1 Topic by heidkampn1

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Topic: Grease for shafts and pulleys

So I bought this synthetic caliper grease (http://www.walmart.com/msharbor/ip/2374 … p;veh=mweb) . The white lithium grease I bought before that says to do a test spray on plastic to see if it attacks the plastic. The grease I just bought claims it is plastic and rubber safe. It is also made for brake calipers so it withstands high temperatures. I need to grease up the white plastic pulley of the x axis because it has been squeaking. Does anyone know offhand if this grease is ok to use?

2 Reply by Tomek (edited by Tomek 2014-06-23 01:13:48)

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Re: Grease for shafts and pulleys

White slider (why did you call it a pulley?) is either HDPE or Delrin, eitherway a form of HDPE. It's very unlikely for most things to attack either plastic.

Don't actually know for certain though. If you want to test, test it on a milk jug or other Plastic No.2 bottle. (check I am pretty sure No.2 is HDPE. But at first I thought it was No.5)

EDIT: THE FOOL I AM: I did not notice this is the davinci forum, my thoughtless post was thinking you were talking about the solidoodle.

3 Reply by heidkampn1

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Re: Grease for shafts and pulleys

How did you know the slider is made of HDPE?

4 Reply by Tomek (edited by Tomek 2014-06-23 01:14:21)

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Re: Grease for shafts and pulleys

EDIT MY POSTS WERE WRONG. I Thought this was the solidoodle!! i don't know how I missed that this is the davinci forum!!!

heidkampn1 wrote:

How did you know the slider is made of HDPE?

To be honest, I am not certain. But the feel is quite what I'd expect, and i seem to remember it being said before. It's also in line with the cheapness of solidoodle, although HDPE is honestly not a bad choice. It's in the class of plastics like delrin, and it's just a lower molecular weight chain of them, from what I recall.  Please someone speak up if I'm speaking BS, this is a mechanical engineering student/recent grad just speaking from eccentric reading and projects and not a plastic engineering degree. 

Another good plastic choice is oil impregnated nylon or other lubricating nylons, but for some reason I've seen delrin and the HDPE class used more often than nylon for lubricating applications of plastic. I'm not entirely sure why that is. Oil impregnated nylon would be much more expensive, but I imagine the coefficient of friction of even regular nylon and HDPE are not super far off.

5 Reply by Leghk

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Re: Grease for shafts and pulleys

I think this was the Davinci, not a Solidoodle smile

Don: Folger Tech 2020 Kossel Rev A + Borosilicate + Snow Effector
        Davinci 1.0 + Repetier : Filastruder
        SD3 + RAMPS + Lawsy Carriages + E3D + Borosilicate + ... : Cupcake

6 Reply by Tomek

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Re: Grease for shafts and pulleys

Leghk wrote:

I think this was the Davinci, not a Solidoodle smile

SHOOT! i'm sorry!! I did not realize this!

7 Reply by heidkampn1

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Re: Grease for shafts and pulleys

It's all good dude. I found the solution on my own. If your da vinci starts to squeak when the extruder goes left or right, go buy Liquid Wrench white lithium grease with PTFE. All I did was squirt some on a paper plate, and used a post-it to slide just a little in between the black plastic and white slider. Only did one print, but it works so far!

8 Reply by Jaeg

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Re: Grease for shafts and pulleys

I have been using Molybdenum Disulfide Powder (Moly Powder) on it.  I only had to do it once and it has never made another sound since.  The pulley is easy to get out for those that have not done this.  You just remove the X-Axis tensioning screw, push in and hold on the tensioning spring and lift up on the pulley and it will slide right out.

9 Reply by ddub

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Re: Grease for shafts and pulleys

Here's a quick find: my Da Vinci 1.0 started creaking. I looked all over. All the belts, pulleys, etc.  Nada. Then I pushed on the filament and bingo. Creaking when the extruder stepper feeds the filament. Had to take the extruder out.  Easy. Remove the stepper connectors, push the black latch and work it out. Had to take off the retainer clip and remove the idler wheel. Careful, if you lose the retainer clip you'll be hating life. Use a small screw driver to pry it off while being careful to not let it fly away. Cleaned the wheel and the shaft and the clip. Put some new wheel bearing grease on the shaft, put the idler wheel back on (black/white pattern out) and snapped the clip back on. Set it in place and use a pair of needle-nose pliers to snap the clip back onto the shaft. Put the extruder back on and re-attach the stepper connector. Super smooth again.