What to service and when

Most of what comes into our workshop could have been avoided with twenty minutes of maintenance. None of it is difficult.

Every few prints

• Wipe the plate with isopropyl alcohol
• Glance at the hotend for leaking plastic around the nozzle
• Check the part cooling fan is actually spinning

Monthly, or every 100 hours

• Wash the plate properly with warm soapy water
• Check belt tension — a low note when plucked, not a dull thud
• Clean the extruder drive gear teeth with a brass brush
• Check frame bolts and wheel tension

Every few months, or 300 hours

• Clean and re-grease the rods and lead screw — grease, not oil
• Inspect the PTFE tubing and replace it if the ends are discoloured
• Check the hotend cooling fan, which is the one that causes jams part-way up a print
• Re-run your machine's vibration calibration if it has one

When they need it

• Nozzle — after any abrasive filament, or when extrusion goes inconsistent
• Build plate — when a glue stick starts being necessary
• Belts — if teeth are missing or the surface looks glazed

The one nobody does

Check the small fan pointed at the heatsink above the nozzle. If it stops, prints jam part-way up, at roughly the same height every time, and people chase slicer settings for weeks. It takes five seconds to look.