Maintenance plan (Sigma Series)

Everything needed to care of your BCN3D Sigma Series

Maintenance is a very important task to keep the printer in working condition and always performing at its maximum capabilities.

This article shows what processes must to be performed and their frequency, to give the BCN3D Sigma its proper maintenance. Maintenance processes do not take much time and are not complicated. However, if you need more clarification, more detailed guidelines are provided to guide you through the process.

To help you with the maintenance of the printer, BCN3D has a maintenance kit with the necessary tools. You can get this kit on our website: BCN3D Sigma maintenance kit

bcn3d-kit-de-mantenimiento

General Maintenance

There are some recommendations to performing general maintenance, but there are also necessities you must always consider in order to extend your printer's lifespan.

Very important advice is to always keep your printer free of dust and operating in a dry and cool place. The BCN3D Sigma must operate in an environment at temperatures between 15 and 30 ºC and relative humidity below 50%. Regarding the filaments, it is advised that the spools that are not currently in use always be stored in an airtight container with relative humidity below 50% (although this may vary for certain materials).

Activity	Frequency	Tools
Clean the printer.	Daily	Cloth
Remove filament leftovers within the printer.	Daily	Vacuum cleaner Compressed air
Remove filament inside the purge buckets by cleaning out the buckets.	Daily	-
Clean any dust in hotend fans, cooling fans, and build chamber fan.	Monthly	Compressed air
Update printer OS and firmware.	If the printer is connected, update when the update message shows up. If it’s not connected, check monthly on the BCN3D website.	-

Hotend Care

Hotends are a very important part of your printer and the quality and reliability of your prints depend on them. We recommend taking care of them in order to extend their lifespan, which is estimated to be more than 1,000 printing hours. This time depends on the type of material that is being used and the amount of maintenance performed.

Activity	Frequency	Tools
Check if the nozzle is clogged by doing a purge or checking for under-extrusion in the previous prints.	Every print	-
Check if the hotends and cooler fans are working properly.	Every print	-
Clean the hotend.	Weekly or when switching materials	Nylon filament
Perform XYZ offset hotend calibration.	Every 300 printing hours, after transportation or after changing hotend	-
Check if the hotend flat cables are correctly connected to the hotend electronic board.	Every 300 printing hours or when changing hotend	-
Check if the screws that secure the hotend to the print head are not loose.	Every 300 printing hours or when changing hotend	Allen key
Change hotend.	More than 1000 printing hours	Allen key, Scissors or cutting pliers and Hotend
Clean the fans.	Every 300 printing hours or when the fans have dust	Vaccum, compressed air or brush and tweezers.

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Extruder Motor Maintenance

The extruder motors are responsible for moving the filament towards the hotends. Having the right amount of material at the tip of the nozzle depends on them. They are usually very stressed components that are moving all the time so that they need very careful maintenance.

Activity	Frequency	Tools
Remove material shavings in the extruder gears.	Weekly	Compressed air
Check bowden tubes and connections to the extruder.	Every 300 printing hours	-
Check if the cables are correctly connected to the motor driver and the extruder motor.	Every 300 printing hours	-
Tune the thumbscrew tensioner to adjust the pressure exerted by the drive gears onto the filament.	Every 1000 printing hours	-
Check the extruder gears.	Every 1000 printing hours	-

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Keeping your Printing Surface

The printing surface is a very delicate component of the printer that can break or degrade if not treated properly. Proper calibration and therefore good printing quality depend on the flatness and cleanliness of this surface. This is a component that has to be maintained every time you start a printing process. The estimated lifespan of this component is 500 printing hours, but it depends highly on the material being used, the calibration, as well as the type of printing.

Activity	Frequency	Tools
Clean the printing surface with warm water and soap.	Before each print	Spatula Cloth
Check the correct strength of the clamps.	Before each print	-
Perform printing surface calibration.	Weekly or after transportation	-
Check the glass printing surface for scratches.	Every 300 printing hours	-

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Motion System Care

The motion system involves all the moving parts of your BCN3D Sigma. This includes X, Y, and Z motors, linear guides, driver pulleys, belts, and so on. These parts are prepared and selected accordingly to last for a long time, however, some parts could get loose and affect the performance of your unit. We highly recommend performing easy maintenance tasks in order to keep your printer good as new.

Activity	Frequency	Tools
Clean the axes linear guides and lead screws from material remains and dust.	Weekly	Cloth Compressed air
Clean filament remains in motor shafts and belts.	Weekly	Cloth Tweezers Compressed air
Check if the set screws on the motor and rod pulleys are tightened and aligned with the flat surface of the motor shaft.	Every 300 printing hours	Allen key
Lubricate X/Y linear guides and Z-axis screw and rods.	Every 1000 printing hours	Cloth Lubrication kit
Check X/Y belts tension, and adjust if loose.	Every 1000 printing hours	Allen key Screwdriver
Check connections of moving cables.	Every 1000 printing hours	-

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Firmware Updates

At BCN3D we want you to have a great printing experience, and to achieve this we are continually working to create new firmware upgrades for our printers.

To ensure that your printer is equipped with the latest features it is recommended to keep the firmware updated to the latest version.

To get more information about this check this guide: How to update the firmware

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Forum community

Need more tips? Check out our forum community for more info.

It's important to keep your printer in good shape to make the most out of it. In this chart you can find a list of the extruder maintenance procedures and how frequently these should be done.

bcn3d-recycle Take your e-waste to a certified recycler. Check how we do it in BCN3D.