Solved Spare Parts, what would you keep on hand

Hello @DonW

Thank you for starting a thread. It will get more eyes on it and give you more opinions on this vs posting in the shoutbox.

I work in a print shop, we print 24/7 so my opinion will be different from a pure hobbyist but at least its out there for you.

I print 1 of every plastic part on the machine, I stick them in a box labeled robo spare parts and only worry about them when something breaks (Yes I do this even with an army of printers, downtime is downtime , best to print parts in free downtime then to push a job to get a machine running)

I also stock at least one ramps/arduino combo. I do this because...well they fail lol. My OEM lasted a good 7 or 8 months of heavy use but I still had it shortly after getting the printer.

I stock (for no reason really) a set of steppers. Since they are Nema 17 motors one set fits many many many of my machines so I'm not really out anything stocking a full set...a hobyist that doesn't want 2 day amazon prime shipping of downtime stock one or two maybe, I personally havent had one fail but that may be because I have a set on the shelf lol.

I have a spare build plate (this was not bought but sent to me during troubleshooting during warranty)

Back when mine had a hexagon hotend I had 3 hotends. The reason I did this was a clog or jam I could quickly swap to a "fresh" hotend and get printing again (clean the other while it was printing)

I do have a spare power supply and LCD but again...these fit multiple printers so easy enough for me to justify. Same as steppers, if you cant wait the 2 days for prime might want to have one of each? (stock printers dont have an LCD but you SHOULD add one, so nice)

Essentially...I stock at least 1 set of everything lol. The long windedness above was to explain some of it as if your not doing a buisness with the machine and you can have downtime then stocking most things I do is a waste of money but if you are a buisness and cant have downtime...its cheap enough to spread the cost over a few months and have a nice on hand inventory of spare parts, both printed and purchased.

Some more experienced users like @WheresWaldo @mark tomlinson and some others will likely be along soon to add their opinions as well.

 

If you only have one printer having all of the printable parts printed for spares is just smart.
Steppers -- yes. I bought a box of 5 a few years back (because it was way cheaper) and still have a couple as spares (some went in to replace dead ones and some went into new printers or modifications to existing printers -- not as replacements). The Delta we bought uses a different style and I bough 4 of those as well
Power supply is cheap and common to many models/brands.
Box of LM8UU bearings is a handy thing to keep around to -- the stock ones were not "finest kind" and will wear out quicker than you might expect.

 

While this sounds flippant at first glance, it is NOT. If you have multiple printers you can on-demand print anything that breaks. If it is not a printable part then you get a replacement.

I stopped stocking my spare printed parts box after getting a second printer (and now am up to 5) but if you only have one you need to print all of the plastic parts (don't forget the GregsWade extruder itself -- all printable)

 

Frankly, nothing I have printed in PLA for spare parts (and used) has ever failed.
Use whatever you want
I did use nylon for some bed rail mounts, but almost any material is perfectly fine.

Even the extruder can be done in PLA (I have one that is working fine after 9 months).

 

You can buy the hexagons on Amazon, GregsWade extruders off of eBay (or print your own)
Linear bearings amazon or many other places...

All mine have E3D hotends except for the C2 -- two hexagons on it simply because I wanted dual extrusion.

 

well....you cant that I'm aware of. You need a fan and waterproof JST connections.

Fan size is 40x40x10 for the part cooler and 25x25x10 for the hexagon coldend.

Easy thing to do is use crimp ferrils and heat shrink tube with a "pre wired" JST connector on it or solder togather. Not so easy thing to do is buy connectors and crimp onto the fan wires (my perferred) buts also not hard.

these are examples of items the right size and voltage, not a "go buy these" thing. Shop around:

https://www.amazon.com/40mm-10mm-Hi...8-2-fkmr3&keywords=evercool+40x40x10+mm+12vdc

https://www.amazon.com/Mercurry-x25...8-1-fkmr3&keywords=evercool+25x25x10+mm+12vdc

https://www.amazon.com/Baomain-AWG-...&qid=1492631201&sr=8-3&keywords=crimp+ferrule

https://www.amazon.com/60pcs-Waterp...1226&sr=8-1&keywords=waterproof+JST+connector

 

Those have jst connectors on them?

 

Yes, but perhaps not the same style

 

Unless you get the fans from the same source there is no certainty that the same connectors will be on them.
Simple 12vdc fans though, replace the connectors. What's a little heatshrink on the wire going to hurt