1

Hello Fellow Zortrax users I have a question to get your opinion on the types of maintenance you regularly perform after each print. One of my employees is insisting on doing the following procedures after each and every print. How many of you do all of this?

“After each print they (other employees) need use the scraper and a hammer and pull off each print off of the build plate. All the polls and rods need to be cleaned with the vacuum. After each print the filament needs to be removed and not sit in the extruder. After each print the nozzle needs to be brushed down with acetone.”

I will greatly appreciate your input on this question as well as what you do after each completed print.

Thanks!

-Christian

2

I don’t usually do all of this, but it depends on how dedicated you are. All of these things may help the printer quality by an almost significant amount, but it’s really up to you. After each print I remove the item on the print bed and clear the adhesive (you don’t always have to) and take the piece of filament which has leaked/ dangled through the nozzle as it cools down.

I recalibrate after every few prints or when it has been left alone for a few weeks. I also use acetone and metal piece every few prints to ensure the printer isn’t clogging. I don’t need a hammer to prise print off the bend as when the printer bed cools, it comes of with a gently amount of force.

I don’t unload filament unless I want to change the colours and have never really vacuumed the printer. Occasionally I’ll brush any small parts of filament that have fallen off though.

Hope this helps

1 Like
3

Marvin you da man! I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to address my question. I agree with you it can be done every 3 prints or so and not necessarily after every print. The models adhere quite strongly to the print bed even after they have cooled and we don’t use any adhesives. Just straight on the printer bed. We use a small, rubber mallet and not a hammer per se. I must rely on others to do the hands on work with the printers due to a physical disability which I have no movement capable below my shoulders. This may explain better to others on the Zortrax forum why I ask and phrase the questions the way I do. :wink:

I will pass along your comments with the rest of my CrickStar3D Team!

Until next time, take care!

And Thanks again!

-Christian

4

Hi

I’ll start by saying that I’ve worked with very cautious and caring employees.

It appears that your employee is doing Everything Possible to ensure that your Zortrax prints turn out as good as is possible.

Maybe a discussion based on a list of things that appear to be needed would be a start.

I would start by building a checklist of things that are felt needed. Then eliminate one of those things for several prints to see if anything

quality wise has changed.

My thought is that you have very caring employees.

That’s just my 2 cents worth. I hope it helps you in some manner.

5

@Garyg I couldn’t agree with you more buddy. It’s mainly one in general who doubles as a caregiver on some days, but is solely dedicated to the 3D printers 3 days a week when I bring in a secondary caregiver.

Your suggestion of creating a list has already been implemented. As the saying goes, “Great minds think alike.”. We will be training the rest of my Caregiver Team the proper procedures needed after a certain amount of prints. Yes I’m very fortunate I have a a caregiver staff, (7 people) who care about me enough to help me follow my dream of 3D printing as well as 3D scanning. Thanks again for your comments and your 2¢.

6

I don’t have a Zortrax printer, mine is a Mankati.

I have owned it for almost a year now and it total, it has been printing for almost 2900 hours.

With it, I print PLA (mostly), PETG, Nylon, ABS, NGEN, Bronzefill, Copper, Flexible, wood, PVA and HIPS filament.

Because of swapping out filament, I have encountered all kinds of problems with my printer, sometimes to the point of driving me crazy.

The first important thing to do on your printer (in my opinion) is to keep the filament flowing contstantly. For this you need to regularly clean your drive wheels and the bowden tube (if you have one). Also, cleaning the nozzle from time to time is very important., especially if you change filament types often.

The second thing to do is to keep your printbed clean.

At the moment I use 3D Lac spray exclusively after having used tape and gluestick and print stickers for a long time. The 3D Lac dissolves in warm water and every couple of days I clean the glass print bed completely and spray on a new thin film of 3D Lac on it. This works beautifully on every filament I use with the exception of Nylon.

All this cleaning I certainly do not after every print. But I do clean the printer about every two weeks.