Maintenance Tips for Successful Printing

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asg11us
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:44 am

Maintenance Tips for Successful Printing

Post by asg11us » Tue Nov 14, 2017 4:26 am

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

jk42
Posts: 67
Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:19 pm

Re: Maintenance Tips for Successful Printing

Post by jk42 » Wed Nov 15, 2017 7:11 pm

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.
~Jason from MakerGear

asg11us
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:44 am

Re: Maintenance Tips for Successful Printing

Post by asg11us » Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:03 pm

Thanks, Jason!

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


Andy

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sthone
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Re: Maintenance Tips for Successful Printing

Post by sthone » Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:34 pm

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.)
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