So I just took my M4 apart and I noticed the belt was rubbing against one of the shafts from the motor. I also notice that this motor tended to not retract all the way. I am thinking the belt rubbing against the shaft was increasing the resistance. How long should the belt be?
j
@bar since you are getting the mould remade I’m curious if you designed in more clearance?
Bryan A wrote:
So I just took my M4 apart and I noticed the belt was rubbing against one of
the shafts from the motor. I also notice that this motor tended to not retract
all the way. I am thinking the belt rubbing against the shaft was increasing
the resistance. How long should the belt be?
That is normal, the belt is 14.5 ft long, the max that can go there. When it’s
retracted under tension it spools a little tighter.
check how the idler gear spins on it’s shaft, and see if the motor can be moved
away from the idler just a bit, then lube the spool and tighten the bolts that
holds the two halves of the arm together snug, but not tight enough to clamp on
the spool and prevent it from turning.
David Lang
Tim Seidlitz wrote:
@bar since you are getting the mould remade I’m curious if you designed in more clearance?
No, the change just puts bearings on the idler, it uses the same spool, and the
same gear, so they have to be at the same distance.
There is a patch in the queue for the firmware that will let you put a clamp on
the belt so that you can zero it without retracting it all the way.
David Lang
I put it back together and it seems to be retracting normal now. It did this before where it worked the first couple times and the later it would not retract all the way.
So you think this is due to friction in the idler?
Bryan A wrote:
I put it back together and it seems to be retracting normal now. It did this before where it worked the first couple times and the later it would not retract all the way.
So you think this is due to friction in the idler?
The common issues we have seen are:
- the motor is too close to the idler, they do not turn well
- grit/plastic shards get in th eidler and it jams on it’s shaft
- the bolts holding the arms together are too tight and clamp on the spool
The maslow 4.1 upgrade replaces the arm plastic to let there be bearings on the
shaft that the idler runs on to eliminate problem #2.
David Lang
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How do you order the 4.1 upgrade?
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There was a kickstarter (due to ship in Jan, early Feb), but everything will be
available through the maslow website after the kickstarter parts ship.
David Lang
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Is there anything to lubricate the plastic so they spin better? I have one I have taken apart 3 times now and keep having the same issue of it working for a calibration and then when I try to retract it won’t retract the one belt. I will take it apart, verify nothing is to tight, the belt pulls out and retracts fine. calibrate and then retract and have the same issue. The plastic is a little tight, I have tried sanding and it down a little on the inside and polishing it again but that hasn’t helped either. Would graphite work in there?
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I’d recommend a silicone lubricant if you want to lube it.
You have tried increasing the retraction force already, right?
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Bar, so i just found out it takes a retraction force of 1700 to get it to retract. I had stopped upping the force at 1500. Is that normal? I can easily slide the belt in and out though the encoder wheels, so it is not binding there.
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I will say if i could leave it mounted and not have to retract / extend every time i turn it on that would be sooooo helpful. If it would just remember where it was would be great.
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Jared wrote:
Bar, so i just found out it takes a retraction force of 1700 to get it to
retract. I had stopped upping the force at 1500. Is that normal? I can
easily slide the belt in and out though the encoder wheels, so it is not
binding there.
Is this the 4.0 or 4.1 version? 1700 is not that unusual, especially on a 4.0
machine.
on 4.0 the motor can be shifted to be slightly further from the spool to reduce
the binding with the gear and help reduce this.
David Lang
Jared wrote:
I will say if i could leave it mounted and not have to retract / extend every
time i turn it on that would be sooooo helpful. If it would just remember
where it was would be great.
it’s very high on the todo list, but Bar is only one person and he’s been tied
up with shipping and calibration issues, so hasn’t gotten to this yet.
David Lang
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David, i have the 4.1 kit installed. Is 1700 out of line for 4.1? The default is 900 so i am almost double what the firmware defaults to.
Jared wrote:
David, i have the 4.1 kit installed. Is 1700 out of line for 4.1? The
default is 900 so i am almost double what the firmware defaults to.
it’s higher than expected for a 4.1 kit, but during normal cutting, it doesn’t
complain until you get above 4000, so I wouldn’t worry about it.
David Lang
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