Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking  

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

@joantabb

Hi Joan,

Thanks you for your reply! It sounds like the most logical fair solution. I'm currently building up the courage to disassemble my freshly assembled printer. 😀

It's a shame Prusa's assembly wizard, which is otherwise super helpful and professional, explicitly stated: "The printer's package contains a lubricant, which is intended for maintenance. No need to use it now the bearings are lubricated." I would have preferred to have done this before finishing the assembly.

Do Prusa employees check this forum as well? I'm curious about their opinion on this matter.

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

Could maybe heat from the heatbed be melting off the grease?  You might want to check the operating temperature range.

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

Posted by: @chrisw42

Hi there,

I've got a MK3S+ for a week now and I'm so happy with it! It's an amazing 3D printer!

I printed my longest print today: over 17 hours! It came out beautiful, eventhough the filament was stuck on the spool halfway. But the printer detected this, pauzed and continued flawlessly after replacing the filament.

After this long print I noticed my bearings have started leaking. Aside from these pictures I also had some spots on the steel plate.

 

Is this bad? Should I fix this? According to these Reddit comments I should remove the oil and grease the bearings myself. But that's not what the Prusa manual says, so I'm not sure...

If you want the most maintenance-free operation possible, clean the bearings and provide them with a soft grease (NLGI 1 or 2). It is only necessary to regrease the rods after a few hundred hours of operation.
You can also use oil, but the maintenance intervals are shorter and you must also make sure that it does not leak (X-axis on the print bed).
My printers have been running with grease for many years and I have never had any problems with bearings or rods getting damaged.

But as Joan meant - opinions on this vary widely. I mostly base it on my experiences.

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

@dimprov

The bed is the default 60 degrees Celcius

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

@karl-herbert

Thanks! I will replace the oil with grease after Christmas. 🙂

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

@chrisw42

Hi Chris
I have mentioned the issue of lubrication to Prusa Before... 
However the spitting of oil is a fairly new complaint, I think you are the second person I have noticed mention this
I will pass the information on, again. 

when you opened the plastic bags for the bearings, was there oil runny in the bag, and a bit solvent smelly ? 

regards Joan.

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

@joantabb

Yes, there was!

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

I have forwarded the link to this post. 

regards, 

Joan

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

I think that the topic of linear ball bearings should be discussed more. The bearings of my Prusa Mini were not greased, for example, but were installed directly as shipped from the manufacturer. Result: after about 2 weeks of continuous use of the Mini bearings showed the first signs of wear (scratchy noises). Of course, this could have been a bad bearing, but it was definitely not greased. After the installation of original Misumi bearings including cleaning and lubrication, it now runs.
In the meantime I have installed sinterbronze slide bearings, but that's another story.

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

Were the linear bearings and rods in the MK3 kit I purchased 2 years ago Misumi linear bearings and matching Misumi rods?  I seem to recollect that they looked like typical, inexpensive Chinese linear bearings and rods like the kind one might find for cheap on Aliexpress.

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

Hi!

I just received my MK3S+ and have been researching whether or not I should pack the bearings. I bought a tube of Super Lube but am considering if I want to use it or not. Prusa says not to, other information on the internet seems to suggest it is a good idea before I fully assemble it.

I came across this post and while I have yet to assemble my printer I noticed that the bearings have leaked this liquid into their individual plastic bags. I'm not sure if this is normal but wanted to add to this thread and get some feedback before I proceed.

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

I also noticed what appears and smells to be oil on the outside of this box. I didn't notice it on any of the other boxes and it doesn't appear that the bag with the bearings has leaked.

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

Good morning Doug, 

the Bearing Manufacturer state that they only manufacture one type of this bearing which is Pre Lubed with grease, and all others are filled with a rust preventative treatment. 

If your oil id coming out of the bearings in the bag, the material is not grease...   I suggest that you wash the bearings with Isopropyl Alcohol  dry immediately and lube properly before assembly, 

But it's your printer You need to decide whether this is the process for you. 

All of My printers were Lubed during assembly and I have no scored rods. 

Joan

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

Misumi supplies the linear bearings with anti-corrosion agent and packed in a plastic bag. This means that you should clean the bearings and then lubricate them. Corrosion protection alone is not enough lubrication. Each ball bearing (no matter where you buy it) must be clean and well lubricated to work reliably and long term.

What the manufacturer recommends: Misumi_Linearbearings

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

@chrisw42

Do yourself a HUGE favour and do the following:

Order a bottle of 100% (or as close to) isopropyl alcohol. You need it anyway and 5L is cheap.

Super Lube 21030 (the part number is important!) Not sure where you're located, but you should be able to find a local supplier.

https://www.mektronics.com.au/super-lube-multi-purpose-grease-3oz-tube.html

Then download and print these these:

Linear Bearing Grease Cap

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1128781

Linear Bearing Grease Cap Lid

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1134114

While your waiting for the alcohol and grease to arrive, do all the printing. Use PETG, a 0.4 nozzle and 0.2mm layer height and 0.42 extrusion width for all extrusions. This makes the threads and openings accurate.

Pull all of your linear bearings out. Put them in an airtight container with enough isopropyl alcohol to cover them by about 5mm. Give them a gentle tilt around, let them sit for 5-10mins and repeat tilting them around. Do this for 40-60mins to get rid of all the OEM oil.

Pull them out and shake out all the excess alcholol and then let them stand on their end on a couple of sheets of paper towel for about 30-60mins.

Get a bunch of paper towel sheets torn off in preparation as your fingers are going to get messy and it's a pain to get the towel after you have grease everywhere. 🙂

Get the grease cap you printed, put it on the tube, line the slots up with the balls in the bearings, slide the bearing on and then squeeze the tube till some grease starts to come out the top of the bearing. Do this to all the bearings.

Slide the bearing onto one of the smooth rods one at a time and slide it up and down about 20-30 times. You can wipe of the excess grease.

Repack the bearings again and repeat - this is important as I found out the hard way and hard to tear down my printer a second time to repack them. It's needed to work the grease through all of the balls.

Put your printer back together, run a full XYZ, belt and first layer calibration; knock the top off a cold one and enjoy the beautiful silence of properly LUBRICATED bearings! 🙂 👍

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

Posted by: @morphias

 

Pull all of your linear bearings out. Put them in an airtight container with enough isopropyl alcohol to cover them by about 5mm. Give them a gentle tilt around, let them sit for 5-10mins and repeat tilting them around. Do this for 40-60mins to get rid of all the OEM oil.

 

What are some examples of airtight containers that you recommend he use?

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

@dimprov

I just use Chinese takeaway style containers to clean bearings.

It's just so the liquid doesn't spill everywhere when you are tipping it from side-to-side to slosh it through the bearings.

RE: Bearings of new MK3S+ leaking

@joantabb

Hi, I'm having the same issue, although in my case the oil is dripping onto my build plate 🙁 

The issue is beginning to improve now though thankfully. 

There was a lot of excess in the bags, I used a paper towel to clean off as much as possible, but there seems to be plenty left in the bearings.