My printer has developed a really loud squeak during each layer cycle. I believe it is in the plate lifting system.
-I checked the wiper and it is not touching anything.
-I removed the wiper, wiped it down and it is still making noise.
-I paused the print. The wiper did not move as the plate re-positioned itself to continue the print. The squeak came when the wiper was stationary.
-The printer squeaks as the printing plate comes to the top of each lift.
-I am printing in a studio with an open floor plan and a lot of coworkers. The printer is becoming very unpopular…
Anyone else had this issue? Is there a way to lubricate the assemblies?
I would say that the Z screw is dry. Put a small amount of superlube grease, well spread, if it looks dry to you.
How many work hours has your printer? Just curiosity! Usually it comes well lubricated for a while, lets say, 500hrs at very least.
I had a problem where the platform would go up and make a weird groaning noise then the wiper would go and the platform would go down but about an inch short of being in the tank. Turned out the z axis lead screw needed lubrication. Attached is what was sent to me fro the support team but use at your own risk. I would open a support ticket.
P.S. - Rachel Esteban from the support team was awesome in helping me diagnose the problem!!!
This does sound like inadequate lubrication as @ClaudioPin and @Chris_Estelow mentioned, and our support team is going to be best suited to help out with this. A member of our team will be reaching out to you over email, and we have small packets of lubrication that we can send over to you.
The printer is about 1.5 years old. It has probably performed around 80 to 100 prints. We tend to run it on high resolution which makes for 20+ hour prints. Hard to calculate total hours, because multiple people use it and it goes dormant for long periods when not needed. It is just seeing a lot of use after a few months of sitting idle. I am not aware of this being an issue before now.
It squeaked for about 2 hours, and after moving higher on the z screw, it has quieted down.
Well, thats a nice amount of working hours. The grease on Z axis should solve it, and the instructions Chris uploaded are useful.
Anyway, as Frew said, support is a good way to troubleshoot the issue, if the squeak persists.