Looking to upgrade some of the hardware on my Printrbot LC.

3D Printing
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Looking to upgrade some of the hardware on my Printrbot LC. I’ve been told the first things to upgrade are the belts/pulleys and the Z-rods, both of which I’ve found on the Ultimachine store. Are these threaded rods ones I’ll want to stick with for a while? I saw in various places that people use ACME rods and nuts for the z-axis, but I either can’t find that or can’t find it in a length that isn’t 2m long. Will I still need to get a brass nut to use with this because they’re zinc-steel?

And, while you’re being wonderful and kindly answering my questions, can you give me a quick summary of why a brass nut is better than a steel one here? Or at least point me towards where I can research this? Thanks. :slight_smile:
https://ultimachine.com/content/prusa-mendel-threaded-rod-set

2

I print at 0.1mm fine on my LC, it is just incredibly slow at that layer height. First upgrade was belts and pulleys. Have toyed with buying ACME but don’t see the benefit right now. Increasing frame rigidity would allow higher speeds at higher resolution. Still working on thay one.

3

Hmm, ok, I guess I’ll hold off on the threaded rods for now.

Since we’re on the subject, do you guys have tips for making sure the threaded rods are parellel with the smooth rods? Tightening the coupler and keeping things straight seems to be difficult.