Hello, I have a problem with my 3D printer. The back idlers are touching the ends of the idler pulleys (see photo), which makes a squeaking sound. I tried to center them, but they moved back again after some printing. I followed the normal belt tensioning procedure, but then I heard a weird grinding noise when the printhead moved along the X axis. I think the belts are rubbing against the pulleys on the X axis gantry, but I’m not sure how to fix it. x axis rods are clean.
@SupportAssistant Okay, thank you much for reply. But on the wiki there is written not to add any oil to the belts. How is this possible that it is making this sound even after belt tensioning procedure? And also, the printer did not do this before. So is the grease permanent solution? I dont want to have 1000$+ (with ams) machine sitting here and collecting dust
Also, as I said, the sound is coming from X axis gantry as well. And the belts are not centered, because I could not get them stay like that. Any solution to this? In official belt tension video, belts are also touching the bottom or top bearing flanges, so i dont know
I sprayed some wd40 up and under the pully and some little bit on the belt to. This is not some official solution. But a little bit of grease never hurt something just dont over do it.
Please note that it is recommended to add a small amount of grease on the side of the belts (top and bottom), or the idler flanges (not oil). These come in contact and generate that sound.
This is only to eliminate the squeak of the belts when there is a belt movement where the side of the belt touches the idler. It is considered normal for the belts to move slightly so there is nothing to worry about.
When the belt is new, it could generate that small squeaking noise and it can also go away by itself after a few prints.
If this solution does not work, please open a ticket and share a video with more information with our team and we’ll get it sorted.
@SupportAssistant Okay, I will try this, thank you very much! And also, should I do something with the belts on the idler pulleys not being centered? Or is it just normal behavior and won’t cause any problems?
An update. I have resolved the idler tensioner pulley squeaking, but didn’t resolve the X axis grinding sound. Do you, please, have any solution for that? Thank you in advance.
There is one video on YT (sadly I cannot remember its name or name of the channel), where one guy shows how to roughly centre the belts on the pulleys.
Generally you need to do belt tensioning firstly.
Then you need to determine which way you want to rotate the pulley. If the belt sits on top flange you need to rotate the pulley counterclockwise. If the belt sits on bottom flange, rotate it clockwise.
To do that unscrew just one bolt of belt tensioner, and push tensioner on this side to force its rotation around fixed bolt in desired direction. Screw the loose bolt back in and move the belt back and forth. You should see the difference. Try a couple of times until you are satisfied.
@Voytek89 Okay thank you much. I tried this technique and actually after the belt tensioning procedure, the squeaking in idler pulleys disappeared.
But new issue appeared. During X axis movement, there seems to be some kind of weird grinding sound. I tried to record it here, you can hear it well in the first move (it is much more noticeable in real life than in video): IMG_0749.MOV - Google Drive
Hi Hope this helps, my p1s started doing this this morning < month old probably 4 spools ran through it, awful grinding when it was pulling left and backwards only, left, right back forward was fine just when it was pulling left and backwards at the same time. I started googling it and couldn’t really find anything so took pieces of advice from everywhere and started looking,
the left motor looking from the front door the belt was bang in the middle of the drive wheel, the right motor it was all the way to the bottom, I ran my finger under the left hand motors belt and nothing was on my finger, did the same on the right side and my finger was black, so while it was printing away I slackened the bottom screw on the right hand side pully tensioner by half a turn, within minutes the belt started lifting up the motor drive wheel and the problem disappeared.
Think as the belts are being ran in its new position eg where you put it in your home the base may not be 100% level or skewift,
The best way to Oil the Top of the belts is Shown in this Video from support. Has been an issue for awhile and Its generally not much of a problem once a bit of grease is applied and you re-tension making sure that the Tensioner releases inwards Lube Belt Support Video
Thank you a lot for a good solution! You’re right that after belt tensioning the tensioner pulleys are not 100% perpendicular to the belts. Mine motor wheels are fine, but those pulleys not. I have fixed this and it is now fine, thanks a lot again!!
Interesting, I came here because my brand new P1S was making this squeaking sound, but just ever so slightly. I really only noticed it because recently one of my other P1S with about a years worth of usage also recently starting making squealing sounds, but much louder and noticeable. I will try using this grease solution only on the top and bottom side of the belt, and not on the teeth itself. Thanks for posting this.
if i had gotten some grease on the belt or the flanges, do i need to clean it? it seems like after adjusting my belt and added grease, i seem to be havign a lot of failed prints.
And also, should I do something with the belts on the idler pulleys not being centered? Or is it just normal behavior and won’t cause any problems?