EzStruder doing strange quick retracts :(

[truenorthtrader]

Has anyone experienced the EZ sturdier doing very quick jumps while printing where it's not needed?

Mine keeps doing this don't know what's causing it. It's a quick jerking sound, the motor is turning backwards very fast then resumes. It's not retraction, my settings are about 6mm and speed around 35-40 and does that smoothly, this is doing it while infilling and making a perimeter.

Did it on the first layer on some models now it's doing it all the time I had to quit a 9 hour print after the first few layers because it wouldn't stop jumping.

thanks!

[bubbasnow]

does it do it in the middle of a normal travel?

have you tried a simple object in another slicer?

[Glacian22]

That's your motor skipping...I'm going to predict that you're printing PLA?

[truenorthtrader]

Does this skip during printing a line or perimeter not while Travelling
I only use abs.
What is causing this skipping? Makes no sense.
I only use Cura now as I've used others and never get as good results.

It's also not printing some perimeters smoothly kind of a slow studdering
After the Arduino update a few months back

[Glacian22]

Huh, my ezstruder only skips/jumps back like that when running PLA, haven't had that problem with ABS. Someone smarter than me is going to have to weigh in. XD

[mhackney]

That sounds like the symptom I reported of an overheating stepper driver on the RAMBo. A cooling fan pointed at the drivers on RAMBo solved that problem for me 100%. You can search my recent posts for more details and how I mounted the fan in the door.

[bvandiepenbos]

yep, probably motor skipping.
the driver chips could be overheating. extra cooling could help.
also try adjusting motor current up or down.

IMHO, the stock stepper motor has marginally adequate torque for the bowden tube + SeeMe hot end.
Often my print speed is limited by the extruder skipping.

Bet if you slow down and/or increase your temperature 5-10 degrees your motor skipping will go away.

You could also put a J-Head on your machine, they have less backpressure than the stock hot-end
( sorry Oly, you know it's true )


regardless, a fan on back of rambo board where motor driver chips are is a good thing to do.

[truenorthtrader]

Thank you guys so much!
I actually do have a fan on it but its mounted by the USB port pointing at the board on the other side I'll move it.

I actually was running a 6 hour print before. then went to another one after 30 minutes.
What code do I look for regarding the voltage? I've been looking in configuration.h can't seem to find it.

[mhackney]

It's stepper current not voltage and it is in Configuration.h

Code: Select all

// MLJH: These are the current settings I use with my EZStruder. You can turn down the 230 to say 210ish if yours runs hot
#define MOTOR_CURRENT {175,175,175,230,230} // Values 0-255 (RAMBO 135 = ~0.75A, 185 = ~1A)

[truenorthtrader]

Thakn you! Ahh it's under movement missed it...
Mine is already -#define MOTOR_CURRENT {175,175,175,200,0}
Strange the last number is zero.

I just mounted the fan on the back hopefully no more trouble! I do another print tonight
thank you guys again!!

[mhackney]

The last number is for a second extruder in a 2 extruder setup. In fact, you can add more past these to support, say, a 4 extruder Kraken system like mine

[Eaglezsoar]

The last number is for a second extruder in a 2 extruder setup. In fact, you can add more past these to support, say, a 4 extruder Kraken system like mine

Now you're showing off!
And you have a right to do so. It's not easy to figure out how to run 4 extruders both software and hardware.
You should be proud that you have the skills to do something like that. I know someone named Chris who will
need your help in getting everything working and his package is arriving today.

[Nylocke]

This is off topic, but Michael, what have you done to your bed? I was sifting through your photo log of max pics to see your kraken setup, and I noticed you were doing some experimentation. Also, do you have all 4 steppers set up for your kraken yet? Are you using an EZ for than all?

[truenorthtrader]

I feel like a right Git wasting everyone's time.

I cleaned the J-Head now everything is fine, something must have been in the filament, the jumping was caused by the blockage.

Never had any blockage before after going through about 10 rolls of filament so far.

thanks for all your help!

That Quad extruder is crazy! I have been putting off installing a second one...damn that's amazing.

[mhackney]

Nylocke, my bed is (from base up):

the snowflake insulator
the Onyx
my aluminum heat dissipator
borosilicate glass
PEI

I'm printing exclusively on PEI now and love it.

I am running all 4 Kraken hot ends with ezStruders (4 of them of course). It is all set up and working.

[Nylocke]

From the gallery it looked like you were experimenting with some sort of spary on copper? What was that about and what did it do, if anything?

[mhackney]

That was a gasket adhesive I attempted to use to stick the PEI to my glass build surface. It didn't work.

[Nylocke]

What is this PEI and what does it work for? I mainly print with ABS and Nylon, and it would be nice to not have to swap between my heated and wooden beds...

[mhackney]

Search for PEI here, there is a long thread in another topic. It is a great surface for ABS and PLA, not Nylon.

[Nylocke]

Darn, what is it, a tape or a sheet?

[mhackney]

The material I used is .030" thick sheet that is taped down with double sided tape.

[mhackney]

The material I used is .030" thick sheet that is taped down with double sided tape.

[Nylocke]

How hot is your bed, and is it fairly durable?

[bubbasnow]

i do 100deg temps for hours no issues, should probably take this conversation to the PEI post though

[techstorage]

Has anyone experienced the EZ sturdier doing very quick jumps while printing where it's not needed?

Mine keeps doing this don't know what's causing it. It's a quick jerking sound, the motor is turning backwards very fast then resumes. It's not retraction, my settings are about 6mm and speed around 35-40 and does that smoothly, this is doing it while infilling and making a perimeter.

Did it on the first layer on some models now it's doing it all the time I had to quit a 9 hour print after the first few layers because it wouldn't stop jumping.

thanks!

Did you fix your issue? My printer started doing this randomly after adding some led lights and fans. The code looks good so I think it is caused by wire noise going to the stepper motor. I tried tying back the 12 v power lines away from stepper motor cables, and it got better. I still hear the extreme retracts (1 or 2) during my printing.