1 Topic by jon_bondy

  • jon_bondy
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  • Registered: 2012-09-27
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Topic: Frequency of maintenance tasks (leveling the bed, greasing rods, etc)

How often do you find that you need to level the bed?  I seem to be doing it 2-3 times a week, printing most days.  I wonder if this can be brought on by a print that does not want to let go of the bed, forcing you to physically mess with the bed.  Do any of you check the Z height and level before each print?

What about greasing the guide rods: how often do you do that?

2 Reply by jefferysanders

  • jefferysanders
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  • Registered: 2012-09-04
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Re: Frequency of maintenance tasks (leveling the bed, greasing rods, etc)

Mine stated squeaking after 8kg of prints or so; I lubed it with WL Grease and seemed better than ever afterwards.

3 Reply by EFFalcon

  • EFFalcon
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  • Registered: 2012-11-15
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Re: Frequency of maintenance tasks (leveling the bed, greasing rods, etc)

I only seem to have bed level issues if i print something that moved to the bottom of the Z axis.

4 Reply by nickythegreek

  • nickythegreek
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  • Registered: 2012-11-18
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Re: Frequency of maintenance tasks (leveling the bed, greasing rods, etc)

I leveled my bed about 6-7 weeks ago a d still dont have any issues printing multi part stuff over my bed on glass+hairspray. I've even traveled with my machine 2 times.

I got a 8oz tube of Ultra Lube White Lithium Grease from Lowe's for a couple bucks and have used it lightly on the rods once, I don't really know how often or what I should signs I should look for to know when to do this though.  I hope SD makes a maintenance video with some best practices.

5 Reply by FarFromDotMatrix

  • FarFromDotMatrix
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  • Registered: 2012-09-14
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Re: Frequency of maintenance tasks (leveling the bed, greasing rods, etc)

I also use lithium grease (4$ for 8oz), once a month should be enough.
But I make sure that the actual grease stays clear of dust and hairs.
I've been using it for a month now and I never had to level the table.

However, the Kapton started to look scratched, but still usable, and I ordered 10mm kapton for little fixes and large 150mm kapton to replace it entirely sometimes.