TAZ4 Stepper filament stepper motor skips

General LulzBot TAZ
1

Hello,

I have a TAZ 4 I purchased in 2016. It is getting a little old now. It probably needs a new part. But what part do I need?

I am getting some very bad prints. The top layer is looking very rough. It used to be a solid now it is very thin, weak and rough to the touch. It is suppose to be smooth.

The stepper motor that controls the filament feed to skipping every second or so. Clearly this is an issue. But I am attempt to troubleshoot it. I did a test. I extruded 100 mm of filament but helped the gear with my hand to see what would happen. The filament move out faster and the skipping stopped.

I think this means the motor is skipping. Not the gears. The gears do not look worn.
SO, if I assume the stepper more is not able to provide the continues torque required I am guessing at this point but I think I need to replace the motor or the motor driver.

I took a look at the documentation but can not find a clear description of the stepper motor and driver. I thought it would be in electronics, but that BOM just looks like a list of wires and connectors.

https://download.lulzbot.com/TAZ/4.0/production_parts/

I need a little help.

What stepper motor and motor driver do I need?
Where can I get these parts? I am hoping Luzbot or digikey?

Cheers,
Chris

2

The driver on the RAMBo board is not feasible to replace. The stepper motor is easily replaced with an equivalent motor (just check wiring). If you still have the stock extruder:

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A standard NEMA17 will work, or you can get one from Lulzbot that includes the wiring, which IMO, is definitely worth saving that trouble. NEMA 17 Stepper Motor, LDO - INCLUDING Adapter | https://shop.lulzbot.com

3

Thanks everyone
Your input reminded me I have a spare extrusion assembly, which I then installed and it worked well. The motor is clearly the issue. It is rather old and loss. so I bought some more motors from Luzbot to rebuild the assembly I have.

Cheers,

Chris