56
Maintenance
8.11
Check tension and wear of belts
Maintaining correct tension on the belts is important to ensure good print quality. The belts transfer the
movements of the motors to the slides. If the belts are too loose, print head movement may not be accurate,
which can cause print inaccuracies. Over time, the belts may become slack.
It is recommended to check the tension of the belts at least once every three months. Pluck the three belts to
check their tension. They should resonate, like a guitar string. Furthermore, the tension of the three belts should
be equal. To restore the tension, perform the following steps:
1.
Home the printer (make sure the slides are all the way up)
2.
Loosen the set screws of the idler pulley with only 2 turns (don’t unscrew them completely)
3.
Push the idler unit firmly down with your thumb (don’t push on the pulley but push on the
aluminium block/mount)
4.
Tighten the set screws of the idler pulley unit again to fix it.
5.
Repeat this for all three belts
6.
Make sure all belts are feeling the same in tension
