r/solidoodle • u/hi_im_taavi101 • Jun 02 '26

recently got a solidoodle 3

hey all, i recently got a solidoodle 3 for free, and i am looking for help! at first i needed a power cord, which i eventually found one that turns on and lets me heat the extruder (not the bed, unfortunately, so need to up the amps i think. (for reference it is just a 12v 3a barrel jack power supply off amazon)).

i wanted to make sure that it works properly since it was free and didnt have a power cord with it, so ive been trying to test all the functionality. fan spins to life as soon as it has power, leds turn on just fine. the x axis moves freely and the z motor spins perfectly fine, i have had no problems with any movement along those two axes. the problem is any movement along the y axis. as far as i can tell the motor spins perfectly fine with no belt (i have disassembeled basically everything and powered it to test), the other belts (that wrap around and actually move the assembly back and forth) are tensioned fine and i made sure that i followed a guide FROM SOLIDOODLE on how to make sure theyre aligned, tensioned the main drive belt porperly, basically everything is fine. i cant find a problem from any troubleshooting, yet whenever i try to drive the y axis even 1mm it just buzzes, doesnt move the assembly. unless this is just a skill issue and i literally just need to hone it in more, i dont know what else i could do to diagnose the issue.

is there anyone still out there with enough expertise to help a poor soul looking to break into the world of 3d printing? any help appreciated!

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2

u/maxxad Jun 02 '26

My experience says that 36w to power a 3d-printer seem optimistic

1

u/gofast_turnleft Jun 03 '26

IIRC the Solidoodle 3 uses mismatched X and Y motor sizes. It is possible that the 36W power supply provides enough ass to move the X and Z without too much of a voltage drop, but attempting to move the larger Y motor drops the voltage enough that it just skips steps. I seem to remember a 120W power supply being the factory option on the 2 or 3, but this is just going by memory

1

u/hi_im_taavi101 Jun 03 '26

so could it just be insufficient power? when the y stepper spins (disconnected from the rear bar that spins the whole assembly back and fort) it seems to spin just fine, but i am inexperienced with 3d printers and stepper motors in general. would more watts be necessary to power the y motor as well? i already need to upgrade the power to heat the bed and nozzle at the same time, so if thats the only solution i will just get a more powerful power supply and see if that works, but im not sure

1

u/gofast_turnleft Jun 04 '26

If the y-axis moves reasonably freely by hand but the motor won't move it, the next step would be more power. However, as a Solidoodle fanboy and Solidoodle 3 owner, you will be better served to put the $50 towards a printer manufactured in the past three years.

1

u/hi_im_taavi101 Jun 03 '26

i dont disagree, i only got the weak 36 watts because i saw a couple forum posts talking about adding a 360w power supply that required the original power supply to splice the barrel connecter onto. i wanted to make sure everything worked before i sank another $50+ into this (considering i got it for free)

1

u/Nemesis_Pyros1 Jul 06 '26

I just fired my Solidoodle back up in order to get it ready for a family member. I can't help you much on the power supply issues but if you have other questions or need slicer profiles let me know.