Idlers tight over lapped belt area

CNC Machines Shapeoko
1

I’m assembling an out-of-box 2019 Shapeoko 3 XL(standard z axis), it came with upgraded X and Y steel belts. When the gantry is pushed all the way to the back of the Y rails (by hand), the belt idlers encounter a large resistance when they meet the area of belt doubling about 2" of final travel.
I see a post by jjohnson sep '20: Idlers Tight with Belt, had same issue. The workaround was to reduce the belt doubling length to 1" to avoid the issue.

  • Are the steel belts thicker than the standard belts?
    Has the reduced belt lap length introduced any problems?
    Thanks,
    Scott
2

Yes, the steel belts are thicker.

Yes, some folks have trimmed them shorter to address this.

Please contact us at support@carbide3d.com and we’ll send you a set of fiberglass belts.

1 Like
3

Thanks for the info and fiberglass belt option… For now I’ll adjust the lap distance.
Scott

4

Maybe check that the belt is laying with the teeth interlocked.
I still have steel cores and the doubled over belt is barely a bump. You can tell it’s there, but no problem to roll over.

5

Thanks, I really tried to ensure this when first installing the belts. Will double check when I re-do the lap distance. Is your machine a newer one with the zplus? I think the idlers(or positions) might have been changed to accomodate thicker belt sizes.

6

No, the hole positions haven’t changed since summer 2016.

7

Mine is a late 2019 model, stock belt driven z-axis

8

Ok, same as mine. Thanks.

9

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