Questions tagged [maintenance]
Questions about general maintenance and upkeep of printers.
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How to check the 'health' of the main board without a thermal camera?
Given that the main board gets warm, potentially wearing out the electronics, how do I check the 'health' of a main board without having a thermal camera?
As I understand it could be most easily ...
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How often should you change out your hot end heating element?
I was recently trying to heat my hot end to 250° C to try and get PETG to stop stringing. When I did this, I realized after about 10 minutes of waiting that it never quite got there. It would only get ...
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Is it possible to 3D print without PFAS/PTFE?
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is one of the best-known and widely applied PFAS commonly described as persistent organic pollutants or "forever chemicals".
If I want to avoid PFAS due to ...
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What is the lifespan of nozzles, and does the nozzle diameter affect the lifespan? [duplicate]
What is the average or recommended lifespan for standard Creality printer nozzles used with non-abrasive standard PLA only? What is a proper metric for that, time used, time heated, filament meters ...
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How should I remove the resin from the resin tank?
We need to move our Formlabs Form 3 printer to a new room, and I would like to remove the resin from the resin tank. Is there a standard way to do this, and can I reuse the resin once I remove it?
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Can I lubricate the timing belts to prevent squeaking against pulleys?
My CoreXY style printer doesn't have perfect belt alignment with its pullies, so there is some occasional squeaking on at least one pulley where the belt rubs against a flange. Since I don't have an ...
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Residue inside of heatsink
I recently had some filament get stuck in the Bowden tube so much so that I had to remove it from the stock Creality heatsink on my Ender 3 v2. As I was taking the tube out of the heatsink I noticed ...
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How do I check the belts on my Ender 3?
I need to check the belts on my Ender 3 to confirm they are properly set up, functioning, and undamaged. How do I go about doing this?
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Ender 3D Pro extruder stepper motor shaft length
My stock extruder motor feed mechanism had started to shave the filament but not feed correctly. I order a REDREX Tech dual gear all-metal extruder to fix the problem. I ordered a hobby gear puller, ...
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4
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Print Head Cable, does such a thing exist?
As the printer ages, the constant motion of the print head wears out the conductors inside the cable. Creating all sorts of fun debugging scenarios.
Is there such a thing as a bundled cable, with all ...
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Appropriate Grease for Z-Axis Lead Screws
I need to lube the lead screw for my 3D printer. I plan on using this grease. I want to know if this will work. There are several other ones like silicone grease, lithium grease, and synthetic grease ...
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Clearing persistent partial clog after printing nylon
My Prusa i3 MK3S printer experienced a partial clog last time I was printing with nylon.
Although I've experienced clogs and partial clogs before, all the usual tricks I've tried have not worked this ...
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Possible sources for a sliver of metal found embedded into a resin print?
I have an Elegoo Saturn and have just completed a print using standard Elegoo gray resin. I saw what I though was the remains of a failed support sticking out of my print but upon looking closer it is ...
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Screen protector for Elegoo Saturn?
Can I cut down an iPad screen protector and stick it over the top of my Elegoo Saturn to protect the LCD from scratches or resin leaks\drips?
Or will this harm printing?
Additional information
A resin ...
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When changing my FEP should I pierce it first or just screw the screws through it?
I'm going to do my first FEP change on my Elegoo Saturn. The manufacturer has a video on changing it that shows them putting the FEP into the gasket frame and then simply screwing the screws right ...
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Screen stays black on new Ender 3 V2 after power-on
I decided to finally purchase an Ender 3 v2. It arrived today and after a few hours of making sure everything is straight, I tried to power it and do a test print...
I was disappointed to see that the ...
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How to replace the nozzle in my hotend assembly?
What should I take care of to replace the nozzle of the hotend assembly the right way?
What kind of data, precautions, tools, steps, and verification are important for replacing the nozzle?
The ...
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Proper belt tension for Ender 3 v2
The Y-axis belt just broke on my Ender 3 v2. I believe that it was over tensioned from the factory. When I initially assembled the printer, I noticed that the Y-axis tensioner was tightened almost all ...
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Are there quantitative means of measuring nozzle wear?
Are there quantitative means of measuring nozzle wear? What steps do you perform to measure this? If so?
I have some digital calipers, but I don't have much confidence in the measurements taken, as it'...
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Ender 3 print bed damage
Just got an Ender 3 a week ago. This is my first 3D printer. On the 5th print the object ended up tearing away the surface of the print bed such that it's no longer usable. Trying to work out if this ...
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Linear rails maintenace [duplicate]
On my delta printer I have linear rails and one of them (rail+block) started squeeking while printing. I have thought about these causes: 1) the rails are not lubricated well enough, they were always ...
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Does it matter what kind of FEP film I use for my SLA printer?
I have a Phrozen Sonic Mini printer, and of course I'm eventually going to need to replace the FEP film on the resin vat. Is there anything I need to take in to consideration when buying some ...
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What should I use to clean buildtak(knock off)?
My printer came with a knock off BuildTak like build surface. What can I use to clean it? I don't want to damage it.
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E3D V6 nozzle seized into heater block
The 0.4 mm brass nozzle in my Prusa i3 MK3 is worn out - the extrusion hole is visibly larger than the replacement nozzles I have to fit. So I’m trying to replace the nozzle.
Unfortunately the ...
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Did I just destroy my MKS Gen L v1.0 board by shorting the stepper driver?
I was attempting to install new TMC2208 chips on my MKS Gen L v1.0. Everything was going swell, I just had one more thing to do.
I was checking and tuning the Vref for TMC2208 by measuring voltage ...
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How would you clean/prepare a flexible/magnetic mat (e.g. Ender 5) as compared to a glass bed?
I have started printing about a month ago on an Ender 5 (using mostly PLA but recently also PETG) and it seems it's about time to give the print bed a more thorough cleaning than what I usually do ...
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Tell tale signs bed tape has given up the ghost
I use blue 3M Painter's tape to help with bed adhesion on my heated bed. Are there any tell tale signs which would lead me to believe I need to change the tape out?
For reference, I haven't been ...
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Replacing bearings with Drylin bushings
When I purchased my China made Anet A8 printer, it came with the ball bearing style linear bearings for the 8mm guide rods. While pulling parts out of the box and putting them together, I noticed ...
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Polyurethane-and-steel timing belts?
Has anyone tried the steel-reinforced polyurethane timing belts? If so, how do they compare to the rubber ones?
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Insulate hotend on Makerbot Smart Extruder
Simple question: how do you reinsulate the MakerBot Smart Extruders?
Backstory:
I work at the library. We've recently replaced the MakerBot (extruder connection issues followed by software ...
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What's the best way to clean PETG residue from a magnetic steel sheet PEI?
I have the MK3 with a magnetic PEI, and some PETG residue is stuck on the surface. How can I remove it? Does acetone work?
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How do you know when your SLA resin tray needs to be replaced?
How do you know when your SLA print tray has lost its non-stick coating?
Are there visible or testable signs you can use to determine it is time to invest in a new resin tray?
Is it best to ...
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What is the lifespan of a SLA Resin Tray?
As far as I know resin trays have a Teflon coat that allows prints to stick to the build plate easier than the resin tray but this Teflon coat wears over time.
I am new to the SLA scene and am ...
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What is the MakerBot Grip Surface lifespan?
I've done a few prints on my MakerBot Replicator+ now and I'm curious if anyone else knows what the typical lifespan is signs of degradation are for the grip surface tape?
I'm used to using Kapton ...
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da Vinci Jr. nozzle diagram
Has anybody taken apart a da Vinci Jr. 3D printer nozzle?
My first time trying to clean the nozzle after it jammed, I broke off the filament immediately before it gets heated, inside the nozzle ...
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Advance extrusion, extruder code help?
I not sure what this code does..... I recently bought a titan extruded that needs to be calibrated with my printer (417 microsteps http://wiki.e3d-online.com/wiki/Titan_Assembly#Firmware_Calibration). ...
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What should I pay attention to after taking a 3d printer from extended storage
So I have a self build Mendel Reprap style 3d printer.
I've not used it in sometime after moving house but I'm looking to use it again. What should I pay attention to before calibrating and running ...
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Would appreciate advice on unclogging hot end [Makerbot Replicator v2]
My Makerbot Replicactor V2 constantly jams. Usually when I go to use it after it's been off for a few hours the filament has jammed and I have to take off the front fan to remove the filament. Today, ...
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Cons to UV printing
I've been curious about the various UV/Laser printers in (or coming into) market that use liquid resin. I've seen the samples of the Pegasus Touch, Form1, and the Carbon3D as examples. I like the ...
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z-axis hard to move in some areas - what could be faults, how to improve?
I have a z-axis which follows schematically the same principle as the makerbot one's (threaded rod and two leading rods with linear ball bearings carrying a level). It is from an old experimental lab ...
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Mushy small top layers?
I just added a fan to my printer because very small layers seem to come out very badly. For example, the 5mm PLA cube that's the top level of the test shape shown below. Watching closely, I can see ...
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Filament extrudes at an angle
On one of the nozzles on my printer, the filament comes out at a 45 degree angle. It seems that this causes problems with adhesion to the bed and overall quality.
What caused this problem?
How do I ...
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How to identify nozzle wear?
E3D-Online and Make Magazine have written about the potential damage printing carbon fiber and glow-in-the-dark filaments can do to your printer's nozzle.
What I can't seem to find is what clues or ...
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How should I clean my extruder when changing materials?
I often switch my print material, i.e. ABS / PLA / Wood / Flex,
How can I best clean out my extruder between them to ensure I don't contaminate my next print?
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How can I best clean the print bed after a print?
I've occasionally had issues with excess filament residue getting stuck to the print bed. There are ways to prevent this, but sometimes even these precautions aren't enough. Over time, residue can ...
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How do I keep my extruder head from getting clogged?
Using a thermoplastic MDF printer with a 0.4mm extruder nozzle, I frequently have trouble with the nozzle getting clogged.
I am not sure what's causing the clog, but my guesses are dust and/or burnt ...
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3k
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How to get consistent and accurate readings from thermocouples?
I upgraded to an Mk9 dual extruder, and it came with thermocouples installed instead of the thermistors I had before.
No matter what I did with the thermocouples, the indicated temperature jumped ...
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6k
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Do stepper motors require any maintenance?
I've had my printer for almost a year now.
Is there something I should be doing to maintain the motors?
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5k
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How can I stop my print bed tape from sticking to the filament?
I made a test print for a small gear (~ 1.5 inches in diameter) a few months ago, with a hole through the center. On the first try, the filament (ABS) fused to the print bed, meaning that I had to ...
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