I have had my snapmaker 2.0 A350 for almost a year now, I got it in October 2020 and I have encountered my first major problem. When I booted up the machine this morning and began the homing sequence it moved along the x-axis fine and along the z-axis fine but then when it went to move along the y-axis it made a loud hum. I noticed that the bed didn’t make it to the edges of the boundaries and instead was in the middle. I then moved it manually with the touchscreen. The bed is able to move backwards but then when I move it forward it will get stuck in the middle again.
So I tried to move it to the top and while it moves up you can see it kind of shimmy, like something isn’t aligned possibly. When I move it by 1 mm it moves with some noises but then when I move it with 10mm it moves with a sort of grinding noise and sometimes wont even make it the 10mm. I will attach some videos and hopefully they will play for you, first time really uploading to the forums with a question.
If you guys have any ideas of things to try or test I would gladly appreciate it.
Because the controller sends discrete “steps” to the modules, and then counts to keep track of position. When the modules get stuck and don’t move the controller is now lost and thinks the modules are somewhere else. “Homing” is the process of synchronizing the module positions with the controller and is done at startup, and can also be redone by sending a G28 command.
I would first start by double checking assembly, loosening up the mounting screws on the carriage and also between the base and the modules and see if that makes the problem go away. Something may have shifted causing an alignment problem.
Make sure both linear modules are moving on their own and that 1 module hasn’t stopped functioning and is being drug along by the other.
@brent113@RyanTuscher someone else had this problem a while back. Turned out to be a small piece of debris in the way preventing proper movement. Like yours it moved backwards just fine but got stuck in the middle going forward. Not saying that’s what’s going on here, just sharing what someone had happen. It took complete disassembly to see the debris, it was a balled up small piece of filament that got under the strip and onto the screw in the rail lol.
@brent113 So last night I took off the carriage last night to allow the modules to move independently and it turns out one of the modules isn’t moving at all while the other one moves fine. The left one is also easy to move along the linear module while the right one has a lot of resistance when moved. I have opened a ticket with support and am in contact via email in case it is a bad module I can have it replaced shortly. I received my snapmaker back on october 5, 2020 so it should be under warranty.
Video of module test:
@Artezio Would a piece of filament stuck in the rail cause it to not move or would that one also move but make terrible sounds?
If you guys have any other feedback after watching the video or reading the reply, I’d love to hear it. Thanks guys!!
It happened to the one I mentioned, but is it more likely to be that instead of a failed rail? Absolutely not lol. I’d be betting more on a failed rail.
I had a similar problem - the y-axis linear modules got stuck.
To diagnose the problem, I took a peek inside one of the modules, and found lots of dirt and debris. See picture.
I then removed each of y-axis linear modules from the machine, disassembled it (following several youtube videos), cleaned the grease and debris with white spirit, dried it, reassembled and applied fresh grease. See picture, just before sealing the module.
Nicely done, my hat off to you - as someone who has disassembled two linear modules and been wholly unable to get them back together in an adequate fashion - for example the black/white end stop switch cable touching the screw at the driver end. I have not been able to undo the end stop switch bolts to enable me to pull the cable back to that end
I am impressed.
My takeaway is for me - don’t do any carving if the result is crap in the linear units cause for me the basically unserviceable, i just don’t have the skills.
I realized I haven’t updated you guys on the situation, but on September 30th, I sent over the final pictures they had requested and they said that a linear module would be shipping. I’ve checked the shipping details and it says that it will be arriving hopefully on October 11th. So once that arrives and is all set up I will let you guys know how the module works and maybe I’ll take a deeper look at the one that wouldn’t move and see what it looks like inside!
Alrighty, the linear module arrived as expected on October 11th and we set it up that night. We have done a couple of prints now and they have turned out fantastic. Super happy to have the machine up and running again. Thanks for all of your advice guys!! Support was very easy to work with. I’ve read the stories on here in the past and they seem to have gotten better (at least with this experience). I still have the broken linear module so might take a peak around the inside of that in the future. But yeah, that’s all I have to say so, have a great day everyone!!
