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Hi All,

I decided to install cork stepper dampers during my build (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stepper-Motor-D ... OC:US:3160) and after installation you'll see that the drive gear will no longer line up with the belt. To fix this, I flipped the drive gear over, and repositioned it 9mm from the base of the shaft.

Hope that saves someone a few minutes.

Josh

So what do you think of the cork dampers? I've wondered if they make a big difference.

Thoughts?

You can also just buy a sheet of cork from your hobby store and cut it out yourself! I used it on my makerfarm prusa i3 to quiet the y axis motor.

McSlappy wrote:So what do you think of the cork dampers? I've wondered if they make a big difference.

Thoughts?

Not sure, I'm still mid-build, and when I get running I won't really have much to compare it with.

That said, given the duty cycle of running constantly for 48 hours or more we put these things through, anything that damps vibration seems like a good idea. Vibration is the thing that will ultimately loosen parts and break stuff.

True, though I bet the vibration from small infills will cause loosening faster than the small vibrations from the steppers.

Since mine sits next to me all day, I'm keen to silence it a little

McSlappy wrote:So what do you think of the cork dampers? I've wondered if they make a big difference.

Thoughts?

The cork dampers are a waste of money. To reduce stepper noise you must decouple the stepper screws from the mounting surface
and the only damper that does that are the ones that are metal on both ends and rubber in the center. The stepper is isolated from the
mounting surface thus reduced noise. If one of your stepper screws touches the mounting surface in any way, you have accomplished nothing.

Really?
Oh well.

You can buy rubber gasket making sheets for plumbing from Lowes (I am sure other hardware stores have them) for $2 for a 6"x6" sheet. That is enough material to make about 9 rubber isolators. However, it will perform very similar to the cork.

I am thinking I am going to modify this design:
http://repables.com/r/143/

By separating the halves and removing the center space, adding some holes near the center. I will then use rubber washers as spacers between the two halves and use some of the high temperature RTV (or any RTV) in between the two halves. The rubber washers will act as thickness templates as I tighten screws through the holes of the center area of the isolator. Once that cures I will remove the screws from the center area. There should be enough holes to act as gripping points for the RTV. May need to flare the holes as if putting in a fluted screw to give it really good grip. This will provide the mount for the motor on one side and the case on the other side.

This would be the same as the commercial ones, but allow people to use up the RTV you bought just for the hotend. Seriously though, how many hotends would it take to use that tube up? Anyway, when I get to that I will let you know my results.

This damper not only helps with noise, but will help with position as it reduces resonance in the motor. There is also the hockey puck method for doing this. That is where you put a mass of some sort on the shaft of the stepper. This dampens the overshoot the motor tends to have when stepping and allows it to settle faster. Apparently dental mills have both types of dampers on their stepper motors to help keep the precision really tight.

I happen produce and sell the dampers you purchased on eBay. That's my listing

As a correction, the cork used is industrial/commercial grade, not hobby store or cork board.

Brent, do you have a before/after vid or sound file which illustrates the difference?

I purchased both the metal and cork dampers and will upload a video of the differences when my kit gets here in a few weeks since it doesn't seem to have been done very well yet.

brent,
Awesome. I do have one question on the cork dampers. Does using nylon bolts help to isolate the motor vibration that would travel down the bolt to the frame of the machine? Or do you recommend using some sort of rubber washer on the bolt to help dampen the transferred vibration? I was really curious if there was anything special that had to be done to help isolate the vibration that could travel through the mounting hardware.

By the look of the dampers I've got here, it uses cork washers as an extra isolator. Can you confirm, Tricklaser?

Demolishun wrote:brent,
Awesome. I do have one question on the cork dampers. Does using nylon bolts help to isolate the motor vibration that would travel down the bolt to the frame of the machine? Or do you recommend using some sort of rubber washer on the bolt to help dampen the transferred vibration? I was really curious if there was anything special that had to be done to help isolate the vibration that could travel through the mounting hardware.

The rubber washers is something I've been looking into implementing. I'd recommend using it until I'm able to publicly release the v2 of the stepper dampers.

mlapaglia wrote:I purchased both the metal and cork dampers and will upload a video of the differences when my kit gets here in a few weeks since it doesn't seem to have been done very well yet.

I recognize that username! I shipped your dampers a few days ago, mlapaglia. You should have them by the end of the weekend at latest. Again, thank you for your purchase.

McSlappy wrote:Brent, do you have a before/after vid or sound file which illustrates the difference?

Mr. mlapaglia and another person on twitter are doing videos. I will be doing a video as well when the v2 dampers are released later next month. They'll be much better than straight cork and hopefully the next-best-thing to the expensive astrosyns.

Got a few test runs of the arms installed last night, no hot end or anything yet, with the Astrosyn Dampers dampers from http://www.tridprinting.com/Electronics ... or-Dampers must say, this thing is quite quiet. They were $27 shipped. I haven't received the cork dampers yet, but after I get the hot end installed I'll upload a video of the motors. There is very little vibration in the frame, after i install the soborothane pads i'll see what can be felt through the table and get a video uploaded. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042U ... UTF8&psc=1

mlapaglia wrote:Got a few test runs of the arms installed last night, no hot end or anything yet, with the Astrosyn Dampers dampers from http://www.tridprinting.com/Electronics ... or-Dampers must say, this thing is quite quiet. I haven't received the cork dampers yet, but after I get the hot end installed I'll upload a video of the motors. There is very little vibration in the frame, after i install the soborothane pads http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042U ... UTF8&psc=1 i'll see what can be felt through the table and get a video uploaded.

They were $27 shipped.

Those Sorbothane pads look like the cat's meow to help to dampen noise transmitted to the table.
I have been using the Rubber mats that they use for standing on when you are on concrete, but these
should work better. Thanks for the tip.

Here's a quick video of the astrosyn dampers with soborthane feet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p07lxaPDSnE#t=229

I can't tell it's running when I walk out of the room, the fan on the back of the board is audible.

I don't think you can hear it but there is some random "popping" coming from the hot end, not sure what that is, I'm pretty sure the filament is dry.

mlapaglia wrote:Here's a quick video of the astrosyn dampers with soborthane feet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p07lxaPDSnE#t=229

I can't tell it's running when I walk out of the room, the fan on the back of the board is audible.

I don't think you can hear it but there is some random "popping" coming from the hot end, not sure what that is, I'm pretty sure the filament is dry.

Perhaps you are hearing the cold end extruder while it is retracting?

I bought cork dampers and used small rubber and flat washers. Honestly I didn't notice much of a difference. There is less vibration though.

For what it's worth, on another I built overseas, we had some folks make rubber gaskets out of tires. Those seemed to be a little bit more quiet.

Eaglezsoar wrote:

mlapaglia wrote:Here's a quick video of the astrosyn dampers with soborthane feet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p07lxaPDSnE#t=229

I can't tell it's running when I walk out of the room, the fan on the back of the board is audible.

I don't think you can hear it but there is some random "popping" coming from the hot end, not sure what that is, I'm pretty sure the filament is dry.

Perhaps you are hearing the cold end extruder while it is retracting?

I can hear the extruder extracting then forwarding during moves, this is more like something sparking, you can hear it here about 6 seconds in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p07lxaPDSnE#t=260

It's definitely coming from the hot end, I just can't figure out why..

About the only thing on the hotend that takes enough power to create an electrical arc would be the resistors, it's possible that the crimp is coming loose.
The other things that could cause misleading noise would be the peek or layer fans rubbing on something, including their own mounts.