Does anyone (@vicious1, perhaps) have a schedule for printer maintenance? I have been neglecting my poor machine. I wonder if I should be doing something like topping up the grease on the linear rails each time I finish a spool. Or maybe replace the idler bearings twice a year or something.
My personal use of the printer is something like: nothing for a month or two and then nonstop for 3 weeks. But whatever your usage is, how do you manage maintenance?
I am not really sure. I run them 24/7/365 and do very little for maintenance. When I built them I always packed the bearings full of lube though.
The only thing I do is blow off the dust from the fans and extruder when I notice it, and the old Lm8uu rails would get wiped off and I would add a few drops of a thin teflon lube every 6 months or so to the rails and run it back a forth a few times.
I plan on doing the same with the linear rails.
I think it’s a very different proposition running 24/7 to the sort of use most of us have. Machinery seems to thrive on use, and with lube at a constantly warm temperature I think the need for preventative maintentance is really reduced.
I stupidly didn’t pack the bearings when I assembled my machine (because Prusa at the time were specifically saying “don’t” - in retrospect this is possibly because most of their customers are technically at the point where they can barely use a light switch.
Therefore - I pay a bit of attention to keeping the rails lubed, and try to do this as part of a “shut down” routine after a burst of printing, so it’s ready to go next time. The printer is kept in an enclosure, when the dust and grease builds up at the ends of the rails it’s time to clean and do the grease again.
I use grease time as a reminder to clean the fans, and check the wiring connections on the board and power pack - this may be an assembly thing too - I haven’t had a problem in 100 days or print time, (touch wood) but it seems that many do.
I’m wondering how and when to give it a major service - pull it apart and actually grease the bearings etc, then reassemble it with the benefit of a little experience but there’s nothing wrong with it and I tend to think if it ain’t broke…
Maybe I have the wrong oil or the wrong rails. I am getting some rust on my linear rails. In the tracks where the balls ride. I haven’t been paying close attention on how often I lubed them.
I wait until a print goes wrong… Then I fix it.
Most of the time my “maintenance schedule” falls under the heading of “If it ain’t broke…”
That said, there’s also “An ounce of prevention” in there, somewhere. I do keep the linear guides clean. If there’s an accumulation of dust, dirt, or debris, I clean them. If they aren’t a little greasy, I grease them. After having grub screw issues, I check those before a print. It seems to be enough.
I don’t think that’s rust. One of the 3d printer guys mentioned it in a video. He said it was actually voc condensate from the filament. I got it on my back rail too, but a couple weeks ago when I replaced my rails, there wasn’t any rust anywhere on the rail, or the bearings.
Hmmm. IDK. It isn’t anywhere else but deep in the tracks of the rails. Things don’t usually rust much here in CO either though. Maybe it is some byproduct of the grease itself.
That’s how mine was. Collects in the grease.