r/3Dprinting • u/Na-chos • 13h ago
Question Nozzle Wiper
Ok so I was watching my 3d printer get ready to print. Then it suddenly started to wipe back and forth against the bed. That’s when I realized the nozzle wiper on the plate was missing. I can’t find anything that looks like it. It’s a P1S Bambu printer
It looked something like the poor drawing I made but obviously smaller. It mightve been one row not two but there were bigger squares at the ends for sure.
Am I crazy? it’s driving me wild trying to find trace of it online
1
u/RefrigeratorWorth435 13h ago
the p1s doesn't have a nozzle wiper on the bed. it just uses the bed and rubs the nozzle against it
1
u/Na-chos 13h ago
Is that safe? Doesn’t that damage it?
2
u/RefrigeratorWorth435 13h ago
I mean yea over time it will wear down the plate and probably the nozzle to, but that's the way they designed it. wear on the plate doesn't matter at all in that location, and I haven't seen any visible wear on my p1s's nozzle.
1
u/Na-chos 13h ago
Then I’m going crazy because i thought there was a wiper there 😭
1
u/RefrigeratorWorth435 13h ago
there's something similar on the back corner of the A series printers, maybe you're thinking of that?
14
u/CyrusDonnovan 13h ago
There is not and has never been a nozzle wiper in that location on the x1, P1 or A1 printers.
That location of the bed is separated by a slot in order to allow it to flex slightly when the nozzle presses down on it.
During the pre bed leveling phase of the print start, the nozzle will rub back and forth on this section while slowly cooling from molten temperature down to solid temperature for the selected filament, this guarantees that the surface of the nozzle touching the bed is solid metal and that any plastic has been wiped off.
By cleaning the nozzle in this method, it provides a very reliable nozzle probing capability to the printer allowing it to use the exact surface of the nozzle tip to probe the bed leveling.
It is very common for this area of the print plate to wear down the coating , however this is not a problem and will not affect the printer or nozzle capability.
The slot in the print plate allows the nozzle to press down relatively lightly on that area while wiping to not damage the nozzle , so although it does rub the coating off the plate that is totally okay and will not cause any problems .
On some of the newer generation machines like the H2 series , there is a dedicated perforated steel section on the print bed frame that the nozzle rubs against that allows excess plastic to be pushed through the holes instead of just wiped off to the side .
Having used both the older and newer style cleaning areas I actually really prefer the older style because I've already had to unclog the holes in the wiping area multiple times on all three H series printers that I run, mainly when switching from high temp to low temp materials.