if you x axis stepper motor is running hot (like almost too hot to hold) this is caused by the stepper motor receiving too much current. This is probably not this issue but its good to check. Chances are the issue is the opposite and getting not enough current. You will have to look up your printer and how to adjust this. Some printers make you adjust the firmware and some actually have manual pots that you need to turn. You need to find right balance of current where you don’t get skips/slips and the motor doesn’t overheat. see https://youtu.be/bItYRMLGoVc for more information. Other issues could be that you are for some reason not getting enough voltage to the printer(maybe you added aftermarket hardware that is using too much voltage) or your filament is laying with chunks higher than it should be (several reasons could cause this). The computer shouldn’t be the issue.

[Pot8oSH3D]

It’s the X axis motor cable. They flex and the conductors break, causing an intermediate fault. It may have taken the motor controller with it, as that one is furthest from the fan and receives the least cooling. Can’t think why Flashforge put the heatsink fins along the controller board, as opposed to along the path of air flow, but hey. Always a good idea to swap things around to trace the fault but my money’s on the motor cable.

BTW, it’s bitch to run through the hole in the floor of the printer and through the loops. Last time I cut the old cable away and ran the new one in a more direct path by taking off the side panel.

Cheers,

AndyL

Pot8oSH3D

[Jeremy_Orange]

QIDI sells drop in motor controller chips compatible with the flash forge devices from china on ebay. Great pricing and good service.

[bez_93]

Hi thanks for all the tips, I’ve greased the bearing thoroughly and ran a print via the SD card. It was working fine and I came back to check on the print job to find that it had jumped/skipped again. It’s now clear that its not a software issue but a mechanical issue.

I’m really having problems with this printer!