I have a Shapeoko 3 with the Z-Belt. I got it in 2015 and I’ve been wrestling with it on and off over the years.
The V-Wheels on the Y axis feel loose, and I was wondering if this amount of play is normal:
photos.app.goo.gl/cvQoP5zAZtN4cK3n8
(sorry this site won’t let me post the completed url)
The bolts on the wheels are tight, and the eccentric nuts are adjusted to their “tightest” point on the rail. The v-wheels do not seem to have wear, and individually all feel tight.
The trouble I am running into is that when a cut is reaching the bottom of 3/4inch stock, there is wobble that causes the cut to mess up and I have to stop the machine. I’m assuming this wobble gets worse the lower it gets so likely at the bottom of the cut its so bad the work fails.
A few other notes;
I did order new v-wheels direct from carbide; when I install them there is much more play than the stock wheels shown above when the eccentric nuts are tightened.
The eccentric nuts are snug within their hole, and I have rotated them all the way around, and at their “tightest” point things are still loose.
I’m getting pretty frustrated and I would appreciate any ideas.
The v-wheels on all SO3 are the same. The top two are fixed on each axis. The bottom 2 have an eccentric to adjust them. They should be snug and not over tightened. To test before and after grab hold of each end of the gantry and lift up. If it lifts the v-wheels are loose. After adjusting v-wheels test again. Do the same for the Z. The same adjustment procedure is all 6 adjustable v-wheels.
To adjust loosen the allen bolt. Then use a wrench to adjust the eccentric. Then hold the wrench in place while tightening the allen bolt. If you do not hold the eccentric the eccentric will creep during tightening.
@gdon_2003 Yep; I have done what you’ve described many times. All the bolts through the v-wheels on the Y axis are tight, and I have tightened the eccentric bolts to their “tightest” position, but there is still play.
As far as I can tell the old ones are still in good shape.
I have purchased a maintenance kit and have new v-wheels. However, the new v-wheels are looser than the old ones, and when I install them and tighten the eccentric nuts they have even more play.
These are the original v-wheels, and the replacement wheels that I received from carbide3d.
In the video I posted in my original post, I demonstrated that the eccentric nuts are at their tightest point but the were very loose. When I install the newer wheels provided, they are much looser. If I didn’t know any better I’d say the wheels are the wrong size.
All of the other wheels are the originals, and they’re snug and working as expected.
I’ve tried to see if something somewhere may be bent or misshapen but I can’t find anything.
Please let the folks at support@carbide3d.com know — if you ordered from Carbide 3D (if not, check in w/ the folks you placed the order from — replacements ordered from Carbide 3D should obviously fit and if they don’t we’ll work out why and how to handle it.
Time to upgrade to linear rails 
