How often do reprap prusa i2 plastic parts break

Hi all,

Ive recently self built a Mendal prusa i2 from parts acquired from all over and reading the reprap wiki.
Most of these parts have been good quality for very little money.
I also bought a complete set of plastics through Ebay as at the time our makerspace was on the move
and everyone was just too busy to print me a set.
The parts were abs and looked good. Everything fitted as it should.
I dont think they were sub standard.

Ive not had a chance to print a complete set of spare plastics yet.
Ive probable done approx 20 to 25 hours of printing.
Certainly not enough time to configure tune and print of a set of spares.

This week ive had the motor x end crack and ive managed to cable tie it so i can print a replacement.
Today i had the Y axis plastic guides that fit over the 608zz bearing idlers break during a 3 hour print of a new x end.
Ive fixed the idler bearings by reverting back to large washers either side.

My question is how long do your printer plastic parts last?
Should I keep a complete set of spares ready at all time.
Im hoping it will settle down soon as ill just be printing spares all the time rather than anything more fun or useful.

Gordon

I've rarely had any issues. Are these parts cracking between layers? If so that means the parts were printed at too cold a temperature. This may mean many of them are destined to fail. I wouldn't worry about the vertices as these are under compression so delamination is unlikely. Other parts like the X axis have parts under tension and delamination is an issue. These are parts you might want to print replacements for.

Thanks,
Yes, they are delaminating.
I dont know what temp they were printed at.
Im printing abs at 240c with bed at about 95c and the x end i printed did split a bit with ghe grain.
Ill experiment with higher temps on replacements and see how it goes.

Gordon

Poor infill will also accelerate the breakage of a printed part. Once you replace the part, crack open the old one and check infill quantity I can bet will not pass 10%.