The top shelf of my dishwasher started to misbehave (would not stay straight). Upon investigation, turns out that the rollers in the rail that supports the shelf were coming off the metal shafts that were supposed to hold them. A little more digging and I found a C-clip of sorts on the bottom of the dishwasher. Turns out that C-clip retains the rollers on the metal shafts. The problem is that the C-clip became too thin and the little detent on the roller that is meant to keep it from sliding out, could no longer hold it.
The replacement C-clip can be purchases for around $4 per piece plus shipping. It bothered me to pay $20 for, cumulatively, about a gram of plastic. Besides, this situation is exactly what 3D printers are for. So I designed and printed the clips myself, and thought that I should share the design with others.
Choice Of Filament
The temperature inside the dishwasher can get quite high, because of hot water and during the drying cycle. This is why plastics with low temperature of deflection should not be used. Consult Prusa materials guide for heat deflection temperatures for various filaments.
PLA and PETG are not suitable for dishwasher parts. ABS, ASA, and Polycarbonate are. I had a spool of Prusament PC blend filament, and it’s perfect for the job, with heat deflection point of 113°C.
The Design
The clip I designed is a bit simpler, in shape, than the original. I observed how the roller moves inside the rail, and it seems to me that there is no mechanical reason for the clip to have a round top. A simpler (and beefier) rectangular top does not interfere with the roller’s motion in any way.
Printing Parameters
I printed with a 0.4 mm nozzle, at 0.15 mm layer height, with 100% rectilinear infill.
Technically, PC blend should be printed in an enclosure, but these parts are so thin, that they stay very close to the print table, so I figured that it should be toasty enough for them without enclosing the printer. It worked out nicely.
The Files
This design on Printables.
This design on Thingieverse.
You can download the ZIP file containing the STL, STEP, and Fusion 360 files for the clip below:
