This is my first post here and my first time using a laser machine, so please be gentle ;-).
I’m using an Ortur Laser Master 3 with the 850mm extension frames for the Y axis. Setting it up for the first without yet doing any engraving or cutting I am using the move feature in Lightburn to play around. The gantry moves along the Y axis very roughly, juddering a lot, even at low speeds around 300mm/m and faster, but only at certain positions along the y axis. At higher speeds it either doesn’t move at all or moves a little bit along any Y axis position and still shakes and judders with loud, awful, rough sounds at any position on the y axis. At low speeds around 100mm/m - 200mm/m it doesn’t judder and moves smoothly at any position along the Y axis.
I have troubleshooted everything I can think of-- adjusted and checked the belt tension for both sides of the Y axis (even though they were tensioned at the proper reference points), adjusted the top roller wheels on both sides of the gantry by turning the eccentric nuts so I could roll it by touching all four bottom wheels, which eliminated some side to side wobble the gantry was doing (I accidentally altered these and took them apart as I was setting up the machine, so they have been changed from the factory default.), checked the belts so they are straight and not crossed, turned the belts tread side in so they engage with the tread/gear on the motor spindles, checked the belts for damage or debris, and checked the rail slots for damage or debris-- and all belts and rail slots are fine. As far as I can tell the entire structure is square at the corners, so both Y axis sides should be parallel to each other and 90 degrees perpendicular at both ends to the front and back of the machine. As well, the gantry hits the limit screws on both sides at the same time for the front and back both ends-- when both engaged with the belts and when disengaged from the belts.
When I disengage the belt from the teeth in the gantry and run it at high speeds I get similar behaviour from the belts when they are only on the motor spindle on the rear and on the rollers at the front; but when the belts are disengaged I can seem to run the speed higher before the problem starts happening. As well, the problem seems to happen when I run it for longer distances; when the gantry is disengaged the belts. However, when I take all both belts off of the motor spindles the spindle on both sides moves just fine at any speed for any length.
The problems also occur when I loosen the tension on the belts, whether the belts are engaged in the teeth moving the gantry or if they are disengaged from the gantry.
The X axis moving the laser module is absolutely fine, and I haven’t adjusted the belt tension on this at all; I can move it freely at any speed for any length in either direction. I can also move it just fine manually with my hands, whereas the Y axis gantry I can’t move with my hands without a great deal of effort-- for some reason it’s much tighter. I’m not sure if this is normal or not.
I have also tried moving the plug from a power strip (shared with AC adapters for a laser camera, Lenovo laptop and Ortur Air pump) to its own wall plug, and still the problem persists.
The only thing I haven’t tried is adjusting the 1.5mm set screws on the Y axis motor spindles; this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_qPbfwyAfo shows loosening of these set screws. However, I am a bit reluctant to do this as nothing in the Ortur manual shows adjustment of them, so I assume they are already set properly at the factory.
I have taken videos of all of this drama so in case anyone wants to see it I can send links to them.
Any assistance with this or suggestions would be greatly welcome. Thanks very much everyone.