Extrusion fails

[Gundy1024]

Hello everyone,

So I have over 50 days of printing on my Rostock V2 now and can't really complain. It has been a good system for the most part and I have been able to work out most issues I have had up to now. Lately when I print the printer starts off just fine, prints like a champ until all of a sudden it stops extruding. Now at first I thought it was a clogged nozzle so I put a new one on. Next print did the exact same thing. Changed model, no luck. So the next time it clogged I paused the print and tested for a clog by hand pushing filament through the nozzle which it did just fine. So I now I am down to why is the ez-struder not pushing filament now? I have a new ez-struder on order and it should be here today but is that even going to fix my problem?

Gundy

[mhackney]

What type of filament? ABS, PLA or ???

How fast are you printing? Are you using the stock hot end? We need a little more info to help out. In general, it is not a good idea to just start throwing new parts at the printer without first determining the root cause of the problem.

[Gundy1024]

Sorry, I should have added that.

I am using an E3D print head. Printing inner perms at 60 and outer at 40. .2mm Layers and 25% infill. This is all very odd because none of my setting have changed in forever. I pretty much print everything at that. This print head was installed 40 print days ago as well. This is really the first trouble I have had like this.

[Gundy1024]

What type of filament? ABS, PLA or ???

How fast are you printing? Are you using the stock hot end? We need a little more info to help out. In general, it is not a good idea to just start throwing new parts at the printer without first determining the root cause of the problem.

I print with PLA for now. Working on the enclosure of this printer because the few time I have tried ABS I had lots of trouble. So hoping the enclosure will help.

[mhackney]

What type of filament are you printing?

have you checked the gear on the ezStruder to see if there is plastic build up? Common problem. Also visually inspect it to make sure the filament path is aligned with the cog and the pressure bearing is pushing on it squarely.

[Gundy1024]

I am at work for now but will take the extruder apart and look it over tonight and let you know what I find. Again, I print with hatchbox PLA for the most part.

[mhackney]

PLA is notorious for gumming up the gear. You can check it without complete dis-assembly. Just remove the screw and the clear plastic cover and take a look.

[Gundy1024]

So I took the assembly part to have a good look at it. No clogging on the hobbed gear but my ezstruder is not looking so well. It had been warped a little bit from a stepper motor overheating issue that I fix a while back. Think that with time and use it is getting worse and causing the drive bearing to not get the filament in the right spot. I will changed out the ezstruder when my parts come in and let you know if that helped.

[Polygonhell]

The most common problem with the EZStruder, outside of gummed up drive roller is poor alignment between the hobbed section of the roller and the filament path. I'm usually very careful when I assemble them, I let the gear float while feeding filament to alight the groove with the filament. But I still ran into this particular issue with one of mine recently, it was around a mm off, and the filament was climbing out of the ridge, then slipping.
It took me a while to identify the issue, because it appeared to work at the starts of prints, probably because the act of priming allowed the filament to align with the groove, or the smooth part of the roller was enough with 0 back pressure, but would fail mid print.

[Gundy1024]

Installed the new ex-struder. Have to use the same hobbed gear though cause the set screww is stripped out, darn locktight works I guess. Running a test print now.

[Eaglezsoar]

Installed the new ex-struder. Have to use the same hobbed gear though cause the set screww is stripped out, darn locktight works I guess. Running a test print now.

Let us know if it is better after the EZStruder replacement.

[Gundy1024]

Ok guys, got the new parts installed and so far things are looking good. You can watch my second test run at https://www.ustream.tv/broadcaster/20572527" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

[Eaglezsoar]

Ok guys, got the new parts installed and so far things are looking good. You can watch my second test run at https://www.ustream.tv/broadcaster/20572527" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Glad that you got it working!

[Gundy1024]

Ok, anyone that might be awake at this time and has the time to look at my printer please do. I am still having extrusion issues and have no clue what is going wrong. I thought is was the exstruder and changed it out hoping it was(old one was warped and worn from a motor overheat issue). But after a few prints it has come back. Prints start out just fine but after a while they fail due to what I am thinking is either clogging or extruder slipping.

I am currently boradcasting on ustream at the link below.

https://www.ustream.tv/broadcaster/20572527" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks

[DeltaCon]

This is actually a very common time to be awake in the Netherlands...
Your stream is not very clear, I can't see any problem from it. But you already determined that there is no clogg, and if extruder is slipping you usually can hear a clicking sound. I think either your filament roll is not turning lightly enough, or perhaps the groovemount is slipping over the motor axle? (or a combination, because it often works as expected).

[Gundy1024]

Here is a picture of what just happened. Starts out just fine. then poof.

[Gundy1024]

Put my spool on a spool adapter to get better movement. Will try again.

[thedoble]

When it stops extruding, is the ezstruder still turning?

How hot is the stepper running?

If you push the red release lever, can you push filament through the hot end without much resistance?

What if you disable the stepper and manually turn the ezstruder cog? Does it extrude?

[Gundy1024]

When it stops the extruder is still turning, yes.

To get it going again I have to pull the filament out cut a new end then start again.

No clue how hot the stepper motor is running. When I first got this printer built I was having overheat issues with the stepper and was told to turn down the stepper motor current. It was running great from then till now.

As for the last questions yes for both but only if I do this before the jam.

I am pulling my hair out over this because it happen overnight and I have yet to be able to figure out why.

To make matters more confusing it seems that it does not always happen. I printed the same print you see above twice today. One came out fine the other failed. Two before those prints failed as well.

It seems to be happening during the infill portion. First few layers go down smooth. You may still be able to see it on my ustream listed above. I left it on the printer with the stream running.

[Xenocrates]

What are your retract settings like? Is the end of the filament slightly bulbous before you cut it off? It may be that you're retracting too much, and the end is getting far enough out of spec for it to jam/bind somewhere. Retracts should be in the neighborhood of 2MM or lower with an E3D, and retract speeds not too fast. Which would explain why it's inconsistent. semi-fluid plastic isn't exactly predictable in these conditions.

[Gundy1024]

Here is what my retraction setting are. To answer your other question, yes, ever time I pull it out there is a bulbus tip. I have changed the retraction length and lowered the retraction speed to 60mms. testing now if you want to watch.

[Xenocrates]

Go ahead and shorten them to 2 MM, and slow it down to 30MM/s or so. See if that helps. E3D's are a little finicky on their retract, so you may have to tweak more. But don't make it too long, or it causes problems. 2MM is about as long as you should go.

[Gundy1024]

I will turn down the retraction speed again after this test. The print is streaming if you wish to watch it. https://www.ustream.tv/broadcaster/20572527" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Not the best quality but it is what I have for now.

[Gundy1024]

Should I be changing all the retractions setting to 2mm? What is the tool change one?

[DeltaCon]

No, the tool change is something completely different, and does not occur in simple one-colour prints. I don't mean to undermine Xenocrates's expertise (at all! He has much more experience than me..) but I doubt if it is because of retraction. In my view there is always a little bulb at the end of the filament because... well... it has been melted... All the times I had jams due to retraction, the filament was completely stuck and I was not able to pull it out lightly because if your retraction is too high it wil pull the melted filament up into the cold-end of the hot-end (...?!) if you know what I mean. So, if you are able to pull the filament out without much resistance, and are able to push knew piece of filament completely through the nozzle, in my opinion there is no jam or clogg. Which makes you problem not any easier... I would advise you to touch the extruder motor at times this problem occurs. If it is so hot that you need to pull back I guess you have found the culprit.