Belt Problem

[Dean Fowell]

how tight does the belt need to be , on laser engravers I had a bad thing happen while i was engraving a test peice the laser seem to skip and messed up my Job,

[Guy Hilliard]

Dean; this could also be caused by having the belt too tight causing the X axis stepper motor to stall and skip steps.

Adjust the belt tension according to the manufacture's specs.

[GLENN BRADDY]

could this be a weather thing? Cold weather causes the belt to tighten? then create this??

[GLENN BRADDY]

is this a belt problem too?

[Bruce Volden]

To me this looks like it is a mechanical problem! Gunk in drive pulleys, or a build up of stuff in the valleys of the belts. Does the carriage move FREELY when powered off--no "jitters" or hesitancies across the entire field??? This is my first guess.

Bruce

is this a belt problem too?

[Russell Ludwick]

Dean, maybe my story can help you

I recently bought a used machine and I have been battling a similar problem with one of my belts skipping. After a couple months of diagnosing the problem I determined the previous owners lost one of the nuts used to tension the belt.

After replacing the nut, I used the nut and a set screw to tension the belt. I moved the X axis forward and back, like it was rapiding home at the end of a job. I could feel which side was slipping and tensione the belt on that side. I kept tightening until I did not feel any slippage. Then I squared up and was good to go.

Glen, not sure what your problem is, my laser did do something kind of similar, but it was because I didn't tighten the lens all the way.

[Dean Fowell]

Thanks Russell,

im going to mess with it today im leaving work soon the phones are not ringing this week so what the heck call it a day ,