Update: Back together, but there's that noise...
So, I had completed the cabling in the chains and they were ready to put to the test. I connected all of the connections at each end and powered on. I had full X and Z movement and everything seemed OK.
So, after redoing basic calibrations, I started a test print. Everything seemed OK and then suddenly there was a loud ticking noise. I traced this to what I thought was the X stepper. It seemed too high-pitched to be it skipping steps, but it was certainly there and it was only making the noise under X movement.
So, I tweaked the X motor current up a smidge - to no avail. Annoyingly, it wasn't happening all of the time, the printer seemed to home and perform levelling without a problem, but it would randomly start when printing. I wondered whether the changes had caused something to seize on the carriage, so I loosened the belt and moved the carriage. It moved fine.
I re-tightened the belt and tried again. The problem persisted. On listening more closely, it actually sounded more like the belt rubbing on something. So, I decided to take the motor out, in case something was misaligned and rubbing. I removed the motor looking very closely at whether the gear was loose or had something stuck in, but could see nothing at all. So, I set about putting it all back together again. It was then that I spotted the problem!
By complete fluke, the loose end of a temporary cable tie I'd fitted to the other side of the riser, had somehow managed to get itself through the gap at the back of the motor mount and was rubbing against the teeth of the belt. I pulled it out and made sure it was clear, and everything was fine again.
That was a good hour wasted!
Removing the motor did give me the opportunity to connect to new earth connection to the body. I was able to confirm the efficacy of the connection with an ohmmeter.
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