1 Topic by foul_owl

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Topic: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

Hi folks,

I have a folger 2020 with an e3dv6 3mm hotend. Printing with chi mei pa 747 abs filament made with a filastruder. (Using the same filament in another printer and it works great)

Using the 0.4mm nozzle that comes with the e3dv6, but it clogged the other day and has clogged several times since trying to unclog it.

First time I did the guitar string flossing method as usual. This has almost always worked for unclogging. Seemed to work, and printed fine for an hour, but then clogged again. It does not clog on the first layer, rather it clogs toward the middle of a print. Printing only calibration cubes at this point.

Second time, I disassemble the whole thing and soaked the nozzle in acetone for a week. However, looking at the wide end of the nozzle, there was some plastic still stuck in there that I was unable to remove with needle nose pliers and that didn't dissolve. I screwed the nozzle back in and did the guitar string method again. Felt like it was completely unclogged. However, same issue. Printed for about two hours but then clogged again.

Third time, did the same method as before, simply because I had no other ideas. Same crap, it clogged after an hour. After clearing the nozzle and reloading with filament, I'll usually push 200mm or so through into empty space to confirm that yes, in fact, the nozzle is clogged. This time I tried turning the big gear by hand to try and push freshly loaded filament through, and it felt quite difficult. (once the filament reached the nozzle) It almost felt like the hobbled bolt was about to "skip". If you have had this happen, you know what I'm talking about. In any case, it's not the hobbled bolt or the extruder's fault as far as I can tell. It feels quite difficult to push the filament through by hand. My other printer, which had the exact same extruder, hotend, and nozzle size for years never had that problem. It has always been quite easy to turn the big gear by hand and push some filament out the nozzle.

I have a gut feeling that if I could get some sort of strong acid to completely dissolve the plastic left in the nozzle, I would be golden, but right now I have wasted two weeks on this and am out of ideas sad

Keep in mind that this nozzle has been in operation for maybe 100 hours of printing at the most. It should not be jamming like this already.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

2 Reply by heartless

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

is this a genuine E3D or a knock off?

Knock offs are known to be problematic

if it is a genuine E3D I would order a spare nozzle or two and try swapping it out.

Also, make sure the cooling fan is not too low & cooling things it shouldn't be (this is a fairly common mistake) the bottom of the fan shroud should be flush with the lowest cooling fin - not below it.

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3 Reply by foul_owl

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

Genuine e3dv6.

I do have some spare nozzles but they are different sizes. (I got the sample pack)

Maybe I'll try swapping one out though.

The cooling fan is oriented correctly.

Thanks!

4 Reply by IronMan

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

When you swap out, remember to do the heat-up cycle and then tighten the new nozzle while hot.

Also, I suggest swapping out to the 0.6 nozzle if you have one.  I switched to that 6 months ago and have not looked back.  Minor difference in resolution and significant decrease in printing time.

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5 Reply by n2ri

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

I have had a similra issue with my old SD2 nozzle since replacing the heater. was wondering if this could be a result of over heating ABS or burning it if heater gets too hot during start up?

Solidoodle 2 with Deluxe kit cover & glass bed with heater. and 2nd board SD2 used not 3rd and alum platform not installed yet still wood. also need cooling fan installed to board. use Repetier Host couple vers. Slic3r also have all free ware STL programs

6 Reply by foul_owl

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

IronMan wrote:

When you swap out, remember to do the heat-up cycle and then tighten the new nozzle while hot.

Also, I suggest swapping out to the 0.6 nozzle if you have one.  I switched to that 6 months ago and have not looked back.  Minor difference in resolution and significant decrease in printing time.

I definitely did the heat up / tighten procedure. Would that have any effect on clogging anyway though? Just curious.

I might try a different nozzle size. I'm trying to print pretty detailed items so I might actually want to go one size smaller.

Thanks!

7 Reply by AZERATE

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

Depending on what you are printing, the .6 nozzle will perform just as well. Some perimeters may suffer a little if you print very small and tight areas...but only minimally in my experience. Again, depending.

If you do not do the heat tightening, you may experience clogging as the filament melts and creeps into the threads. Even worse, you may have plastic oozing from the heating block.
Always heat the hotend up to 280c-295c to tighten. You should hear a slight squeak when it takes the final turn. The point of this is that you will never reach those temps again unless you print materials like PEEK, for which you should use a PT-100 as an example.

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8 Reply by ME

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

foul_owl wrote:

Hi folks,

I have a folger 2020 with an e3dv6 3mm hotend. Printing with chi mei pa 747 abs filament made with a filastruder. (Using the same filament in another printer and it works great)

Using the 0.4mm nozzle that comes with the e3dv6, but it clogged the other day and has clogged several times since trying to unclog it.

First time I did the guitar string flossing method as usual. This has almost always worked for unclogging. Seemed to work, and printed fine for an hour, but then clogged again. It does not clog on the first layer, rather it clogs toward the middle of a print. Printing only calibration cubes at this point.

[...]

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

Did you try the cold pull method?

"    Heat to extrusion temperature and pull out the filament being used .
    Use a 0.4mm drill shank to clear the aperture.
    Insert PLA filament (preferably natural so you can see the contamination)
    and flush through the remaining original filament. You may need to keep
    clearing the aperture with the drill shank.

    Cool the extruder to 80°C with the drill shank in place to ensure the nozzle is clear.
    Send M302 command to disable cold extrusion check
    Remove the drill and then pull out the PLA.
    Inspect the end that comes out to see the culprit contamination.
    Send M302 command again to enable cold extrusion check"
[ https://asensar.com/blog/2014/cleaning- … -printers/ ]

I had a problem that my cleaning tool:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00PFI … &psc=1
broke in the hotend.

Used the above method and got the broken part out again:

http://www.upload-pictures.de/bild.php/97413,img4748nadelausputzNUORG.jpg

9 Reply by foul_owl

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

Seven months later and this issue is still not resolved.

Printing with ABS, not PLA.

So I tried cleaning the 0.4 mm nozzle, that didn't help.

I switched to a brand new 0.6 mm nozzle, and it clogged within a month or so. I thought the bed height was to blame, ie, if not properly calibrated then the nozzle will clog right away, that wasn't it either.

I then disassembled the entire e3dv6 and replaced with a brand new 0.4 mm nozzle. (One issue was the heatbreak could not be removed, so the nozzle had to be set relative to where the heatbreak was currently sitting, perhaps this is causing the clogging somehow.)

This brand new nozzle clogged on the first print, within an hour.

This hotend lasted me all of maybe six months. I bought it Jan 2016. It worked fine until July 2016. Feb 2017 and it's still not working properly.

What the hell is going on here?

10 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

I just want to confirm for my own sake. You say it is authentic. So that means you bought it from one of the three authorized sellers and installed it? Or did it come with the printer.

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11 Reply by heartless

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

FolgerTech does not offer E3D hotends. the Prussa machine typically comes with a MK8-10 type extruder & hotend.

If he has an E3D, it was installed later.

the heatbreak position IS important on an E3D, as is proper cooling of the cold side. You should be able to remove the heatbreak with everything warmed up... similar to removing the nozzle...

I have been running two E3d v6 hotends on two machines for nearly 2 years, using various materials, including carbon fiber filled, and very rarely experience a clog - and when i do it is usually an issue with the material itself... cheap filament will do that sometimes. hmm in the time I have had these hotends installed, I think I have had exactly 2 clogs... both of which were material related.

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12 Reply by foul_owl

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

I bought a genuine e3dv6 from filastruder, as they are the US retailer that comes up when I google for them.

It's definitely a real one.

The only filament I use is filament I have made with a filastruder, chi mei pa 747 abs, using a melt filter.

Could the actual extruder be an issue? I'm using a greg's extruder. Maybe the geometry of the extruder is screwy somehow and it's not getting enough torque? Or something about the retraction settings?

13 Reply by Tin Falcon

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

Yes take a look at retraction settings.
You may also want to try a roll of quality commercial filament.  .
Look at your homemade filament and your raw pellets under magnification pocket microscopes are a handy thing to have. 
If the only filament you have used is  your own home made filament of the same pellet batch you may have a material issue.

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14 Reply by heartless

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

definitely take a look at retraction - too much can cause heat creep which will cause clogs. going much more than 2-3 mms on an E3D is pushing your luck. I generally run mine around 1-1.5 max


I am not really familiar with the greg's extruders, so can't really comment on that aspect, but I would think you should be getting plenty of torque with a geared extruder such as that...

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
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15 Reply by Tin Falcon

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Re: e3dv6 nozzle clogging

I just want to confirm for my own sake. You say it is authentic. So that means you bought it from one of the three authorized sellers and installed it? Or did it come with the printer.

Carl there are more like 11  USA sellers listed on the ED3 Authorized dealers list.

I generally run mine around 1-1.5 max

My  retraction is set to 1mm

Soliddoodle 4 stock w glass bed------Folger Tech Prusa 2020 upgraded to and titan /aero extruder mirror bed
FT5 with titan/ E3D Aero------MP mini select w glass bed
MP Utimate maker pro-W bondtech extruder
Marlin/Repetier Host/ Slic3r and Cura