Carriage plate barely moves

[thestemzonesd]

My carriage plate is “sticking” as it does not move freely from left to right. OR it takes a lot of force to get it to move left to right.

I decided to take the belt off and the carriage plate/ printer head off for a deep clean. I wiped the “track” that the four carriage plate wheels follow. I also cleaned the wheels and the grooves on the wheels. All four wheels move independently when I gave them a spin. (So I think that the bearings are good).

I reassembled the carriage plate, the belt and when I push the carriage to the right it moves with less resistance than when I move it to the left. And the teeth of the belt are facing inwards. I tightened the belt enough that the front side of the belt bounces inward and the back side does not move.

It feels like something is preventing the carriage plate from moving - but I dont know what it is. If I try to print - the XY axis is off - I guess because the print head/ carriage plate dont move very well.

[eflyguy]

Are you trying to move it when the machine is powered on?

[thestemzonesd]

No I turn it off before trying to move it manually.

When it is on, and cutting a file, the XY axis that a is being cut is off. Circles do not meet or complete the entire way. Anything that is left to right is off a little.

[PrintToLaser]

I would remove the belt and see if the resistance is still there. If the idler wheels spin freely, and the rollers on the carriage plate do too, I can’t think of a mechanical reason for it.