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I decided to start my E3D Hotend installation today and when I took off my Effector Platform I did a flick-test on the u-joints and noticed that two of them had essentially become fused to the rod. I had to take the two sides of the platform apart gently use a hammer on the end of the rod to break the u-joint free.

I only have 30 hours on my printer so I'm not sure what exactly could have happened, however, upon close inspection of the rod it appears as though the u-joint caused some tiny nicks in the rod and it was causing it to stick.

Fortunately I didn't notice any negative effects on my prints, although I haven't really done anything too difficult yet. I can see how this issue could definitely mess with peoples results though as the instructions have us carefully ensure we can flick the u-joint and these ones had to be knocked off with a hammer.

I suppose this is more of a heads-up to check yours regularly, and to definitely check them if you're having any print related issues. I've been exceedingly careful with my printer and its parts and this happened after a short time.

I'm thinking that I'm going to take a bit of high grit emery cloth and just give the rods a very, very slight sanding and perhaps put a bit of Graphite lubricant on them so this doesn't happen again.

After seeing this I also can't wait until TrickLaser has more of their Carbon Fiber rods in-stock so that I can switch out.

-jon

yep, it happened to me too.

Same thing... and I'm also waiting for Tricklaser rods.

They're a tightly toleranced part, but I haven't personally seen this. Did you put a drop of oil or graphite on them (not both) during assembly?

Jimustanguitar wrote:They're a tightly toleranced part, but I haven't personally seen this. Did you put a drop of oil or graphite on them (not both) during assembly?

I just dry fit them during assembly and they passed the "Flick-Test" with flying colors. I've now put some graphite on them and will check them in another week or so.

-jon

This is fairly common with the stock SeeMe joints. I have seen it on my machines and others.
They should not be ran dry (IMHO, Oly would prob disagree) , use some graphite or light oil.
Personally I use Super Lub with PTFE...
http://www.grainger.com/product/44N749? ... 16233102:s

If your joints are already stiff they might be galled up a bit. Take them apart and shine up shafts with 1200 grit sandpaper or Crocus cloth. Then lube and reassemble.


By the way I have been running Trick Laser CF Arms on my Orion and they work well.
So now we have size for sale to fit the Orion printer.
http://www.tricklaser.com/Carbon-Fiber- ... M-CFTX.htm

Happy printing.
~*Brian

Brian, do you think a single drop of 3 in 1 oil during assembly would be a good step to perform during the initial build?

g.

Happened to me as well. Had to hammer the joint off the rod, then clean the gunk off. I believe part of my problem was that I was using hairspray and maybe some of it got into the joint.

geneb wrote:Brian, do you think a single drop of 3 in 1 oil during assembly would be a good step to perform during the initial build?

g.

I can't speak for Brian, but my vote is yes. If TL does it on the tri-force, I would put it in the Rostock manual.

yes, oil axles when building. Dry metal on metal is not good.
3 in 1 is OK, but I prefer Super Lube.
Powdered graphite lube should work also.
I even oil the pivot points of the plastic arms.

Side note, I do not lubricate the Traxxas ball joint on the Trick Laser CF Tube Arms.

This stuff: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Super-Lube-3 ... /202932687#

?

g.

So, out of curiosity I decided to take my end-effector off a couple days after I re-installed it with some Graphite lubricant and I have another one fused already. It's been about ~8 print hours.

I suspect that during some of the smaller movements while printing there's a slight amount of lateral force between the u-joint and the rod and it's caused a tiny score mark on the rod which then causes the u-joint and the rod to lock up. I inspected the rod with a magnifying glass and saw very small markings on it.

I suppose that the extremely tight machining tolerances can make even the smallest imperfection cause serious problems. I really didn't notice any problems with my prints, but as mentioned before I'm certain that this could be the culprit in numerous bad printing cases around the forums.

Without being overly critical of the design, it really does seem as though there are a lot of points of potential failure with the Arms and the Effector Platform parts. Fortunately my kit came after the majority of the Delta Arm Blues were largely resolved, but this is still something that seems like it could affect quite a few machines.

I didn't end up sanding down the rods with my first fix so that's what I'm going to try next. I have my TrickLaser carbon fibre arms in-transit ( Thanks Brian! ) and am looking forward to installing them as soon as they arrive.

-jon

I used lithium grease on the bars when I assembled mine, it's been running for several hundred hours without reapplication, but it can see the concern in the design.

Any rotating part with the exception of double sealed bearings should be lubed with something before assembly. My preference is also white lithium grease rather than oil because the grease leaves a low friction film that lasts a long time.
I know that Brian from Trick Laser says that he does not lubricate the ends of his arms but I see no harm in using a small amount of oil on the small ball at the end of the arm. Grease if you can get some in with a toothpick or something
small. The assembly manual could be changed to add a little grease to the axle rods and to where the arms connect. I don't pretend to be an engineer but IMHO it can only help to lubricate moving parts.

Just out of curiosity, would super lube (http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index ... R-I8640063) also work for the lubraction of these joints while assembling?

GeraldO wrote:Just out of curiosity, would super lube (http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index ... R-I8640063) also work for the lubraction of these joints while assembling?

Super Lube would work fine, it contains a small amount of teflon which is supposed to be better. I just use the white lithium grease but I have tried the Super Lube that is sold at
Home Depot and it works fine also.

Awesome, thanks!