I’ve had my Maslow sitting for a few weeks in the garage waiting to get some time to play around with it again.
I updated the firmware to the latest (v0.82), uploaded the new index.html.gz, diffed maslow.yaml against the previous and adjusted the calibration threshold to 0.45 accordingly.
Then I went to retract the belt ends and the top right and bottom right refused to move at all. Disconnected motor connectors and ethernet cables to both, blew out with compressed air, reconnected. No change.
Quick forum search suggested increasing the retract current, so I bumped it up to 1500.
Hit retract-all and they moved a little bit, but stopped pre-maturely.
Bumped it again to 1700
Hit retract-all and the top right retracted all the way, but the bottom right stopped without about 3 feet of belt extended.
Bumped it again to 2000 and it finally retracted all the way.
Is this a common issue?
What is a safe range of values that this can be set to?
Why would this have suddenly changed to such a degree so quickly? ( Being in the garage, it has been exposed to the outdoor humidity and temperature fluctuations for a few weeks, but that’s all I can think of )
I also made the same change to the calibration current, though I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or not. Seemed like if they wouldn’t even start moving at 1700, then that value would need to be higher for all functions.
Yes this is normal, Bar recommends being cautious before going over 2500 or so,
but during normal operation, the machine is happy to go up to 4000
this is caused by friction in the motor/arm, if the motor is too close to the
idler, you could need more current.
If the belt isn’t coiling correctly, that could cause it to be a bit thicker
when it’s fully retracted, rubbing against the idler
If the bolts on the arm are too tight, you can be clamping down on the spool in
the middle.
dust getting in the arms.
plastic rubbing on plastic in the arms (did you lube them as you assembled
them?)
you should increast the calibration current as well (sometimes you can get away
not doing that as calibration isn’t retracting the belts all the way, and it’s
the last couple of wraps of the belt where it starts to rub against the idler)
you can also shorten the belts if you are SURE that you don’t need the full
length, that makes the fully retracted belt rub against the idler less.
you can also shorten the belts if you are SURE that you don’t need the full
length, that makes the fully retracted belt rub against the idler less.
I had originally left the full length of the belts on during assembly, but after getting my anchors installed, I trimmed the belts down to ensure they didn’t exceed the overall diameter of the spools when fully retracted. Coiling seems to be normal.
If the bolts on the arm are too tight, you can be clamping down on the spool in
the middle.
You might be onto something here… I’m a bit heavy-handed with the wrench . Will double-check.
plastic rubbing on plastic in the arms (did you lube them as you assembled
them?)
I applied lube during assembly. If I recall correctly, it was only on the idler pulley. Plausible I didn’t use enough though.
Sounds like I better pull them apart to inspect and see if anything unusual stands out.
you can also shorten the belts if you are SURE that you don¢t need the full
length, that makes the fully retracted belt rub against the idler less.
I had originally left the full length of the belts on during assembly, but
after getting my anchors installed, I trimmed the belts down to ensure they
didn’t exceed the overall diameter of the spools when fully retracted. Coiling
seems to be normal.
If the bolts on the arm are too tight, you can be clamping down on the spool in
the middle.
You might be onto something here… I’m a bit heavy-handed with the wrench . Will double-check.
plastic rubbing on plastic in the arms (did you lube them as you assembled
them?)
I applied lube during assembly. If I recall correctly, it was only on the idler pulley. Plausible I didn’t use enough though.
put some between the spool and the arm as well when you reassemble them.
Sounds like I better pull them apart to inspect and see if anything unusual stands out.
with one so different than the others, it’s not a bad idea
you may also want to get some 16mm bolts so that they can better engage the
nylock nuts
. Will double-check.