Lulzbot Taz 6 enhanced nozzle cleaner scrubber with gcode by rjelbert

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

This is my Lulzbot Taz 6 Aerostruder nozzle scrubber device to get a better auto level each print. I remotely control my printer so having a clean nozzle really helps make the auto bed levelling more reliable. Print in a high temperature filament and you'll need to drill two holes in the print bed chassis - see pictures for positioning details and watch out for wires on the underside of the print bed when you drill.
Some say don't use a brass wire brush because of the potential of electrical short circuits but I have found it is the only way to get a reliable automatic clean. For insulation, I use a silicone boot on my print head and the design means the brush does not touch the electrical surfaces of the bed. It works for me but you use this design at you own risk!
I recommend printing this in as high temperature filament as you can get. It touches the edge of the print bed so will get soft if you use a high bed temp. You have been warned.
The wire brass wire brush is a 15mm round section wire brush from Amazon. I cut it to length with bolt cutters and then soldered the ends with a normal soldering iron to stop the wire core unwinding letting the bristles get loose.
Please see my Amazon affiliate link for the brush that worked for this project. I provide my designs for free so any income from this link helps pay for the design process. Thanks! https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00REGWV5A/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=rjelbertwebsh-21&camp=1634&creative=6738&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00REGWV5A&linkId=820da94785da8942ccd3a89e157ec55c
I did try lots of different types of brush and scouring pads before settling on this v2 design. The square brass brushes are too high and get in the way of the print head on low X values. Scouring pads are fine when used manually but I could not get a pad to work reliably when held in a device and bolted to the bed chassis.
I have included the gcode you'll need to insert into the start gcode under machine/printer settings in Cura. If you are using another package, add this gcode before the auto bed levelling starts. The first three lines are from the original start gcode to help put the rest of the code in the right place:
G28 Z ; home Z
G1 E-15 F100 ; retract filament
M109 R{material_wipe_temperature} ; wait for extruder to reach wiping temp
; jelbert taz6 wire brush scrubber code...
; start with the left side to help stop bits being flicked onto the print bed
; Taz6 y-160 to y-210, x-16 is centre, x-20 is left but use -19, x-12 is right side
M117 Scrubbing...
M106 S200 ; turn on part cooling fan to harden the bits that are scrubbed off
; its -19 because -20 triggers the X end stop switch and puts the bed out of alignment!!
G1 X-19 Y210 Z10 F3000 ; move to scrub pad start position
M400 ; wait to finish
G1 X-19 Y210 Z3.5 F3000 ; get to scrub height of 3.5
M400 ; wait to finish
; scrub on the left first
G1 X-19 Y160 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-19 Y210 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-19 Y160 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-19 Y210 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-19 Y160 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-19 Y210 F2000 ; fast wipe
; scrub on the centre
G1 X-16 Y160 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-16 Y210 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-16 Y160 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-16 Y210 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-16 Y160 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-16 Y210 F2000 ; fast wipe
; scrub on the right
G1 X-12 Y160 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-12 Y210 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-12 Y160 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-12 Y210 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-12 Y160 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-12 Y210 F2000 ; fast wipe
G1 X-12 Y210 F2000 ; fast wipe
; move nozzle up off scrubber pad
G1 Z10 F3000
M400 ; wait for moves to stop
M107 ; turn part cooling fan off
M117 Wiping...
; end of scrub sequence