RE: Trying to find an alternative to Prusa lubricant
My personal opinion is: never -by assuming printer is assembled properly and is used in normal clean environment. Some will say that printer needs certain (regular) maintenance, so let me elaborate...
Friction between bearing balls and rods is relative small and what's more important, speeds at which bearings move along rods is relative small too. If we take a closer look at linear bearing, then we can notice, that balls inside aren't sitting that tight inside. That's because they can travel inside housing. When moving along rods, that free play can (and does) cause certain resonance, which we hear as annoying noise. Yes, bearings need to be lubricated to prolong longevity and move smooth, but one of the reasons is also to prevent noise. Because grease is used (not oil), enough amount of it will stay inside bearing practically forever, so there's no need to add it over the time.
Again, some will say bearings should be lubricated at least once in a year (or in two.. three years), to prevent rods to wear, which again can damage bearings. I say, if quality rods and bearings are used, and all is assembled properly, that should never happen. And if it does (because of crappy materials), then we need to replace them anyway.
Think... In it's factory, Prusa is using about thousand printers which run all the time. And I'm quite sure they don't take all printers apart every 6 months to lubricate them.
As mentioned, that's my personal opinion.
[Mini+] [MK3S+BEAR]
RE: Trying to find an alternative to Prusa lubricant
I bought Misumi rods and bearings for another project several years ago. As I recall they all came lubricated. Why can't we just use them as is? Why many people degrease them in alcohol and then apply Superlub 21030? Is it recommended?
RE: Trying to find an alternative to Prusa lubricant
If you visit Misumi web pages, you will find out, that not all linear bearings (that we use in our 3D printer) are lubricated. When buying from factory, you need to specify what class of lubrication (or none) you wish. And of course, non-lubricated are the cheapest. Now, these non-lubricated bearings are protected against oxidation (rust) -and that's what is needed to be removed (washed out) before lubricating.
Protection fluid is very thin (fluid) and "feels" like a WD-40. If bearing is actually lubricated, then we can see grease inside, which is usually semi-transparent (depends on class/type) of lubrication.
[Mini+] [MK3S+BEAR]
RE: Trying to find an alternative to Prusa lubricant
If I recall correctly, few years ago the rods I got came packaged with some kind of yellow-ish oily fluid in a plastic bag. The bearings were kind of oily. Of course they were not parts for 3D printers. I just ordered LMU8 and PSFJ8 rods. So I just follow some videos to degrease the LMU8 with IPA and then apply Superlub 21030?
RE: Trying to find an alternative to Prusa lubricant
I bought Misumi rods and bearings for another project several years ago. As I recall they all came lubricated. Why can't we just use them as is? Why many people degrease them in alcohol and then apply Superlub 21030? Is it recommended?
Misumi parts are covered with rust protective oil. This oil is not sufficient to be used as grease. Misumi recommends at least greasing them properly before use. You can look up recommendations in the corresponding datasheets from Misumi.
RE: Trying to find an alternative to Prusa lubricant
Thank you. For the Misumi bearings, what is the recommended number of hours we need to submerge them in Isopropyl Alcohol? Are we supposed to shake the container often?
Also, I have printed an injector for Superlub 21030 but I see some thin lines (stringing) inside the slots of the injector. Do I need to worry that they may get into the bearings and interfere with the ball movements?
RE: Trying to find an alternative to Prusa lubricant
I owe you so much, THANK YOU
ive been trying to differentiate between 21010 and 21030, as prusa says 210xx. THANK YOU