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I want to upgrade my Rostock Max v2 and the biggest thing right now is the noise. I just recently noticed that tricklaser is now selling motor insulators. I have heard good things about tricklaser and their products but was just wondering if there were any first hand experience with their insulators. I'm also not sure if I should get these or the Astrosyn Dampeners which is a very popular option I have seen on this forum. A concern I have had is about the installation of any dampener or insulator. Wouldn't adding them to the motors cause the gear pulley to be placed not in the ideal positions so that the belt has to bend a little to the side to reach the pulley? or is that not something I need to worry about?

Here is the link to the insulators
http://www.tricklaser.com/Stepper-motor ... -SMI-3.htm

I can recommend these. They're more rigid than the Astrosyn dampers and allow less motor wiggle. Moving the belt pulley is easy, it's the wobbling of the whole motor itself that's occasionally a problem with the astrosyn dampers. I think these are a nice compromise in the middle. Quieter than hard contact between frame and motors, but less slop than floating isolators.

I just installed my Trick Laser dampers last night. I have not printed without them as this is my initial build. They seem to be pretty good though. I did adjust the belt drive gear to compensate for the extra space between the frame and the motor. I did not use the full width of an uninstalled damper though as they seem to crush a little. The cork washers on the outside crushed almost completely. The stepper side was maybe half the uncompressed width of the damper when I was done. Drive gears are still inline with the bearing channel. I dont foresee any problems there.
I could see the metal dampers causing some wobble from the pics I have seen of them. When I looked at buying that was my decision. I would rather have a gasket type than 2 metal pieces that only bolt at 2 points and rely on a piece of rubber that does not go the full length of the piece to remain parallel.

drunkenmugsy wrote:I just installed my Trick Laser dampers last night. I have not printed without them as this is my initial build. They seem to be pretty good though. I did adjust the belt drive gear to compensate for the extra space between the frame and the motor. I did not use the full width of an uninstalled damper though as they seem to crush a little. The cork washers on the outside crushed almost completely. The stepper side was maybe half the uncompressed width of the damper when I was done. Drive gears are still inline with the bearing channel. I dont foresee any problems there.
I could see the metal dampers causing some wobble from the pics I have seen of them. When I looked at buying that was my decision. I would rather have a gasket type than 2 metal pieces that only bolt at 2 points and rely on a piece of rubber that does not go the full length of the piece to remain parallel.

itd be great if you could let me know how quiet your machine is one you start printing.

I installed the Astrosyn dampers from the start. Recently I have removed them to test a print quality issue and I can honestly say I wont be putting them back on. Yes it made a noticeable difference although I feel it was more of a pitch than a decibel reduction. I noticed the steppers would move on certain jerk movements and you can physically wiggle the pulley with them installed. I feel the cork dampers would of been better from the start as you still get 4 mounting screws per stepper vs only two with the Astrosyn's. Not sure how the sound would carry through the mounting screws.

ericpudding wrote:itd be great if you could let me know how quiet your machine is one you start printing.

My rostock is very quiet. I think the layer fans are almost as loud as the steppers after the damper install. I used some of the cutout pieces as washers on the far side under the stock metal washers. It looks like they are meant to do that but there are no specific directions included as it is pretty obvious. I think using both helps in isolating any vibrations.

I've got these on my V2 and they're noticeable quieter than stock - I recommend them, though I've never installed Astrosyn dampers so I can't compare.

I'm a new bee here. my first post. Bought an Orion on April 8, 2015. This is my first 3D printer and I am quite happy with it so far printing nicely less than two hours from opening the box. I wanted to get the Max, but this is my first 3D printer and I wanted to get some experience before I went ahead and built my own. Maybe on my second printer...

I recently purchased the Trick Laser Stepper Motor Insulators http://tricklaser.com/Stepper-motor-ins ... -SMI-3.htm for my Orion 3D printer. I have a few questions about installation. In studying this, it looks like I need to do a pretty intense disassembly of the entire printer to make this happen. Can you provide me a few tips, suggestions, short cuts, or maybe a sequence of how you would recommend I install these?

Thanks in advance for your help and insight.

Mo

drunkenmugsy wrote:I just installed my Trick Laser dampers last night. I have not printed without them as this is my initial build. They seem to be pretty good though. I did adjust the belt drive gear to compensate for the extra space between the frame and the motor. I did not use the full width of an uninstalled damper though as they seem to crush a little. The cork washers on the outside crushed almost completely. The stepper side was maybe half the uncompressed width of the damper when I was done. Drive gears are still inline with the bearing channel. I dont foresee any problems there.
I could see the metal dampers causing some wobble from the pics I have seen of them. When I looked at buying that was my decision. I would rather have a gasket type than 2 metal pieces that only bolt at 2 points and rely on a piece of rubber that does not go the full length of the piece to remain parallel.

Sounds like you may have over-tightened them a bit. They should only be tightened enough to compress cork washers a little and just enough so motor does not wiggle. The cork washers help isolate sound vibrations more.
You might want to check your motors and cork washers after running a while, just to make sure cork does not split and work it's way out, possibly loosening screws over time.

As a side note, on my own MAX I drilled out the mounting holes and put pieces of soft silicone tubing over screws so they could not directly contact the wood. Surprisingly it did not make a huge difference over just the cork washers under head.

I wrote Brian V. privately and he responded to me by email with exactly what I needed:

I do not have a detailed install guide, sorry.
Here are a few tips off the top of my head...

You have to remove the 3 side panels by taking out the black plastic thumbscrews and removing the blue plastic covers. Loosen the top idler pulley axle screw and slide idler down to release belt tension. Feel the belt tension before releasing to give you a idea of how tight to make them later.
Note: amount of tension is fairly forgiving, the important thing is that all 3 are equal.
You will need a fairly long Phillips screwdriver to remove the original motor screws. (a magnetic tip screwdriver helps)
Remove motor and place cork insulator on face of motor ( helps to hold it in place with spray adhesive or double stick tape. A long t-handle 2.5 mm allen wrench helps to install the new screws. Make sure you use the new screws, they are longer. Place a steel flat washer then cork washer on each screw.
Gently tighten the motor screws evenly, just enough to compress cork washers slightly and motor does not wiggle.
Over tightening can ruin cork washers by splitting them out.
Re-tension belts
Put the covers back on sides. Tuck in wiring so covers don't pinch them.
Check and make sure the back corner of motor does not touch covers. If it does the cover will need notched out or spaced out a bit. This probably won't be a issue since the cork only moves motors out 2 mm, just something to check.

Hope this info is helpful.

Mo

Brian added the following:
I forgot to mention that the pulleys should be moved out on shaft from motor by 2mm to keep belt aligned to center of pulley.

I hope this helps.

Mo

I remade Brian's helpful suggestions into easy to follow steps that even a newbee like me can follow. You are welcome to use/modify this as you like:

1) Remove the 3 side panels by taking out the black plastic thumb screws and removing the blue plastic covers.
2) Loosen the top idler pulley axle screw and slide idler down to release belt tension.
Tip: Feel the belt tension before releasing to give you a idea of how tight to make them later.
3) Remove the original motor screws.
Tip: Use a fairly long Phillips screwdriver with a magnetic tip.
4) Remove motor
5) Loosen GT2 drive gear, move it out 2mm from where it was, retighten the drive gear.
Tip: This helps to realign the drive gear and belt position to compensate for the cork insulator difference.
6) Place cork insulator on face of motor.
Tip: It helps to hold it in place with spray adhesive or double stick tape.
7) Make sure you use the new screws, they are longer. Place a steel flat washer then cork washer on each screw.
Tip: A long t-handle 2.5 mm allen wrench helps to install the new screws.
8) Gently tighten the motor screws evenly, just enough to compress cork washers slightly and motor does not wiggle.
Tip: Over tightening can ruin cork washers by splitting them out.
9) Re-tension belts.
Tip: Amount of tension is fairly forgiving, the important thing is that all 3 are equal.
10) Put the covers back on sides. Tuck in wiring so covers don't pinch them.
11) Check the back corner of motor does not touch covers. If it does the cover will need notched out or spaced out a bit. This probably won't be a issue since the cork only moves motors out 2 mm, just something to check.

Again, thanks to Brian for his quick and super helpful expert responses. Hope this helps others.

Mo

I did a number of Trick Laser updates to my Orion printer: carbon fiber arms, stepper motor insulators, and aluminum trunks. Took me a good six hours and lots of disassembly and reassembly. But it is now working great. The insulators are noticeably quieter than stock. The motors just purr now. The biggest challenge I has was retightening the belts to a correct tension.
Mo

morerice wrote:I remade Brian's helpful suggestions into easy to follow steps that even a newbee like me can follow. You are welcome to use/modify this as you like:

1) Remove the 3 side panels by taking out the black plastic thumb screws and removing the blue plastic covers.
2) Loosen the top idler pulley axle screw and slide idler down to release belt tension.
Tip: Feel the belt tension before releasing to give you a idea of how tight to make them later.
3) Remove the original motor screws.
Tip: Use a fairly long Phillips screwdriver with a magnetic tip.
4) Remove motor
5) Loosen GT2 drive gear, move it out 2mm from where it was, retighten the drive gear.
Tip: This helps to realign the drive gear and belt position to compensate for the cork insulator difference.
6) Place cork insulator on face of motor.
Tip: It helps to hold it in place with spray adhesive or double stick tape.
7) Make sure you use the new screws, they are longer. Place a steel flat washer then cork washer on each screw.
Tip: A long t-handle 2.5 mm allen wrench helps to install the new screws.
8) Gently tighten the motor screws evenly, just enough to compress cork washers slightly and motor does not wiggle.
Tip: Over tightening can ruin cork washers by splitting them out.
9) Re-tension belts.
Tip: Amount of tension is fairly forgiving, the important thing is that all 3 are equal.
10) Put the covers back on sides. Tuck in wiring so covers don't pinch them.
11) Check the back corner of motor does not touch covers. If it does the cover will need notched out or spaced out a bit. This probably won't be a issue since the cork only moves motors out 2 mm, just something to check.

Again, thanks to Brian for his quick and super helpful expert responses. Hope this helps others.

Mo

Just what I needed, I was wondering how these things went together. Thanks!

I recommend the Astrosyn dampers. The cork spacers wore out eventually in my case and the noise returned.

I've read some negatives about those too. Like they get a little sloppy. I'm thinking maybe making a set like the cork one but out of silicone instead so they don't wear out. I bet that wouldn't be too difficult.