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Oiler or not to Oil

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by Lance Weston, Jul 13, 2021.

  1. Lance Weston

    Lance Weston Active Member

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    I got my new machine up and running and had run through about 10 hours of prints without a problem. I then started an 18 hour print which failed after 5 hours at the point the print required a lot of retraction. This print had no problem on two other machines with an identical print head. I remembered what Mark Tomlinson told me about oiling. I took off the print arm and put about 10 drops of canola oil down the filament hole. I then used canola oil to wet my filament filter which is is a paper strip wrapped around the filament and held with a folder clip.

    Went right through the 18 hour print with no problems.
     
    #1 Lance Weston, Jul 13, 2021
    mark tomlinson likes this.
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I have researched this a lot and ultimately my own testing was what convinced me that an oiler actually does have an impact on PLA.
    It really isn't needed daily (like with an oiler) but I use one and add some when I remember it and no problems with PLA clogs ever.

    Does it help? Well, not a material scientist but it certainly helped me.
     
    #2 mark tomlinson, Jul 13, 2021

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