Hi I have the Taz 6 and have been printing with the ESUN HIPS and PLA. I am curious is there any type of maintenance or cleaning I should be doing on the machine? If so how often what should I be doing? This question arose when I saw a cleaning filament available.
The nozzle wiper will clean the nozzle as needed. You should periodically pick off any large chunks that it misses, Never use a wire brush on the nozzle by the way, you’ll short something. Past recommendations for the leadscrews have included periodically applying white lithium grease to them maybe once per year as needed (just the leadscrews, no lubrication on the bearing rods ever)
You will also want to periodically (once every 6 months or so) inspect the machine for loose screws, cracked idler arms, frayed belts, worn extruder gears, etc. Usually the machine will let you know if something is unhappy (buzzing or rattling noise that just starts, clicking, grinding, squeeking, etc.) . The rods should basically be self cleaning, but you can wipe them down with a soft cloth if you start to see issues with travel. The bearings may want to be replaced after 3-4 years of heavy printing.
The bed shouldn’t require too much effort to keep clean. Scrape off any leftover print residue as needed, wipe down with isopropyl alcohol as needed if you end up with adhesion issues due to hand oil residue from touching the bed, Monitor for any air bubbles that develop (those usually occur due to improper removal technique) And always remember to use a very thin wedge (such as a paint scraper or a cheese slicer with the slicy bit taped over, etc. to remove your parts by gently separating them from the bed at the edges so as not to pull the PEI away from the bed.
Keep a few spares on hand, the idler arm, the large gear, the small gear, maybe a thermistor and fuse set.
Some 000 steel wool lightly once a month on the smooth rods to remove any residue from the printed filaments will help to keep the wear on the bearings down. Then a wipe down with a soft micro cloth to clean up the dust.
You may also want to do “cold pulls” at regular intervals. I like to do them when switching filament types.
Just load your filament into the tool head and raise the temperature to operating temp. Then allow the filament to sit for one minute to become malleable and attach to any residual filament. Then cool the hot end by 100 degrees and then pull the filament out of the top of the extruder body. You will want to do this 3 or 4 times. This will keep the inside of the hot end cleaned up nicely.