3DPrinting
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: !functionalprint@kbin.social or !functionalprint@fedia.io
There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml
Rules
-
No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
-
Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
-
No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
-
No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
-
Do not create links to reddit
-
If you see an issue please flag it
-
No guns
-
No injury gore posts
If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe/ may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is 
Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible
view the rest of the comments
It's not so much about lubrication as it is about trying to prevent seal wear. When the wiper seal gets worn and can no longer keep the dust and grit out, the rolling elements have little time left.
If the bearing as lubricated correctly at installation time, it should never need re-lubrication. But it's important to keep the rail surfaces clean. And it's amazing just how dusty those rails can get and just how abrasive that dust is on the bearings.
I don't lube the rails, it attracts too much dust. But I do wiper the rails periodically. I replaced the linear rod bearings and rods on my old and trusty Mk3s+ after almost 3500 hours of operation this last winter. Though I should have probably done it a bit sooner.
I've never had and issue with the linear rails rusting in all the years I've been 3D printing. But I do live in a drier temperate climate also. But dust will eat the seals up very quickly as well. If rust is a worrisome issue, hard chromed linear rods are also easily available to prevent any worry about rust. And they would outlast the the non-chrome rails significantly. That's what I use.
As always YMMV