I tend to perform maintenance a bit more often than the manual suggests. If one printer needs attention, I usually service the whole fleet.
That said, I don’t check Z-belt tension as often as I probably should—it requires tilting a heavy machine. Despite a few brave souls insisting I’m an AI, I’m very much flesh and blood, and my back can confirm it. How often do you tilt your printer to tension the Z belt?
What’s your lubricant of choice? I mainly use PTFE-based products—grease where that makes sense and light oil for the guide rods. I’ve got other greases on the shelf, but lithium grease doesn’t really have a place in 3D printers.
It’s odd that there’s no way to tension the Z-belt with the printer in its normal upright position, especially given the recommendation to check and tension it regularly. Then again, awkward service access isn’t unusual—on my aircraft, changing the coolant practically requires removing a substantial portion of the airframe.
Rod Sloth is a popular download for removing the old grease and spreading the new grease. 34,000 downloads on printables and another 3000+ on makerworld,.
The super lube oil 52004.is often recommended, perhaps because it also includes a corrosion inhibitor.
super lube grease 92003 nice because you can also use it with other high heat tools you may have, like SDS Plus rotary hammer drills.
The rear leadscrew of the H2D is a bit tricky to reach, so I’m currently looking at some printable tools meant to address that, such as:
The main issue, as I see it, is the price. Bambu Lab has likely rebranded an existing grease as its own, and performance is probably comparable to other reputable products.
I use Super Lube 92003 Silicone Lubricant with PTFE for components that require grease, and a Super Lube 51014 oil pen for guide rods and similar parts where grease isn’t appropriate.
Some people think differently, but for me the ability to use this lubricant with other tools—and the fact that it’s about 63% cheaper per gram than Bambu Lab’s—makes it the better choice. It’s likely just as good, as it may be the same grease under a different label.
I use wd40 and food grease (CRC brand)
For the open anycubic Kobra max I use CRC technical vaseline grease, it is enough since the device is working at room temperature.
That’s all.
I am just not happy the hardware store sells small tubes only and I can’t find 500g or 1kg cans, to spare a bit
Any experiences with or concerns about using Mobil EP2 lithium grease on the lead screws? It’s spec’d for harsher industrial loads so should work fine on this case and the viscosity is the same as the recommendations from Bambu, NGLI 2.
Super lube is the best. It is food grade (if that matters) and trusted by many. You do not need to perform maintenance on your printer more often than it recommends, as these machines are made to run hard, and only be maintained every so often.
I just checked and MOBILGREASE EP 2 has a base oil viscosity of ISO 150 at 40c which is a decent weight for these applications. I wouldn’t mind a little lower but it’s not bad.
In addition to viscosity, another question worth considering regarding your choice: will it attack the plastics? Bambulab made its recommendations with that as a consideration, so that it won’t degrade the plastics if/when it makes contact.
I had been using super lube grease 92003, since it was so widely recommended. However, I’m not all that impressed with it. The lead screws aren’t as quiet on my H2D as I would expect from great lubrication. A bit of a raspy sound. Maybe the cause is something other than the lubrication, but I’m switching to BX-300/F(8)-JR as a cheap experiment to see whether I notice any improvement. If not, then I’ll look at other possibilities, like maybe the lead screws might be out of alignment, causing some kind of binding. The printing is fine, but a raspy sound probably signals excessive wear.
