I have been noticing some binding/grinding sounds lately as the X rail travels up/down along the Z-axis. I’ve noticed that this is happening due to the X-axis rail not being level with the frame. After manually leveling the X rail - by measuring each side against the frame and manually rotating the left/right stepper motors - the binding/grinding stops.
After each print, or manually moving the Z-axis, the X rail becomes skewed again. It’s more apparent over a longer set of traversing moves and in print quality. I’ve come to the conclusion that the issue lies within the Z-axis motors.
Is there a way to calibrate/fix this motor issue, or do I need to just replace both motors?
Check your motor coupler for missing or loose setscrews or a broken motor coupler. There are 4 setscrews per coupler, 2 on each end. One of the ones on each end should be on the flat spot. It is not uncommon for them to come loose or fall out.
A broken coupler can still drive but will retract wrong.
If it’s not that, it could be binding due to the x carriage alignment, or a motor missing half it’s coil power supply.
Does it do this after it has warmed up? If it does not bind when cold and does after it has been on for a while you may be having the driver chip starting to fail on the RAMBo board.
The binding only happens once the rail is out of skew enough to cause the tension which is after it’s been on long enough to travel along the rails enough to cause the skew, so I can’t say it’s happening when cold or after warming up.