ujoints stuck to steel rods

[Soynuts]

So after a few prints (got my Rostock MAX up and running last week) I noticed that the perimeter and infill were not touching on some parts of my larger prints. I found that 3 of my ujoints no longer have any motion. They appear to be completely stuck to the steel rods. I had verified when I was putting the printer together that they had complete free motion and spun nicely. So I don't know how they managed to get to this state after a few prints. I now have 3 steel rods with 3 ujoints stuck on them. I've tried using WD-40, heating it up, and pliers to no avail.

My question, is there any other trick I can use to loosen the ujoints from the steel rods? Or will I just need to get them replaced?

[Eaglezsoar]

I would try an overnight soak in something like turpentine. If they refuse to loosen after that I think you will need to buy new ones.
I also wish that lubricating those with some lithium grease was added to the instructions. I have seen reports of many of these becoming
seized up like yours. When two types of metals are used corrosion takes place, that is one of the big reasons these seize, IMHO.

[0rionN00b]

I'm curious -- are you using hairspray on your deck?

If so, this is likely causing a lot of your problem.

Hairspray getting into the parts (the hairspray vapor) - is a major cause of general f***d up unhappiness in 3d printers. It'll eat fans, cause alignment issues, cause parts to bind, plastic to stick where it shouldn't, and a fwe other issues....

Like Eagle said, try soaking in turpentine or something, to loosen it up.

[Soynuts]

I brush on ABS juice on to my plate. I'm currently soaking the rods and ujoints to see if that will help loosen them.

[geneb]

Soynuts, you should contact [email protected] about those. They had a run of axle rods that were wildly out of spec and would cause the issue you're experiencing. They've since gone to using nitride coated steel pins which will not exhibit the binding/freezing behavior.

g.

[Eaglezsoar]

Soynuts, you should contact [email protected] about those. They had a run of axle rods that were wildly out of spec and would cause the issue you're experiencing. They've since gone to using nitride coated steel pins which will not exhibit the binding/freezing behavior.

g.

And they should also have a layer of lithuim grease.
Rotating parts that rub together normally need to be lubricated.

[geneb]

The grease isn't required - the nitride coating acts as a lubricant. The axles are made from the same material as used for the mold-ejector pins in the injection molding presses.

g.