E3D V6/Just plain printing issues.... :(

[scrubngbubles]

Hello everyone!

So I recently (more like switched in June and been having problems since) switched my stock hot end to the E3D V6 1.75mm bowden hot end. Everything went together fine. I was able to print some small stuff (buttons for the Adafruit PiGrrl Zero) but after those prints I couldn't get the printer to really print anything at all. I've checked around the forums for some solutions and while I have some ideas as to why my printer isn't printing I thought a post and some feed back might help.

First lemme give you guys some specs:
-Rostock Max V2
-E3D V6 hot end with 0.4 mm nozzle
-Adhesion method is purple glue stick
-Slicer: Repetier (most recent version)
-Filament: Blue SeeMeCNC ABS
-Temps: Bed-85C Hot End-235C

Alrighty, now lemme list the problems and some steps I've taken to fix them:
-Cannot print PLA. I've tried and every print the filament in the extruder melts. I have tried changing the motor current down to 155 in the firmware and printing slower but neither of those changes helped. I'm also thinking of putting a fan on there...But with no ability to print, printing a fan mount for the motor hasn't happened yet.

-After switching to the E3D V6 filament won't extrude during a print but will extrude when I use the manual extrude command. I've noticed the E3D V6 is a bit *leaky*. Filament leaks out the nozzle a lot. Before printing I try priming the hot end by extruding 50mm through the manual extrusion control. But after I remove the extruded filament and the hot end reaches the build plate no filament comes out. It has come out on very rare occasions, but I don't see any reason as to why it would those specific times. To fix this I have attempted to re-calibrate my printer's z height and tower heights thinking the nozzle may be too close to the bed and not allowing filament to come out. This didn't help. I tested the extrusion through the nozzle by trying to print with the z height about a half an inch off the build plate and still no filament comes out. I also disassembled the hot end and cleared out a jam. Even with that jam cleared the same thing happened where it will extrude filament with the manual control but rarely during printing. I also checked the EZ Struder. I cleaned the drive gear and the whole assembly to make sure the filament feeding wasn't inhibited in any way. Cleaning the EZ Struder didn't really help. Not sure what to do besides maybe get a new nozzle with a smaller diameter (0.3mm?).

-When I did get filament to come out the filament would only stick on the bed in the y and z tower areas, not near the x tower. I thought this one was really weird. It would stick perfectly on the y and z region of the bed (think from the 12 o'clock to the 5 o'clock position with a radius of about 2 inches from the center) but not to the x region (from 11 o'clock to 6 o'clock with a radius the length of the bed). To combat this problem I've tried cleaning the bed, re calibrating the z height and towers and applying less purple glue stick. I double checked that all the calibrations were done to the manual standards and that they were properly set. Even after attempting those fixes nothing has worked. I tried moving the prints into the y and z region to increase adhesion but the printer then stopped extruding filament (see above problem). I'm starting to think maybe the bed has an imperfection? Not sure what to do....

I'm also looking for a better mount for my E3D V6. Im currently using some 3d printed spacers stacked on top of the stock spacers with the SeeMeCNC EZ Groove adapter mount. Something a little more sturdy may help. If anyone has any suggestions for a mount I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you guys for reading. Please let me know if there is any information I left out about my setup or problems. I look forward to hearing your feedback. Lol, for all I know I could be doing something completely backwards and not realize it. I just wanna get back to printing. The PiGrrl Zero is cool but seems to work better with a case.

Thank you!

-Mike

[Tincho85]

If your PLA is melting because of the hobbed gear then your current is way too high, or the extruder needs to do a lot of force to push the filament.
Maybe there is something blocking the bowden tube or your thermistor is lying and your temperatures are actually lower.

1. Try pushing the filament through the hotend by hand and see if its too hard to do it.
2. What motors do you have? wantai? kysan? automation? I cant remember the other one.
3. Some says a few drops of canola oil inside the bowden tube help a lot, but I never tried myself.
4. Compare your thermistor reading with a thermocouple.