Topic: Melting / Extrusion problems
Tim,
After some tweaking and building a new assembly mount for the Filastruder, I was excited to actually get some filament to extrude. While it was still pretty gray, it was good to see my assembly working. Before I got through the initial phase of extruding to get clean filament, however, the motor started to bind up and eventually burned out. This was also while the heat was set much higher than the recommended temperature of 180 C, I had the heat at about 230 C just to ensure that the filament would extrude smoothly. Still though, it seemed that the filament was not melting properly causing the eventual destruction of the motor.
So, I went ahead and ordered the new, more powerful beta motor and set up the assembly again. This time, I again cranked the heat up to 230 C and waited for the filament to start oozing out of the tip, but it never happened. The heating element is definitely working, but it doesn't seem like the filament is melting properly for extrusion. I left the heat on at 230 C for probably 4 hours or so waiting on signs of proper melting point to start extruding, no oozing at all. I was able to stick a needle up the tip, so it does't seem like we have a clog there. I tried to turn the motor on slowly using a power supply controller with a knob to adjust auger speed, and again the motor binded up and would not move the auger. I heard a nice "pop" and I'm wondering if I burnt out this motor as well. My next step is to disassemble and soak the barrel in acetone so that I can check for bends, and also check the motor with no load on it to see if it is ruined. Do you have any suggestions or ideas as to why I am having so much trouble with melting and extruding? I really don't think the barrel is bent, but there was filament left in the barrel from the last run. But shouldn't leaving the heat on for that long and at that temperature heat it up enough to start extruding again?
Taylor Orr