scotchtape Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 Does anyone else have this slider? Is it just me or is the motor noise really annoying? It sounds whiny and is definitely not silent, and slowing it down doesn't seem to help either. If I use put 0 for the motor settings, it's quiet enough (not picked up by boom or lav) but then it's very shaky. If I use auto-tune with the camera on, it is stable but is loud enough to be picked up by mics. The zeapon with Pons at similar speeds is quieter, but if you try to run it faster than a 40s full slide it starts to get noisy in a hurry. 😞 It's 2022 and sliders are still too loud, what gives? The silent stepper motor drivers are crazy good compared to the olden days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leslie Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 i have played with steppers and cheap drivers off ebay . There was always a hum. I wouldn't have called it loud. i was using it for timelapses so the noise didn't bother me. Since yours is a production unit i'd expect good things from it. i do know that steppers like to run inside a "zone" To fast or too slow and it gets ugly pretty quick. Again i'd expect a production unit to be tuned to avoid that sort of thing. Two things come to mind, can you adjust the tension on the belt ? perhaps its too tight, putting a side load on the motor which in turn makes it nosier. Since nema steppers are a standard you could have a look at your motor find its details then buy another brand and give that a go. If your up to a bit of diy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotchtape Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 I actually took apart the Zeapon slider motor because the resonance was horrendous, there is no acoustic insulation at all in there, just motor bolted to hollow plastic chamber. I added some rubber washers and sound insulation, didn't do much but at least the tripod stopped being a giant speaker for the motor. Also I couldn't figure out how to remove the gear from the stepper motor, there was no set screw I could see so no go on replacing that one. Ifootage basically said talk to the vendor from Ali express which is basically like saying go pound sand. I might try buying another one from BH to see if it's just this unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotchtape Posted February 3, 2022 Author Share Posted February 3, 2022 I think it's coming from the pan motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted February 3, 2022 Share Posted February 3, 2022 1 hour ago, scotchtape said: I think it's coming from the pan motor. It's even worse when it slows down at the end and then speeds up again. Some careful EQ could help with the noise when it's moving but all bets are off at the ends. It does seem like that might just be how it is though, rather than being faulty. One trick I've used in the past in hifi tweaking is to stick blu-tak to various surfaces to see if that helps. If something is vibrating then it will damp it, and it's easily removed and doesn't do any damage, so is quick and easy to use to diagnose what might be happening. Just be careful not to put it in the way of something that is moving, although if it does hit something then it deforms relatively easily so is a forgiving material. If you find surfaces that are vibrating then there are other solutions like adhering sheets of foam rubber and other absorbent materials. Anything that doesn't move can often just be damped by putting blu-tak around it, as long as it doesn't get hot then it should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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