E3D Super Whopper stepper motor behaving strange on DUET 2

omni

I've had a curious issue with the E3D Super Whopper motor so I thought I might share it to see if anyone else had a similar experience.

First I got one brand new (never used) from my friend @arhi and tried to replace my Y bed stepper just to see how it would perform. I set the steps properly (it's a 1.8-degree stepper, unlike other E3D steppers) and the current to around 1.8amps (it's rated 2amps). The belt was tensioned about the same as my previous generic stepper and the size was the same.

When I fired it up - the stepper was producing strange grinding-like noise as if something was mechanically wrong... the position, the belts and everything else was exactly the same as my previous stepper which worked flawlessly. I checked everything twice and it was still grinding like hell... At that point I gave up and returned the stepper to my friend - and he (generously) gave me another one - also brand new, exactly the same as this one, as I thought that maybe the first one was bad.

Flash forward a couple of months - I had to replace my X stepper a few days ago, since it failed (miraculously - the shaft got broken), so I thought to give the new Super Whopper one more try. And the noises I experienced with the first one were still there! Much less than on the Y axis, but still disturbing (like heavy vibrations). It works but it's disturbing and it is heating up very much even set to 1.6amps.

Just to clear things up - a generic Chinese stepper I was using at exactly the same position and setting with exactly the same (normal) belt tension was working flawlessly for a long time. everything is aligned properly, no obvious mechanical problem.

Does anyone maybe have any ideas what might be the culprit of it?

jay_s_uk

the E3D motors tend to have different wiring going into the motor.
Are you using the cable supplied with it or the one from your original motor?

omni

@jay_s_uk said in E3D Super Whopper stepper motor behaving strange on DUET 2:

the E3D motors tend to have different wiring going into the motor.
Are you using the cable supplied with it or the one from your original motor?

Hi Jay,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the wiring is different - I adjusted my pinout accordingly. I have a custom made printer, so my cabling is also custom - I adjusted the pins on the connector to match the E3D pinout. The motor is working and the direction is correct - but the noises it produces sound like trouble.

dc42

With the belt removed and power off, does the stepper motor shaft rotate freely without noise? Occasionally some swarf can get left inside the motor.

arhi

@omni said in E3D Super Whopper stepper motor behaving strange on DUET 2:

failed (miraculously - the shaft got broken)

This is still a total surprise to me. I have never seen nor heard before a motor shaft on a small stepper to just snap off like that... share some pics I'm sure others will love to see maybe someone even shares idea of how that could happen.

arhi

@dc42 said in E3D Super Whopper stepper motor behaving strange on DUET 2:

With the belt removed and power off, does the stepper motor shaft rotate freely without noise? Occasionally some swarf can get left inside the motor.

I ordered 10 of those from e3d (motech mt-1705hs200ae). I'm using some of them on a mini mill. The first one @omni returned as "producing weird noises" is mounted on a mini mill when he returned it and is still working ok on the same mill, no weird sounds, but it is connected to a leadscrew in line so no lateral forces at all. @omni is using them with a belt so there's some lateral force exerted on the shaft but nothing that should make the motor grind. I have not yet tried any of those motors with a belt but...

SlimShader

I had issues with one of these, and it turned out my belt was too heavily tensioned. These motors have very long shafts, so require support at the end if you are going to tension them to more than a loose fit. I got around it by redesigning the mounts to include an enclosed 608 bearing which the end of the motor shaft slides into - since doing that no issues with grinding or over heating. Hope this helps!