Extruder-idler bearing wear and tear
Do you know what can cause the bearing of the Extruder-idler to become this way? I tried using 70% IPA to clean it but it doesn't seem to get clean. Anyone has any idea how this can be cleaned or should I just buy a new bearing and replace it? I initially thought it could be melted filament somehow getting stuck on the bearing due to frequent filament unloading but now I'm not sure; my frequent filament unloads are due to color changes and also unloading after prints to store filament in dry storage bags due to a very humid environment.
From my Mini+'s statistics page, I see that I have printed 648.5m of filament with a total Print Time of 10 days 20 hours in a period of 2 months and 10 days. I have only used PLA and PETG filaments on this printer. I'm beginning to see some over-extrusions of external surfaces and under-extrusions of infills on some more challenging and taller prints and I wonder whether it could be caused by this bearing not being in pristine condition.
RE: Extruder-idler bearing wear and tear
I think that's to be expected if you unload filament frequently. You probably noticed, that when unloading, filament is still kinda soft at the very end and so it will leave traces on bearing over the time.
PLA and PETG don't really dissolve with IPA. so you can't use it to clean bearing. I would try by applying some polish paste and rub with cloth and if that wouldn't work, replace the bearing.
[Mini+] [MK3S+BEAR]
RE: Extruder-idler bearing wear and tear
Thanks for your suggestion - I will try it. So your hunch is that it is actually PLA and PETG material buildup.
RE: Extruder-idler bearing wear and tear
So your hunch is that it is actually PLA and PETG material buildup.
Yes, that's why I suggested polish paste. I can't imagine that filament would wear out steel bearing housing.
[Mini+] [MK3S+BEAR]
RE: Extruder-idler bearing wear and tear
+1 for Bogdan. Clearly build-up. No way filament can wear down the metal. I'd take a brass brush to it.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE: Extruder-idler bearing wear and tear
Hi Bogdan and Fuch,
I tried using polish but it doesn't do the trick. In fact scraping with a sharp edge doesn't even remove it so I think it might really be rust since where I live humidity is typically in the 70% to 80% range all year round with 90% very frequently.
So my solution was to swap it with the other bearing of the same type (625 2Z) from the Extruder-back which wasn't as exposed to the environment. Now it looks pristine.
Thanks for your quick response and kind advice, Bogdan and Fuch.