Leveling washer screw stripped...

General LulzBot Mini
1

So, I broke my Mini! :frowning:

I was trying to adjust the washers as they weren’t laying flat. Loosen, hold in place, snug up. Done it before, never had a problem. But this time one of the screws stripped the threads in the bed plate. Very annoying. So now that corner is too high and the autolevel can’t compensate.

I know I can buy a replacement plate. That seems wasteful though. Normally, I could just tap the next larger size, but with the countersunk hole in the washer, finding a head that fits might be annoying. There’s also that it would then be different from the others, making future work annoying.

Just wondering if others have had a similar issue and how they fixed it. I really wish the corners had 2 screws/standoffs to prevent the issue entirely. Might not look as pretty, but it would work better. I’m also not a fan of threads in aluminum for exactly this reason. I wasn’t tightening it with an impact gun, not even a hex key, just a screwdriver with 2 fingers holding it.

2

you can try a thread insert - they are basically a threaded insert where you drill and tap out to a size above with a drill an tap, then screw in a threaded plug with a starter hole in it using loctite, then drill out and rethread.

Works on aircraft engines!

Les

3

Thanks for the suggestion. I talked with a metalworking guy I know and he suggested pem nuts, but didn’t have any metric sizes. I ordered some and should get them soon. Also will probably need 1-2mm longer screw, but that’s easy and already ordered. I have a press, so installing them shouldn’t be hard.