3d printing plastic parts

[bazzybtec]

Has anyone attempted 3d printing any of the plastic parts?

I am rebuilding an old 1300 series Australian made washer. (its more tricky than the others i have done due to an earth fault i cant seem to track down. when i disconnect the earth wire to the plug to test it then it works fine without tripping the breaker. obviously just a test and it doesn't help that all the wires to the timer are yellow)

anyway.

This unit has had its magic clean lint filter removed. i have a number of the waterfall type lint filter cartridges and it looks like there was a slot to allow for one on the tub ring.

I am considering replacing the pump with the 4 outlet style one and trying to 3d print a holder for one.

additionally i cant seem to find the capacitor clips anywhere either so i was considering 3d printing them too.

has this been done before?

 

[egress]

I had a replacement soap door 3d printed for my old kitchenaid dishwasher. kept it going for another 2 years until we remodeled.

 

[johnb300m]

Yup. We have a handful of 3D printers at work. I tried printing new wash arm bearings for my PowerClean KA25 once.
They didn’t work. The material we have is PLA, and it didn’t withstand the 140f heat. So the bearings all warped.
I would need to print then again in ABS or Nylon.
But we’re so busy at work, I’ve not been able to swap out materials and print “personal” things.

A note, these are “FDM” printers. They squeeze out little layers of actual plastic molten material.
The other printer types use some kind of light curing resin. Those almost never would withstand the interior environment of a dishwasher. But would be good for external parts.

 

[lowefficiency]

Functional mechanical parts should be no problem - just make sure you select the proper material for the environment, taking expected temperatures, creepage, etc into account.

Dishwasher parts would require caution, for the same reasons 3D printed parts are rarely considered food-safe - the printing process creates microscopic crevices, which are difficult or impossible to clean, giving locations for bacteria to grow. Depending on the part, this could be mitigated by the use of special post coatings. Standard FDM 3D printing nozzles are made of brass, which also contains lead, so be aware of that as well.