Scheduled Maintenance

[dfw3d 4]

I've had my UM2 for a while now and was just wondering if there are any typical maintenance issues that should be taken care of regularly. For instance, when I purchased a roll of CPE filament, I received a PTFE replacement because of CPE's higher printing temperatures. Anyone know the order of when things typically need to be checked or replaced?

Thanks,

dfw3d

[geert_2 290]

I don't know the official guidelines, but what I do is:

- Clean the nozzle after each print, immediately when it finishes. This avoids build-up of brown goo and contamination of next prints.

- Regularly do an atomic pull to clean the nozzle's inside. But I do a more carefull atomic pull than most others: First, I do a manual retract of the filament after flushing some material (by pulling it back a few millimeters, similar to a retract while printing). This makes it much easier to pull out that piece of filament later on. Then I let it cool down much deeper, to room temp. Then gently twist and wiggle the filament while still cold. Then heat up again to 80°C (for PLA), and *gently* pull while still gently twisting and wiggling the filament. I do no brutal pulling. This gives less risk of damaging the rods or teflon coupler.

- After an atomic pull, poke with a needle (with cut-off and rounded tip) through the nozzle, to remove any coal in the tiny nozzle opening. Then do another atomic pull.

- Regularly oil the rods, and grease the Z-worm.

- Blow or clean away any dust that accumulates in the machine and feeder.

- Replace the PTFE coupler only when deformed (you see this in the atomic pulls).

And that is about all.