{"id":4100,"date":"2026-11-06T19:44:59","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T17:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/3d-spausdintuvas-imones-prieziuros-skyriui\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T19:44:59","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T17:44:59","slug":"3d-spausdintuvas-imones-prieziuros-skyriui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/3d-spausdintuvas-imones-prieziuros-skyriui\/","title":{"rendered":"3D printer for the maintenance department: what you can print, what you shouldn't, and whether it pays off"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The line stops when a plastic bracket, guide or sensor mount breaks. The original part costs tens of euros, but delivery takes several weeks, and sometimes the part is no longer produced. In such situations, more and more company maintenance departments are using a 3D printer. This article covers the practical side: what you can print with one, what is better left alone, what to choose, and how to assess whether it will pay for itself.<\/p>\n<h2>What a maintenance department can print<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Brackets and mounts<\/strong> \u2013 for sensors, cables, hoses and button boxes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Covers, guards, plugs<\/strong> \u2013 against dust and dirt, when the original is broken or lost.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Guides, spacers, supports<\/strong> \u2013 lightly loaded mechanical parts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Jigs and fixtures<\/strong> ( <em>jigs and fixtures<\/em>) \u2013 part-centring aids, drilling templates, measuring supports.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Flexible parts in TPU<\/strong> \u2013 non-standard gaskets, dampers and protectors (see the article on <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/tpu-lanksti-gija-tarpines-amortizatoriai-95a\/\">TPU filament<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Functional parts in engineering filaments<\/strong> \u2013 lightly loaded gears and sliders made from nylon or carbon fibre composites (see the article on <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/anglies-pluosto-cf-gijos-antgalis-spausdinimas\/\">CF filaments<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Organisation aids<\/strong> \u2013 tool holders, boxes for small parts, label holders.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prototypes<\/strong> \u2013 before ordering a metal part, you can check that it fits in form and dimensions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is better not to print<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Parts with safety functions<\/strong> \u2013 safety devices, lifting equipment, pressure system components. If a failure of the part could injure someone, an original or certified part is required.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Parts operating at temperatures above what the material can withstand.<\/strong> PLA starts to soften at around 55 \u00b0C; higher temperatures need other materials and, in some cases, metal.<\/li>\n<li><strong>High-load metal parts<\/strong> \u2013 shafts, bearing housings, threaded joints that are repeatedly tightened.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Parts subject to special requirements<\/strong> \u2013 food contact, electrical insulation or fire rating. In such cases the material must have the appropriate declaration or certificate, and its suitability must be checked against the specific requirements.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Parts still covered by equipment warranty<\/strong> \u2013 a non-standard part may become a dispute with the manufacturer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What to choose: printer and materials<\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Question<\/th>\n<th>What it means for your choice<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Which materials will you print?<\/td>\n<td>PLA and PETG print on almost any printer. ABS, ASA and nylon need an <strong>enclosed chamber<\/strong> and a higher nozzle temperature.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Will you use composites (CF, GF)?<\/td>\n<td>You need a <strong>hardened steel or other wear-resistant nozzle<\/strong> \u2013 brass wears out quickly.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>What size are the parts?<\/td>\n<td>Look at the largest typical parts and compare them with the build volume.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Who will print?<\/td>\n<td>If several people will use the printer, simple setup, calibration and remote monitoring matter.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Where will it stand?<\/td>\n<td>An enclosed chamber and filtration matter if the printer will stand in a room where people work.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>For a more detailed comparison of filaments, see the article <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/gija-atsarginems-detalems-pla-petg-asa-pa-cf\/\">\"Which filament to choose for spare parts\"<\/a>. Don't forget filament storage: nylon and TPU absorb moisture, so a filament dryer and sealed boxes are useful to the maintenance department (more on drying and storage at <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/nailono-gijos-dziovinimas-laikymas\/\">drying and storage<\/a>).<\/p>\n<h2>How to calculate payback<\/h2>\n<p>There is no universal answer \u2013 it all depends on how much your downtime costs. A simple way to assess it is to collect the last 6\u201312 months of cases where you waited for a plastic or simple part, and for each case compare:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Without a printer:<\/strong> original part price + delivery + <strong>downtime cost \u00d7 waiting time<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>With a printer:<\/strong> filament cost (part mass \u00d7 filament price per kilogram) + employee time for modelling and printing + downtime while the part is printed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Add up the difference over a year and compare it with the cost of the printer, accessories and filament stock to see whether the investment pays back. In companies where an hour of downtime costs more than the part itself, just a few avoided waits are often enough.<\/p>\n<p>Include consumables in your costs too: spare build plates, nozzles, a filament dryer. You will find them in the <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/product-category\/3d-spausdinimas\/3d-priedai\/\">accessories and spare parts<\/a> category.<\/p>\n<h2>How to start<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Make a list of the parts that are most often missing or most often break.<\/li>\n<li>Select those that do not perform a safety function and work at normal temperatures.<\/li>\n<li>Choose a material for each and print a test sample.<\/li>\n<li>Check the fit in the equipment and note the settings (material, infill, walls) so the part can be reproduced next time.<\/li>\n<li>Keep your 3D models in one place, together with equipment and part numbers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>How to find them on inteq.lt<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>You will find printers in the <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/product-category\/3d-spausdinimas\/3d-spausdintuvai\/\">3D printers<\/a> category \u2013 e.g., <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/product\/bambu-lab-p2s\/\">Bambu Lab P2S<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/product\/bambu-lab-h2d\/\">Bambu Lab H2D<\/a>; when buying for a company, a VAT invoice is issued.<\/li>\n<li>Filaments \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/product-category\/3d-spausdinimas\/3d-gijos\/\">gij\u0173 (filament\u0173) kategorijoje<\/a>: PETG, ASA, nailonas, CF kompozitai, TPU.<\/li>\n<li>Jei detal\u0117s spausdinti neverta \u2013 original\u0105 ar analog\u0105 rasite per <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/paieska-pagal-koda\/\">paie\u0161ka pagal gamintojo kod\u0105<\/a> arba \u012fk\u0117l\u0119 \ud83d\udcf7 nuotrauk\u0105.<\/li>\n<li>Jau atspausdint\u0173 detali\u0173 ir naudot\u0173 dali\u0173 galima rasti ir pasi\u016blyti <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/skelbimai\/\">skelbim\u0173 skiltyje<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Reikia patarimo, kok\u012f spausdintuv\u0105 ar gij\u0105 rinktis j\u016bs\u0173 u\u017eduotims? U\u017epildykite <a href=\"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/kontaktai\/\">u\u017eklausos form\u0105<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is a 3D printer worth having in the maintenance department? Which parts can and cannot be printed, what to choose, and how to calculate the payback.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2495],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atsargines-dalys-ir-remontas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inteq.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}