Should I glue my nuts in place?  

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

I haven't had to do it with the printer (yet) but for items that I'm assembling or disassembling I'll sometimes hold a nut in place with a very small dab of Aileen's The Ultimate adhesive, usually applied with the tip of a dental explorer.  If some of the nuts are indeed loose and in danger of falling out, something like this might be helpful.  This is a very 'forgiving' glue which is very easy to remove if necessary.

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

Posted by: @bobg

I've got to do some major surgery (replacing the PTFE) on my MK3S and I am very concerned about messing up.  I'm not mechanically inclined and bought the printer already assembled.  (I am color coding bolts and where they belong with cheap nail polish.)  Some videos I've watched emphasize how easy it is to lose nuts.  Would it be a good idea to glue the nuts in place?  What I am thinking is to very carefully remove the nut, place a very tiny drop of glue on the rim of the nut, and then replace it.  I know that Prusa sent some spare parts with the printer with nuts included.  But super thrifty person that I am I will spend hours looking for a dropped nut before dipping into the spare parts.

Good idea or bad idea?

Thanks,  Bob

There is nothing against gluing in the M3 nuts with a tiny drop of super glue. However, the nuts are a bit more difficult to remove. Usually you print the hexagon socket on the plastic parts a bit smaller than the nut so that the nut can be pressed in. So gluing is an alternative solution.

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

You have one problem, if in the future you have to replace some parts, and you have used glue?

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

@peter-m-3

If you use a tiny drop, the nut holds as well that it will not pop out. In case of disassembly, you can loosen the screw and with a light knock loosen the nut. And if it doesn't work at all, then you have just lost 2 cents for a nut that can't be removed.

Alternatively you can also use lacquer or medium strength Loctite screw lock.

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

@bobg

Glue is likely to cause more (future) problems than it fixes.  I have not lost any nuts from my Mk3 in 6k hours printing.

This job can be done with the head positioned above the magnetic bed - you have removed the steel sheet and put a sheet of paper on the bed to protect it? - so almost all dropped steel parts will stay on the magnets.

...and the on-line assembly manuals for those who bought kits show the procedure in detail, if in doubt read the user comments for each step.

Hth, Cheerio,

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

I used a dab on the end of a toothpick to put transparent silicone RTV, as used in bathroom caulking, to secure them.

It is easy to remove when needed without damaging anything.

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

I wouldn't bother glueing the nuts, it may lead to later problems if you want to dismantle and they have a good hold.

If you take your time and put the nuts in a small dish or saucer when you remove then then you should be fine.  You could even use multiple saucers and label them if you wanted.

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

Posted by: @diem

@bobg

Glue is likely to cause more (future) problems than it fixes.  I have not lost any nuts from my Mk3 in 6k hours printing.

This job can be done with the head positioned above the magnetic bed - you have removed the steel sheet and put a sheet of paper on the bed to protect it? - so almost all dropped steel parts will stay on the magnets.

...and the on-line assembly manuals for those who bought kits show the procedure in detail, if in doubt read the user comments for each step.

 

Hth, Cheerio,

Good point about the magnets.  But I've been thinking about trying to recline the printer to make it easier to work on the extruder.  (I know that I'll need to support it somehow so that the wires on the back don't get bent.)  Good point too about the kit instructions. But I looked at them online, and while I am sure they are great for assembling they don't appear too useful for disassembling.   

Thanks,  Bob

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

Thanks to all who responded.  I think that Richnormand's suggestion to use silicone RTV sounds like the easiest/safest thing to try first.

Thanks again,  Bob

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

Oh my ... what a headline..... I can´t stop laughing....

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

Posted by: @justme3d

Oh my ... what a headline..... I can´t stop laughing....

Beats nails I suppose.

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

Anyway, everybody does it in his own way. I like to use these brass inserts very much:

brass thread inserts

After melting them down, they sit relatively tight and can be easily removed again.

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place? (threaded inserts)

Posted by: @karl-herbert

Anyway, everybody does it in his own way. I like to use these brass inserts very much:

brass thread inserts

After melting them down, they sit relatively tight and can be easily removed again.

VERY interesting karl-herbert.  Thanks for making me aware of these.  I wasn't sure how to use them but a google search for "3d printing threaded inserts" found these two useful instructional videos:   and     among others.

Thanks again,  Bob 

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

@bobg

Thanks, interesting videos!
I always do this with my soldering station and set the temperature for melting down to 300 degrees C. I have used the thread inserts very often on the Mini and on the MK3. Still holds up today (after almost 3 years)

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

Posted by: @bobg

I've got to do some major surgery (replacing the PTFE) on my MK3S and I am very concerned about messing up.  I'm not mechanically inclined and bought the printer already assembled.  (I am color coding bolts and where they belong with cheap nail polish.)  Some videos I've watched emphasize how easy it is to lose nuts.  Would it be a good idea to glue the nuts in place?  What I am thinking is to very carefully remove the nut, place a very tiny drop of glue on the rim of the nut, and then replace it.  I know that Prusa sent some spare parts with the printer with nuts included.  But super thrifty person that I am I will spend hours looking for a dropped nut before dipping into the spare parts.

Good idea or bad idea?

Thanks,  Bob

Hi Bob!

There is something called threadlocker. Its used to keep the nuts in place with the ability to remove them easily afterwards. Just google Loctite 243. That would be the correct stuff to lock your nuts in place. Glue or Silicone arent the right stuff for your application.

Best

a5

RE: Should I glue my nuts in place?

Bit late to the thread but one thing that works too is to just add a bit of blutack into the hole afterwards.  That stops them falling out and is very easy to remove if you need to.