Linear Rail Question

[Wolverine3307]

Good afternoon,

I had purchased a used Voron 2.4 V1. It worked great at first but quickly had some issues. I found that my MGN9 Linear Bearing/Rails have some issues. 1 the rails seemed to have not been cleaned from the factory. 2 what grease were on them was the wrong stuff and pretty thick. I removed my MGN9's from my printer and cleaned everything and greased with NLGI 1 white lithium grease. Im very new to 3D printing in general and still a noob with my Voron. I was wondering if there are sources that can help spec out better MGN9's for me. Im looking to source some new ones for the Switchwire I want to build plus maybe replace the ones I have on my 2.4 V1. Most of them work great but a few of them seem a little tight and have spots where they seem to catch even though they are clean and greased properly. Im looking for any information on this topic. I found great info on cleaning and tweaking MGN rails on youtube which did help some. I would like to know of any sourcing info, info on what brands are better than others, how to upgrade them. Thank you.

 

[NoGuru]

So Genuine HiWin are considered pretty good for the price. But the two sources in the US I buy rails from is Fabreeko for there HoneyBadger rails and West3D for there Beserker rails.

 

[Wolverine3307]

Ok thank you. Are there companies to stay away from or are they pretty much all the same? Thanks for the input

 

[Wolverine3307]

You werent kidding. Those beserker rails are not cheap.

 

[NoGuru]

You can get rails to be good by cleaning and greasing yourself but those ones listed have been tested and proven.

 

[Wolverine3307]

I did remove all of my rails. Cleaned and greased them all. Half of them are like greased lighting...real nice. The other 4 have issues. A couple are tight and dont slide down on their own when the rail is vertical. The other 2 experience like a dead spot. Its hard to explain. When I run the bearing along the rail by hand it seems to feel like it catches sometimes. Almost like a bearing has a flat spot in it. If you keep going it will release and move. It doesnt always catch though. It did that before I cleaned it and now it still does it after I cleaned and greased it. If there is a way to get quality parts and rebuild the bearing I guess I would but these new rails you told me about I think is the way to go. Its a bummer my printer is down but I want good quality prints so I will just wait for my new rails. This is a good exercise too because I am going to build the switchwire here real soon and Im going with Dual head extruders.

 

[NoGuru]

Just keep in mind, sliding free down the rail if you hold it vertical might not be a good thing. That means there is slack and that can create vibrations.
For example, I just got a Baserker MGN9 rail in last week. It will not slide down on its own but if I push it gently, it does more pretty easy. That is what I look for in a rail.

 

[Wolverine3307]

oh...interesting. So if I have bearings that slide easily by themselves on the rail if held vertically thats not a good thing? Id like to learn more about this. I might have it all wrong then. I do know that the bearing that has the hickup when I move it is proly bad. I have 4 that move very easily on thier own if the rail is held vertically. They slide quick and easy. I have 2 bearings that will just sit in the same spot when the rail is held vertical but will move easily if I touch them. They will hold thier position while vertical unless I move them but they move easily. These are the 3 scenarios I have with my 8 MGN9's

 

[NoGuru]

They do have different tolerances as well so one might slide easy and still be tight.

For you, I would try and pack some more grese in to see if they slow down a little and still move easy. There are a few reads out there about the different rails.

 

[Wolverine3307]

Do you know of any trustworthy sources that covers this? There is alot of conflicting information out there. Thanks

 

[NoGuru]

Here is a very short article explaining it a little but you can get the picture. https://www.linearmotiontips.com/how-to-choose-linear-guide-preload/?mwg_rnd=4050843

 

[Wolverine3307]

Thank you NoGuru. You have been a very big help. Have a great day!

 

[NoGuru]

Thank you NoGuru. You have been a very big help. Have a great day!

No problem.
You do not happen to be a U of M are you? Just going off your user name. I ask because I am just outside of Detroit.

 

[Wolverine3307]

What is U of M? University of Minnesota?

 

[NoGuru]

University of Michigan and there mascot is Wolverines.

 

[Wolverine3307]

Oh lol. No. Wolverine as in XMEN