Lubricant for printer carriage mechanism

[irvweiner]

Using the classic ON/OFF power routine get the head to move freely by hand.
Can you move the printhead smoothly across the carriage by hand--can you feel any rough or tough spots causing this behavior. I'm curious if a piece of crap is riding the 'rails' and randomly binding.

"There seems to be so much force that even industrial pressure lubricant can't stand it."

This is not right, no matter how cheaply Canon may have executed this 'money saver' the printhead must move smoothly at first--with plastic riding against metal and a possible metal burr on the railing plastic shavings can be collecting. This build up can cause the binding, and each time you reapply the lubricant they get washed away-only to build up again.

This is why I asked you to run the printhead manually or your fingertip along the length of the rail. Suppose this is the problem, what next? Is the burr reachable? Is Canon reachable and maybe responsive??

Many of the modern Lithium based lubricants turn gray when exposed to air or lousy Canon design shortcuts!

good luck irv weiner

 

[Smile]

Using the classic ON/OFF power routine get the head to move freely by hand.
Can you move the printhead smoothly across the carriage by hand--can you feel any rough or tough spots causing this behavior. I'm curious if a piece of crap is riding the 'rails' and randomly binding.

Well I have cleaned the rails prior to lubrication, else the lubrication would not help at all. I cleaned the rails using 95% alcohol.
I have inspected the rails and carriage contact points with the rail. The rail seems to have some wear (shiny surface etc), however the plastic parts of carriage seem like new.

"There seems to be so much force that even industrial pressure lubricant can't stand it."

This is not right, no matter how cheaply Canon may have executed this 'money saver' the printhead must move smoothly at first--with plastic riding against metal and a possible metal burr on the railing plastic shavings can be collecting. This build up can cause the binding, and each time you reapply the lubricant they get washed away-only to build up again.

This is why I asked you to run the printhead manually or your fingertip along the length of the rail. Suppose this is the problem, what next? Is the burr reachable? Is Canon reachable and maybe responsive??

Yes I can ride the print head with my finger without any tough spots. The lubricant turns black as the metal edge (rail) gets shiny, it's metal wear and tear, I doubt the rail is made of hard metal. If the plastic would wear I would find some shavings, but only black lubricant is all I can find.

Many of the modern Lithium based lubricants turn gray when exposed to air or lousy Canon design shortcuts!

good luck irv weiner

Well on the spot where print head parks and doesn't ride much the red lubricant is still red, I mean it's been there since lubrication and did not turn gray, black etc. That means the force on few millimeter bent sheet simple soft metal is too much. It just wears and the micro dust in the lubricant starts to act like a brake.

 

[fotofreek]

Could the lubricant be too viscous? I've wiped a bit of tri-flo on the bar in my printers. It is a combination of silicone spray and teflon. It doesn't tend to pick up dirt like petroleum based lubes do. Among other things, it is a very decent lube for locks.

 

[Smile]

Could the lubricant be too viscous? I've wiped a bit of tri-flo on the bar in my printers. It is a combination of silicone spray and teflon. It doesn't tend to pick up dirt like petroleum based lubes do. Among other things, it is a very decent lube for locks.

Well ABRD silicone spray did not work for me, perhaps because it does not have Teflon?
Does the metal bar look like in the first photo "steel rod"?

I don't think the lubricant I used "red grease" is too viscous because it's a grease not oil.
If you did not read the PDF (http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/Crimson.pdf) here is some info:

Valvolines Crimson grease contains select extreme pressure additives to protect and lubricate during heavy
shock loading periods and is fortified with oxidation and corrosion inhibitors for long service life. The product has
excellent resistance to water wash-out.

So unless printer is over the extreme working conditions it should last forever. Even better than any grease teflon or not, am I wrong?

 

[Smile]

Then again perhaps this would work

TF - silicone + teflon
http://www.tme.eu/html/EN/tf-silicone-_-teflon/ramka_3520_EN_pelny.html

Available in small tubes 3.5g for 1Eur.