(Part 2) Top products from r/prusa3d

I believe that grease is actually ideal for bearings over oil in terms of longevity of the application and I was recommended some superlube synthetic PTFE grease. It’s pretty cheap on amazon and there are printable bearing packers on thingiverse you can use to get it all the way in the races. (Just noticed you said you didn’t have access to it!)

I actually didn’t have grease when I built it so I used some synthetic PTFE oil on the rods and that has seemed to be fine. From the good article below, the important thing is that you don’t apply different (synthetic vs. non-synthetic) lubricants at the same time. Hence ideally you degrease the oil they are shipped in with isopropanol before applying more oil/grease. However, I read that the shipping oil is synthetic so I just applied the synthetic PTFE oil to the rods without de-greasing. I am just about to tear down and revise the bearings with grease the proper way myself actually.

So bottom line is that if your oil with PTFE is synthetic you can just apply it directly, but the ideal would be to de-grease and then apply grease of your choice.

Here’s a great resource (though the link is borked with the new prusa site—google “set your bearings straight” and it’s the first one that comes up): https://prusacommunity.com/set-your-bearing-straight/

And the superlube: Super Lube 21030 Synthetic Grease (NLGI 2), 3 oz Tube https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XBH9HI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7yCWCb21H21WM

Thingiverse link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3328377

I had the same issue.

It's actually really easy to take apart and get to the extruder if you want to check everything.

Unscrew the fans and let them dangle to the side, then you unscrew the parts that are holding the extruder in there. After that you should be able to wiggle the whole thing out.

But honestly, just by looking at your picture, it doesn't look like you have heat creep, or plastic issues. So I doubt it's going to be an issue with the heat break, block, or anything like that. So probably just the heater cartridge.

I was just in your shoes, and successfully spliced a new heater cartridge onto my old wires.

Basically snip off the old wire about 6-8 inches down, strip the wire coating, and splice on a new heater cartridge.

This is the bundle of heater cartridges I got from Amazon. They work perfectly with my MK3. The cartridge itself is slightly longer than the base, but still works without issues.

Also to make splicing easier and faster I got these and they have been working really great.

It won't do much for a couple reasons. First, none of those cabinets are "air tight", so a lot of the drier air is just leaking back out. It will help a little bit but you'll never drop the humidity very low (depending on how dry your air normally is, looks to be 33% rH on the accurite - toss that up in the top for a bit and see how much it drops, but I'd be really surprised if you're even at 25%). Second and more importantly, the ratings on those things is ridiculous. I looked up the "Eva-Dry" on Amazon and I see similar models to the one you have are rated at 333 sq. ft, which is just insane. Get something like this canister which can actually keep an area that size dry for a while. You'll see the Eva-Dry is probably spent within a few days if you actually use a humidity monitor up there. A little harder to recharge, but you can always use something like this to refill it, then it will last you forever, and you'll have as close to dry filament as you can without gaskets to seal the upper compartment. Optimally you would add a latch to the top door, put gaskets around the seams so the door is close to air tight when closed, and place a small fan in the upper compartment to keep the air circulating. This would get your air very very dry, which would be great for Nylon and PETG and other moisture sensitive filaments.

Alternatively, pick up a food dehydrator and modify it so you can just dry your filaments before printing. That's a lot easier and is fine for most filaments, but can take a few hours to actually dry the filament out to a reasonable level, depending on how much moisture is absorbed (Nylon and PETG tend to be the worst offenders, but all filaments will absorb SOME moisture).

Skip the ruby nozzle, it's only necessary if you are printing a lot of abrasive filaments like wood, magnetic, carbon fiber, etc. Get it when (if) you need it. The stock nozzle will print PLA and PETG for ages before requiring replacement.

Same goes for the smaller nozzle, again, unless you are planning on using it right away. Smaller nozzles are great for finer details, but will typically greatly reduce your print speed, especially on really low layer heights like 0.05mm. They also really require you to have your settings, extruder and Z-height dialed in, something you're not going to be ready for right away if you're new to 3D printing.

As for tools, what comes in the box will get you by (assuming you purchased a kit, not assembled). A pair of fine-tipped tweezers is also useful. Side-cutting pliers. Also, highly recommend a proper set of ball-end hex screwdrivers instead of those God-awful hex keys.

I'd also

• put temporary tape over the magnets prior to beginning: After months of use, the adhesive keeping the magnets in place had lost its strength and magnets flew out like crazy. Tape keeps 'em in place while you hold the nylock nuts in place with pliers or a wrench. Don't remove the tape until you have completed step 8.
  
  
• In the event a magnet does pop out, get some fast-setting glue that's rated for temperatures up to 120C. Then put tape over it to make sure it doesn't pop out again, causing a chain reaction with other magnets. It's a bitch to get them off one another if they have glue on them.
  
  
• put nylon washers between the bed and the nylock nuts. Some people reported rattling noise after doing the nylock mod and these washers should help with that. I decided to play it safe and install such washers from the start. If anyone's interested, I can dig up the Amazon link for the ones I bought. By popular demand, I used these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013G5XSB8
  
  
• The guide I followed advised screwing the nuts on the screws with the nylon end pointing towards the bed. It's hard to get the nuts aligned just right for that; so you may want to screw the nuts on in the other orientation first, to get some threading in the nylon. I found it's a lot easier to screw them in perfectly straight WITH the nylon pointing towards the PCB after that.
  
  The nylock mod is amazing and when combined with the 7x7 mesh bed leveling you can safely use the entire surface of your heated bed without having to worry about prints coming loose due to bed level variance.

I use loctite super glue on pla and it works great too. Loctite Ultra Gel Control Super Glue 4-Gram (1363589) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Y49R7G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_GY-UCbGDJ010B

When I started, I was looking for 91% or 99% wipes and didn't have much luck. Today on Amazon I see 91% wipes: Box of 50 for $18. Ridiculous. Spray would work well, but I also like to feel the bed in case there are small bumps that need to be cleaned off.

I've settled on using: 91% iso alcohol (ultra cheap, from Walgreens or WalMart, probably), a push-down alcohol dispenser https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MI85FC ($5, singe purchase), and Kimtech Wipes (also great for glasses, etc.) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008UB6IKC (280 wipes per box, 3 boxes for $8.40). Using this method, I actually use the Alcohol+wipes on lots of things.

I need to find a local source for 99% iso. The stuff online all feels expensive.

Ok, I was having a TON of problems with adhesion with PLA, and a fair deal of issues with PETG on the textured sheet. I tried it all: Lower Z, 99% alcohol, dish soap, increased bed temp. Everything was coming loose after a few layers, or warping (or warping worse with the higher bed temp). It would still warp with a 2cm brim.
I was seriously considering tossing the textured sheet because it was completely useless for me, so I tried a more drastic approach. I figured that acetone was risking chemically changing the surface (which is why they warn against it), so I decided instead to physically change the surface.
I got some "Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish" and softly polished one side of the textured sheet. This stuff has an extremely fine grit in it (aluminum oxide), and it scuffed/polished the top layer of the powder coat. I didn't polish too hard, I didn't want to change the look or texture of the sheet. After that, I washed the surface thoroughly with dish soap, dried it with towels, did a pass with the 99% alcohol, then heated the bet to 80c for a few min.
The difference was night and day. PLA sticks incredibly well (nozzle 200c, bed 50c), but still easily pops off with a light bend of the sheet. It didn't change the surface texture of the sheet at all, you still get that nice textured finish. I haven't tested PETG on it yet, but considering how well the PLA sticks, I'll only want to only do small test parts first until I have confidence that the bigger parts will actually pop off (I still have the reverse side of the sheet for PETG in case this polished side works too well). I've accumulated about 50h of printing on the polished textured sheet now without issue.
WARNING: Mothers contains petroleum distillates. I'm not a chemist, but I may have in the end actually chemically changed my textured sheet anyways (similar to what using acetone would have done). I don't know if there will be long term issues with this method, but in my case, I at least turned a useless textured sheet into something I can actually use for a bit.
This is the stuff I used: https://www.amazon.com/Mothers-05100-Mag-Aluminum-Polish/dp/B0009H519Y

Ooh it's four dollars! Ordered. Super Lube 51010 Oil Super Lube https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BXOGHY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_EdI0DbKX6MN0W

The bondtech motor is an LDO motor but yeah I replaced it with https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07G3XCYGH?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

There may be better options though.

Okay,

Would this cartridge be okay for my prusa mk2s?

HICTOP Cartridge Heater 24V 40W for 3D Printer Prusa Mendel (Pack Of 3) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01HGIMI2G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_EGG0CbER0SBFZ

Thanks for the help, I got worried that I would have to disassemble the whole extruder part or have to do some sketchy welding^^

I've got my notes on recommended tools & first-aid kit here. Proper tools for swapping nozzles are important to avoid inadvertent damage (although it's not a scary process).

• You do not need a spatula and half the stuff sold in "3D printing starter kits".
  
• You do not need any of the exotic bed prep stuff.
  
• Bondhus or equivalent ball drivers are very useful. You really only need the 2.5mm. Makes removing and reassembling parts much easier.
  
  Which sock & which nozzles? The TriangleLab nozzles are good. The others are OK in a pinch, but I've seen reports of them shearing off at high temps.
  
  Read up on clearing jams. The 1st one can be scary, but they're no big deal if you're prepared.
  
  Have fun with it!
  

Hey another commentor made me look into it again. It seems like Super Lube (synthetic grease with PTFE/Teflon) (Amazon link) is what is recommended these days.

The other two I mentioned before have been used by a lot of people over the years and I haven't heard anything bad about them, but the folks at Prusa seem to be recommending Super Lube these days (links here and here).

FWIW, I use machine oil and I'm going to keep using machine oil. As the second link mentions, mixing lubricants can cause reactions between the old and the new stuff which can wreck your shit.

Hope this helped.

Yes metric hex and nut drivers. Nut drivers Hex Drivers

Something like this

As recommended, these are the one's I bought. Here's a picture as they have arrived.

you should get this https://www.amazon.com/FYSETC-Cooling-50x50x15mm-Radiator-Accessories/dp/B07NTKG9K4/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=prusa+print+fan&qid=1573783857&sr=8-2, it is a drop in replacement. I got this when I broke my print fan, and it works exactly the same.

This should do well enough, but you should be able to find an equivalent cable at any electronics store if you ask for an IEC cable. https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Computer-IEC-320-C13-P007-006/dp/B0027JRMD0/

This: https://media.bahag.com/assets/resp_product/58/86/90588655_21550839.jpg

You can get those usually in hardware stores or where washing machines / dryers and so on are sold. A general "anti vibration mat".
Or something like this: https://www.amazon.com/casa-pura-Anti-Vibration-Vibration-Appliances/dp/B071DVFWTW

Bondtech: https://www.bondtech.se/en/product/prusa-i3-mk2-5-mk3-extruder-upgrade/

Moons: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G3XCYGH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Firmware: https://github.com/codiac2600/Compiled-Firmware?fbclid=IwAR1xkPOhhiXDCRT4I9EtA_6y60BV7dPV7VDNLpfN6BZoudjZxE3_bbvEhZg

And the slic3r profile can be found on the prusa community facebook page

TTY3D Silk Metallic PLA. I bought 2kg spools for ~$40 total so not bad. link

I use two of these humidifiers, no monitors though. During this project, I saw that my sensors were reading around 50% before putting them inside the boxes.

I got the parts in but in the process of swapping the heatbreak melted the collet in the heatsink, so I had to wait for a couple of those (and matching clips to avoid future PTFE tube shifting problems) to come in. I could have printed some on my FLSun QQ-S but didn't want to risk in the future thinking, "Well, it's still a problem, is it the printed collet that's bad?" and have to order one anyways.

I just wrapped up the install process and I'm trying the same print now, I'll update when it jams again or if in ~2 days if it completes without issue (in my mind if it can't do a 43+ hour print it's not fixed).


In the mean time, here is the complete list of what I just installed:

• Installed standard E3D heatbreak
  
  • so far so good, but beyond first layer calibration, a bed level test print (my bed is not flat and Prusa did everything they could to avoid sending me a replacement, so I test it anytime I do any change), and the very beginning of this long test print I can't be sure yet.
    
• Swapped the extruder motor to this: LDO NEMA 17 MOTOR COOLER LDO-42STH40-1004ASR
  
  • Already running ~5-10C cooler than the stock motor in the same conditions and time into the big print. Also appears to not working identically in terms of extrusion so definitely looks like a drop in replacement.
    
• Instead of the Sunon fans, I'm trying these: FYSETC fans on Amazon
  
  • I was going to hold off on this, but when I needed to order new collets I debated it, decided against getting the Sunon's just because I thought, "the Noctua should honestly be good enough." Then I realized it'd be dumb not to install a better fan while doing everything else, wanted to get something quick enough that I could do it all at once without further delays once the main things were in, and went with these. They definitely are blowing more air than the Noctua, and are barely any quieter. The sleeve is bulkier than the Noctua and that made it more difficult to route the cables, but it works. Longevity is going to be the question now.

It depends...Due to a medical issue my hands shake a fair bit so I used one of these: https://amazon.com/General-Tools-500-Precision-Screwdriver/dp/B002XZLTQO and drove the screws all the way but stopped just short of tightening then did the final tightening by hand with a hex key or the hand driver in the kit linked below. It beat dropping the allen key on the floor every 4 minutes! Now this power driver uses 4mm shank "micro bits" and the German tool makers Wiha and Wera, which are seriously pro grade and expensive as all hell, market these bits but this kit I linked to will supply you with all the bits you need and then some.

https://amazon.com/Syntus-Precision-Screwdriver-Electronics-Cellphone/dp/B071PB4RPV

Oh, and use lithium AAA batteries in your driver as it'll kill regular batteries in just a few hours.

Full disclosure I have zero, nill, null, nadda financial interest in the above linked items.