I am curious how often do you service the linear rails on the 3D-printer:

  • How often do you lubricate them (MGN9 or MGN12)?
  • How do you lubricate them?
  • What volume of lube do you use?
Explanation of how often you should do it (HIWIN Lubricating instructions for linear guideways and ballscrews)

Most 3D-printer use MGN12. Reading the HIWIN documentation they shall be lubricated every 20-50km (depends on a lot of factors).

How much is 50km in print time? Assuming an average speed of 300mm/s that would be approx. 46 hours!

In other words, the generic MGN12H carriage needs 1-2 times per week maintenance.

How much lube is suggested (horizontal mounting)? 70µL for MGN12H. For MGN9H it is 30µL!

  • If I’m honest? probably nowhere near enough.

    The 46 hours is assuming it moves at 300mm/s on that axis for 46 hours, which just isn’t the case.
    I say this, but as a ballpark figure this is still useful. Even if typical prints probably take longer than that to reach 50km on an axis, that still tells me I certainly don’t lubricate them as often as I should.

    Maybe that’s something printer firmwares could one day be modified to calculate and warn the user about.

    • EmilieEvans@lemmy.mlOP
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      5 months ago

      Marlin has this feature (time based) but most manefacturer didn’t enabled it.

      Duet doesn’t have it

      Klipper doesn’t (has a time counter so you could implement it easily).