"I have a screw loose" and other maintenance tasks
Every so often I take a tour around my printer and tighten anything loose and in particular look under the heat bed for anything stuck to the magnets. I almost always find something. This time I found a spacer. Took me some time to figure out where it came from but it was for the LED strip cover. Seems a black screw came out that was clamping the LED cover and the spacer got pulled to a magnet under the bed.
Several of the printbed screws and standoffs were loose as well.
I'm considering getting some blue Loctite and secure some of the more troublesome screws.
RE: "I have a screw loose" and other maintenance tasks
Every so often my printer seems to shake itself apart. It's almost like Ikea furniture.
RE: "I have a screw loose" and other maintenance tasks
Same story as with Ikea, where the spread between "a reliably tight joint" and stripping threads, crushing metal etc may be infinitesimally small if not negative.
Loctite hasn't discovered me yet as strategic influencer but they have a perfect business case in a product involving a thousand screws, vibrations from multiple sources, 3d-printed plastics and soft aluminium that rule out tightening screws to the torque the screw could support (plus stainless steel screws in the few cases where the design supports enough torque to rip off the head if muscle memory is calibrated on Class 12.9 steel).
RE: "I have a screw loose" and other maintenance tasks
I think Prusa recommends checking the bolts every 3-6 months. On key components on my MK4s and Core One I have modified parts to take threaded inserts. The square nuts are serviceable, but I have stripped or seized one or two over the years. With square nuts there are only a few layers between the nut and the mount surface. Also there is a slot cut in the part for inserting the square nut. On the mk4s Y axis motor mount and front belt mount are not as strong as I want using the square nuts. These mounts are in tension from the belt and the mount tends to loosen over time. Threaded inserts have more thread engagement of the bolt and the insert has more engagement in the part. They are stronger overall since they don't need a cutout as the square nuts do. Putting the inserts about .2mm below the surface assures the full face of the mount will be pressing againts the metal face of the printer making it stable. The Core One belt adjusters are the other part I have upgraded. Otherwise my Core One has been stable for 11 months.
RE: "I have a screw loose" and other maintenance tasks
Yep. I've replaced the belt tensioners and fan shroud with a version that has heat set inserts instead of the square nuts. It my very highly subjective opinion that adding the Hula feet mod has made this worse, i.e. screws coming loose.