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Maintenance Tips for Successful Printing

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 4:26 am
by asg11us
Hi. I'm new to this forum. I just purchased a MakerGear M3 ID and I'm learning 3D printing for the first time. It seems like a great printer (but with a significant learning curve).

I'd like to know what can be done in terms of maintenance to ensure the printer will work successfully over the long run. Specifically, here are some of my questions:
(1) How can you keep the nozzles clean after each print?
(2) What parts on the printer need to be lubricated on a regular basis and what lubricant is best?
(3) How should I clean the glass on the HBP so I don't ruin the polyimide coating?

Any advice, links to videos, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!


Andy

Re: Maintenance Tips for Successful Printing

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 7:11 pm
by jk42
Andy,

If you heat up your hotend to print temp you can clean the outside of the nozzle with a small wire brush.
I also like to perform a Cold Pull every once in a while, or when I am changing filament, just to keep the hotend clean.
You can get instruction here: https://makergear.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ ... ar-Hot-End

There are guidelines for maintenance in the user guide on page 16. You can get the PDF here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0030/ ... 5460605808

I like to clean the bed with Isopropyl alcohol in between prints.

Re: Maintenance Tips for Successful Printing

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:03 pm
by asg11us
Thanks, Jason!

Do you recommend soaking the nozzles in acetone to clean them?


Andy

Re: Maintenance Tips for Successful Printing

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:34 pm
by sthone
Acetone works for ABS but won't do much for PLA and you have to leave it in there awhile and then pick all the crap out with tweezers after the soak. A propane (or map gas) torch works much better at just burning all the crap out and is much faster. (this is assuming you are removing the nozzle from the hotend first.)