Just got our new Pro assembled yesterday morning and got a chance to start getting things dialed today and noticed a small drip of oil coming off of the linear rails on the z carrier. I wiped it up but noticed more continue to pool at the end. I assumed there should be some sign of lubricant on the rails but I’m guessing this amount/time isn’t quite normal.
I have a Shapeoko XXL upgraded to version 3.2 HDZ. I had oil drip out of mine for months. Only a drop once in a while. Luckily for me it never dripped on a project.
My solution was to just wipe off the bottom of the rails before each use. It will eventually stop. Whatever you do do not open your bearings they will come out and you may never get them back together.
There was another thread about lubricating the HDZ, for periodic maintenance. I cannot find it right now but Luke, the inventor of the HDZ, had weighed in about t he proper lubrication you need to add in t he future. Right now you dont need to worry about lubrication you are getting plenty.
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I put a rag under mine each time I shut down the machine.
For lubrication see:
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Yep,
The way the rail blocks work is that they have in internal reservoir which is supposed to constantly deposit small amounts of oil on the bearings and then the rail to keep everything lubricated and rust free.
If you wipe the rails with a clean cloth before each use then you’ll remove the excess. When the rails are no longer developing a film of oil it’s time to add more.
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Ah okay great, that makes sense! I’ll just plan on keeping a container under it to catch anything incase and a quick wipe pre run. Appreciate the quick answers!
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Ummmm…
Aren’t there supposed to be some caps in those screw holes?
If you’re missing the dust caps let us know at support@carbide3d.com and we’ll see about sending some to you.
Can you send a picture of what caps?
That’s a great question, it didn’t look like anything was missing but tbh I’m not sure I know what to look for or compare it to.
Someone mentioned that eventually you have to add oil to the bearings. How is that done?
See:
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I ordered some of the Mobil Vactra #2 oil from ebay.com. It is a pint for about $20.00 total. It says in some posts that people used a syringe that is used for grease to inject the oil in the bearings. I have several empty syringes that had gun grease in them. The top one looks easy and has a small phillips screws but the bottom pair will be much harder to get the screw out and oil in.
Hi,
So, on a Shapeoko 4 XXL, how often the lubrification should it be done? And what is the correct methods for the complete maintenance?
Thanks William, I will keep the instructions close to the machine, while waiting for the official release.