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It does seem to be plugged, I cleared it, and was able to print, but the second print appears to have clogged again. Any idea as to why it keeps plugging up? could it have to do with the heat creeping into the Peek?

The fan may not be moving enough air.

g.

So a bigger fan maybe?

The 25mm fan can move enough air if there's nothing wrong with it.

g.

Hmmm then maybe something is wrong with my fan then.. It seems to work normally, but since the pla keeps clogging up in the small tube inside the PEEK, Im guessing its not putting out enough air.

Well I did some modifications, and now my PEEK cooling fan is running off an independent power supply (it wasn't getting the full 12v) so now it's able to run at max output the whole time. I'm going to try and see if that fixes the problem.

Well It doesn't look like that helped at all. Maybe the problem is to do with a faulty part in the hot end. Im not really sure how to go about fixing it. Its very frustrating. It will make one 'ok' print (by that I mean it will finish it, not that it looks any good) then it will clog af not print at all, and I'll have to tear apart the hot ed and clear it. even with PEEK cooling, its just not working. Has anyone else had any problems like this?

it seems like lots of people have had problems with PLA creeping inside the hotend when the PTFE tube inside the nozzle is not 100%, and I mean 100%, smooth and flush with the nozzle at the bottom and also with the Bowden connector at the top.

I personally had plugs at the top. I had a slight gap between the hotend PTFE tube and the hotend bowden pneumatic fitting, on one side only, because the PTFE wasn't cut totally square/flush at the top end. Adding the PEEK fan mostly fixed it but I continued to have issues until I rebuilt the hotend with a new section of PTFE inside the nozzle.

I mention this because it sounds like a similar symptom to what you are seeing- it would finish a print, but the PLA would gradually soften further and further up the hotend, until when i shut it off it would be soft enough to flow and fill in the little notch at the top between the PTFE in the nozzle and the bowden connector. Then when I turned it back on, the nozzle tip would get hot right away, but since the plug was 1.5" away (or whatever) from the heat source, all the way at the other side of the PEEK section, it stayed welded into the notch and the extruder wouldn't work at all.

I think I managed to actually fix this problem. I re-wired the PEEK cooling fan, so now it runs off a dedicated 12v power supply. So far it hasn't had the plugging problem, and I have been stress testing the last few day's (printing back to back for most of the last 3 days)

Now I am trying to solve the problem with the extruder stepper motor skipping back, its like a popping sound, where the gear try's to turn but ends of going backwards, I'm pretty sure it's just trying to push too much plastic through the hot end. Also it seems to do it the most when its printing the infill. They way I'm going to try to fix it is by slowing down the infill print speed, and slightly increasing the hot end temp.

I think I'm on the right path, but I might need to slow it down even more, the "popping" has diminished slightly, but is still present. Anyone have any ideas about it?

If the extruder is skipping, chances are pretty good that you're either going to fast, or your extrusion temp is too low.

g.

My guess is extruder temp being too low as well. I'm new to this game, but per Gene's great manual I usually run filament through the extruder prior to printing anything just to make sure there are no clogs etc. I accidentally hit the manual extrude button in Repetier before the nozzle was up to 225C (for ABS) and it made a few popping sounds and you could see the knob skip. Once up to 225C though it never popped as it was feeding the filament.

I had this as well and followed the same course of corrections that you seem to have taken. I found that it was a combo of two things that were causing my problems.

The first you have already addressed. Belt tension. If you want to see a flawless setting for belt tension look up GENE's example of a properly adjusted cheapskate video. Gene, can you help us with a link since I can't remember where it was stored.

The second part of my problem was far more difficult to solve but finally ended up being a slightly overheating driver that would cut out for a very slight blip and then come back. Turning down my digital trimpot current in firmware solved this for me.

Hope you get it solved!

Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dUL8VKzc34" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

g.

I too just learned why we have peek fans

The wire broke off of my peek fan plug - too much movement at the crimp site I think and the brass part (bowden connector?) got jammed.

I could not unplug the PTFE tube (too slippery) so I cut it and then yanked it out with a couple pliers. but now the connector will not reconnect to the PTFE. I did pull out the little plastic ring and the hidden end looks frayed, but it clicked back into place after I cleaned out the connector.

I am not sure this is a great idea, but I unplugged the plastic bit and I am gluing it to the PTFE.

Anyone have tips on reconnecting the PTFE? do i need a new connector?

You've essentially destroyed the push-fit connector. I'd order a new one and next time you need to pull the bowden tube, don't be such a gorilla about it.

g.

It can take a bit of effort since it's not easy to hold (at least for my clumsy hands), but pushing the top lip of the push-fit connector in will make it loosen it's grip on the tube to allow you to remove it, and pulling it out after you insert the PTFE tube will help grip it. It really shouldn't take much force remove the tube when you get the connector to release it's grip.

*sigh*
wish some one had made a sticky about this

well, scoring with a knife and super glue is working for now