Z-Axis Rail Wobble

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Pete Linden
Posts:2
Joined:Mon Aug 16, 2021 1:01 am
Z-Axis Rail Wobble

Postby Pete Linden » Mon Aug 16, 2021 4:18 am

First up, the obligatory thank you for making Solus. I was skeptical at first but the results speak for themselves and the quality of the prints has been exceptional. Even now, with problems cropping up I'm still able to get amazing results but the reliability is suffering. The printer has been dormant for a few years but now I need it to give me the reliable results I was able to achieve before. Thanks in advance for your help.

The issue is that the unit has developed a very noticeable wobble in the z-axis rails during the first few hundred layers of a build; it slowly reduces down to virtually nothing in the low 200 layers. If the object/s stay attached to the build surface I can usually get excellent results but there still seems to be a higher chance of unexpected surface variations, layer separation, or odd failures mid-build that didn't seem to make sense until I noticed this issue. However, the real problem is that it seems to be having a major impact on early layers that bond to the build surface and no matter how much tweaking or adjusting I do parts struggle to attach to the left side of the plate and there's a large amount of over-exposed flashing that becomes a problem during the print; if I adjust the settings to reduce the flash to at least manageable levels (not gone but less problematic) half of the parts on the left side usually refuse to bond to the build surface. While there's slightly more pull force on the left side due to the tilt mechanism there's something else is going on here.

I've reset the build plate a few times during testing and carefully checked that nothing obvious is loose. Close inspection of the build assembly and screw don't seem to show any wobble if I use the software to manually adjust the height all the way down and back up. But, it consistently returns when I start any print job; the rails tilt backward as the build plate reaches the film/quartz and it slowly fades away over the first 200 layers. As the build plate assembly lifts the rails relax back very slowly and the wobble returns as the plate reaches the film/quartz to print the next slice. So it’s not related to the tension of the print layers as the build plate lifts, it seems to be an issue with how much pressure is being applied and/or how even the pressure is despite any efforts to recalibrate.

I’m reasonably comfortable doing hands-on work and maintenance so if there are any suggestions or troubleshooting that I can do myself, I’m open to any suggestions. Otherwise, I suspect I’ll need to send it in for repair. I’ve only used one bottle of SolusProto and I’m only a little way into a bottle of SolusArt with about 500 hours on the first bulb, so the printer hasn’t seen too much wear-and-tear yet. I really need to get a least a few thousand hours more to get a proper return on the investment. Thanks again for your help.
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Jewelermdt
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Re: Z-Axis Rail Wobble

Postby Jewelermdt » Wed Aug 18, 2021 1:45 am

I take it this the older Solus printer, not the Solus Pro? Are the rods clean of grease build up. Sounds like something is binding. Did you run the calibration program?
Pete Linden
Posts:2
Joined:Mon Aug 16, 2021 1:01 am

Re: Z-Axis Rail Wobble

Postby Pete Linden » Wed Aug 18, 2021 8:30 am

Yup, it's one of the original printers. The Pro looks great but I need to get some more hours out of this unit before I can justify an upgrade and I'll seriously consider it as soon as I can realistically manage it. Solus is simply an amazing printer.

The rods are clean and everything seems lubricated to the right level. Yes, I've recalibrated the build plate a few times. At first, I thought I'd put too much pressure while tightening the plate so I took more care in future attempts, but the problem persists. The plate rides smoothly with no wobble when I manually adjust it, even right down to the quartz with the plate in place. As soon as I start a print, it seems like it applies too much pressure, despite the fresh calibration, but only on the first ~200 layers no matter how large the surface area of the print slice is. With my test when it hits slice 202 the support tips transition to the much larger area of the test objects but it doesn't cause any wobble.

I would think that it would keep happening all the way through the print (especially on high surface area slices) if the calibration was the issue, as the incorrect pressure should be wrong all the way through, but that's not what's happening. So, I'm not sure what's going on. However, thanks for the input and suggestion.

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