EZstruder skipping to the beat

[heathenx]

I've noticed that my Ezstruder skips (or makes a clunk sound) about a dozen times on every print. It always has ever since I've gotten the printer. Seems like it does it often at first, say 10-15 minutes into a print, and then it trails off. It doesn't seem to have any kind of impact on my prints. Is this typical for these EZstruders or does something need to be adjusted? I run 1.75mm PLA at 195C and 200C. Haven't squirted any ABS yet. Rostock Max v2. Also, I'm using a .35mm nozzle.

Update: Here's a video and a picture. In the picture you can see when it skips it doesn't lay a bead of material down properly. Sorry for the supper blurry video.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2t5t5T ... e=youtu.be" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Sonrisa3D]

From my experience it is one of two things:
1. Hot end too close to the bed (if it is happening only on the first layer, maybe specific parts of the bed
2. Hot end temp too low.

[heathenx]

That first one doesn't make much sense to me but perhaps you're onto something regarding the second. I'll try upping the temp by 5° increments and see what happens. On this particular print I'm running things much faster than I normally do, however, it happens no matter the speed.

[Tinyhead]

I was going to say speed might be a factor. I could be wrong, but I don't think you can hammer the speed out of those smaller nozzles. That would definitely cause some skipping as the nozzle can't spit out filament fast enough. Temp will also help though.

[heathenx]

@Tinyhead

I normally run prints at 30-40mm/s since I typically print small things. This time I'm running the machine at 70mm/s. I'm trying to speed up a long print. I've even thought about sticking my .5mm nozzle back in for this job.

Regardless of the above, I'm squirting PLA at 220C right now and I haven't heard nary a peep out of that EZstruder. That's 20-25° hotter than I would normally run it. I think Sonrisa3D and you nailed it with the temperature. I'm used to my other printer. Perhaps I'll have to run this Rostock much hotter.

Thanks for the tips. I have a 3 hour print running so I'll continue to monitor it.

[Eaglezsoar]

@Tinyhead

I normally run prints at 30-40mm/s since I typically print small things. This time I'm running the machine at 70mm/s. I'm trying to speed up a long print. I've even thought about sticking my .5mm nozzle back in for this job.

Regardless of the above, I'm squirting PLA at 220C right now and I haven't heard nary a peep out of that EZstruder. That's 20-25° hotter than I would normally run it. I think Sonrisa3D and you nailed it with the temperature. I'm used to my other printer. Perhaps I'll have to run this Rostock much hotter.

Thanks for the tips. I have a 3 hour print running so I'll continue to monitor it.

Running at speeds like 70mm/s you have to increase the temperature and you will probably have quite a few of the PLA hairs formed everytime there is a retraction. Good luck and maybe send a picture of the finished product before it
is cleaned.

[heathenx]

Sure thing, Eaglezsoar.

[Nylocke]

If the temp increase doesn't work, then you may want to try upping the current to the stepper in firmware. Try as much as you can before this though, this is less likely a problem than anything else.

[dtgriscom]

I've noticed that my Ezstruder skips (or makes a clunk sound) about a dozen times on every print. It always has ever since I've gotten the printer. Seems like it does it often at first, say 10-15 minutes into a print, and then it trails off.

This happened on my machine as well. If I listen to the EZstruder, then the hum it usually produces while moving slowly trails off right before a "pop", and then immediately returns afterwards.

My guess is that it's having to push too hard on the filament to move the specified distances, and so the stepper rotor "hops" a few magnetic teeth back. Sonrisa3D's suggestions sound right to me, as in each case the filament movement is too restricted and the stepper can't keep the material moving fast enough.


Dan

[heathenx]

I think this problem has been solved just by upping my extruder temperature to 220°C. It hasn't skipped in the last hour. It's laying down some really great looking beads. I think I've been running my Rostock too cold this whole time. On my next small print I'm going to try 210°C and of course slow the delta back down to 40mm/s and see what happens.

[Tinyhead]

I think this problem has been solved just by upping my extruder temperature to 220°C. It hasn't skipped in the last hour. It's laying down some really great looking beads. I think I've been running my Rostock too cold this whole time. On my next small print I'm going to try 210°C and of course slow the delta back down to 40mm/s and see what happens.

Great to hear. Some of the PLA brands do need more heat than others. Let's see what you've got when you're done!

[Barefoothurst]

I've been having the same problem with my larger prints where I speed up the lower solid layers. I am running 60mm/sec on the infill and solid layers and when the extruder pulls against the spool/pushed against the hot end it will skip. I will raise my temps and see. possibly raise my hot end a small amount.
Great forum. Lots of excellent information on here.
Thanks

[Polygonhell]

If you have a thermocouple, you should check your actual temperature vs reported, some PLA does require as high as 230 to extrude reliably, but it's pretty rare, I recently swapped hot-ends to one with a what I know is a semitec 100K thermistor, it's was configured correctly in the firmware. When I finally pulled out my thermocouple and measured the actual temperature, it was reading 35C high, so the selected 220 was only in fact 185.

There seems to be a lot of variation in the smaller thermistors and it's always worth checking.

[heathenx]

The PLA that I used on this print is White from Filament Central. I love white because it hides a lot of the baddies. It's hard for one's eyes to focus on those things, such as, layer lines from a casual distance. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with this print. The EZstruder started out skipping until I got the temperature hot enough. You can see the skip marks on the glass side of the print. It isn't too terribly bad and there is no reason for me to re-print it. It's a still a functional part (enclosure lid). The top side (opposite of the glass side) looks phenomenal. I have NEVER gotten a print to lay down a top surface as nice as this. It almost looks as nice as the glass side which is super smooth and shiny. This side is of course "textured" but it's flawless. Sliced with S3D.

Anyway, I'm building a custom filament extruder. Next up will be the enclosure to house the electronics, which is a 10 hour print. I'll be sure to set my hot end to 220°C before taking off.

[Sonrisa3D]

Sweet - Glad you sorted it out.

[bvandiepenbos]

@heathenx
glad to see your getting better prints with increase temperature.
So now you might keep the v2 after all ?

[Mac The Knife]

Somebody is digging up posts from last year,,,,,

[heathenx]

I reply to old posts too. Happens to the best of us. Unfortunately, I'm no longer an RMaxv2 owner. Sold it a few weeks ago.