I have a used shapeoko 3xxl that I am thinking of upgrading to an HDZ. My side belt appear fine. is there any value of getting a maintenance kit or just the HDZ? Are the side belt sold separate? or are there things in the maintenance kit that would be good to replace now?
The Maintenance Kit will let you rebuild a machine to pretty much like new.
The HDZ is an upgraded Z-axis which will replace your existing belt-drive or Z-Plus Z-axis.
While I’d get a Maintenance Kit for a machine w/o an HDZ, if I was upgrading to an HDZ, my inclination would be to get a Maintenance Kit as well so as to swap in at least a new X-axis belt while the machine was partially disassembled.
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thanks for always being quick to give an answer
I appreciate it
I have an HDZ for my SO3 XXL. About twice a year you have to remove the HDZ and turn it upside down and apply Mobil Vactra #2 way oil to the bottom bearing blocks. You can access the top bearings but the bottom ones have the filler screw on the bottom of the block.
When you oil your bearing blocks some oil will run down the guides and can drop on your spoilboard and/or project. So after oiling your bearing blocks put a paper towel under the HDZ until oil quits dripping down. Also wipe off the very bottom of the guides to keep the oil from dripping down. In between maintenance you can clean the glide rails and apply some oil to them.
Other than oiling there is no maintenance to the HDZ itself. With an SO3 you still have v-wheels you have to check and adjust periodically that are on the bottom of the Z assembly. You should always have some spare v-wheels because occasionally they go bad or get mal formed. The belts have gone through changes in material over time. The original belts were fiberglass reinforced and later were steel belted. The steel belted ones seemed to wear out prematurely so they went back to the Gates fiberglass belts. Unless you have a major crash the belts on my SO3 are the original ones from 2016. A maintenance kit is a good idea to have on hand for emergencies and deadlines.
The hidden critical need sensor on every machine always sense urgency and fails at the most inopportune time.
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Thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and ordered the HDZ and the maintenance kit. The x and y belts seem fine but I will go ahead and replace them and keep the old for emergency. The belt on the z seems to have a little bit of a “set” like the belt had been in one position a long time, but I just did a job that covered the cost of the used machine, material and tooling. So, I think it is fair to put a little into it so it can cut better on the next run and hopefully get a job to pay for it. Then maybe we start talking spindles.
I will say that I think the SO3 XXL seems to be a good machine.
Do those blocks have the port on top as well? Mine on the plus do. One of the guys recently suggested removing the bolts from the plate to the top block and sliding the block up slightly to get access to the port on the top of the bottom block. It worked well.
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There is a screw in the top of the bottom bearing blocks. However it would be very hard to extract the screw and then put it back. Plus a good cleaning and inspection should be done periodically. Since I have an SO3 the HDZ still rides on v-wheels and a good look at them and cleaning is easier with the HDZ off the Shapeoko. Adjustment is simple. The HDZ had the 10MM eccentrics to adjust the v-wheels.
While my HDZ is off I use a white 3M finishing pad to clean the top and bottom of the alum extrusion. In between I use a stiff nylon brush to clean the v-wheels by moving the powered off SO3 back and forth. I use dust extraction but dust still gets up on the Y rails and the gantry rails and is stuck there like a bugger.
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