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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Help/Repair/Maintenance → extruder/ nozzle clogs
As I anxiously await my new SD3 , I have read many posts on clogging of either. Is there a way to prevent this? I see some have never had a clog (very few) . 
Don't let your extruder sit heated while idle for long. Set Repetier-Host to automatically turn off extruder when print is done. Set start g-code to heat extruder and start print AFTER bed temp is reached. I only used solidoodle natural filament until I was comfortable with the printer.
There are a few simple rules to minimize the chance of clogging.
1. Do not leave the print head above 100C for more time than is needed. ie. when done printing turn it off or down to 100C
2. Try to buy filament from reputable places. sometimes this doesn't work as bad batches show up here and there but black is among the wost so if you don't need black avoid it.
3. Do not set the printhead higher than needed to extrude. This will vary with they type and color of filament used.
4. Try to keep the filament reel clean and dry. Any dirt/debris that sticks to the filament will eventually end up in the extruder and possibly trapped by the orifice causing a clog.
there are a few other things but I can't remember them off the top of my head right now... it's been a long cold wet day 
Hope this helps, just by getting on these forums and looking around you are getting a headstart compared to people who don't do any research before their printer arrives as you will know how to fix a clog and other problems that may arise and simple problems that seasoned users don't think twice about will not stop you in your tracks! 
As a side note on clogs: They are just in the nature of the beast....just with how these printers work sooner or later clogs will happen.
Heat might be an issue but I believe the real cause of jams in the hot end comes from the extruder itself.
I'm trained to look at things and find out why its wrong, and engineer a fix.
IMHO, the SD people did an excellent job on engineering the extruder. It has some very close tolerances. When the quality of materials, temp. etc are within a given range she will work perfect hour by hours.
However if you filament gets a kink or little bend making its travels from the back of the printer, then the extruder tolerances there are way too tight for differences in filament. Had a major filament jam today for this reason. It also made a send jam of the hot end. The problem most users are getting.
To expand on my issue had the extruder trying to feed filament and it made loops and came out the loops in the cleaning (open end). Caused the main drive to chew on the filament forcing a stop and cleanout of the teeth.
IMHO, the vertical feed tolerances look good thats the extruder motor wheel and bearing. The horzontal tolerances in that same area are too tight. A small kink etc wil not pass down but stop at that point. Better design would be wider (fron to back of the printer), with v sloping tigher down into the hot end.
I would be very happy to Test this for SD.
Found this same issue on the Google groups.
Your thoughts?
The extruders on most all of these types of printers handle kinks the same way... they don't. They are very similar to a wire feed welder, the wire you use has to be kink-free and decent tolerances on the running OD. The first thing I do when putting a different spool on either types of machines is make sure the end is cut square and straight, make sure the rest of the spool looks good( no kinks, dirt, flat spots,etc...) and check a few places for correct OD.
I see what you mean in a different design for the infeed... not sure how it would work I guess the only to see the full effects is try it out although chances are some in the industry already has 
but you never know! I think I would try to eliminate the machine making kinks in the filament first though as any bending kinking affects the filament in a few areas like diameter and hardness just to name two.
The extruders on most all of these types of printers handle kinks the same way... they don't. They are very similar to a wire feed welder, the wire you use has to be kink-free and decent tolerances on the running OD. The first thing I do when putting a different spool on either types of machines is make sure the end is cut square and straight, make sure the rest of the spool looks good( no kinks, dirt, flat spots,etc...) and check a few places for correct OD.
I see what you mean in a different design for the infeed... not sure how it would work I guess the only to see the full effects is try it out although chances are some in the industry already has
My SD is down....tried to make it feed it just wants to curl. Got ahold of Ian Johnson in the SD irc and he told me to look at the fan. He knows what he is talking about Im missing 3 blades of the fan on my 2nd day of printing. So its fix the fan or extruder or both....sigh.
ronsii wrote:The extruders on most all of these types of printers handle kinks the same way... they don't. They are very similar to a wire feed welder, the wire you use has to be kink-free and decent tolerances on the running OD. The first thing I do when putting a different spool on either types of machines is make sure the end is cut square and straight, make sure the rest of the spool looks good( no kinks, dirt, flat spots,etc...) and check a few places for correct OD.
I see what you mean in a different design for the infeed... not sure how it would work I guess the only to see the full effects is try it out although chances are some in the industry already has
My SD is down....tried to make it feed it just wants to curl. Got ahold of Ian Johnson in the SD irc and he told me to look at the fan. He knows what he is talking about Im missing 3 blades of the fan on my 2nd day of printing. So its fix the fan or extruder or both....sigh.
Have you talked to support? We can hook you up with a replacement.
SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Help/Repair/Maintenance → extruder/ nozzle clogs
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