26 Reply by napples

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Re: Motor Clogged?

Crap, yeah thats what I figured was meant originally. The hex side of my coupler sticks a bit too well when pressed all the way into the auger, so it doesn't slide as freely as it should. But I know how far the coupler can push in towards the motor, and have enough distance that it would allow that movement if the coupler was freed from the auger. Is the movement just to represent the distance, or is the movement necessary?

While running it at 180 and putting a teaspoon of pellets in, I noticed that I could see some pellets stationary in the barrel. They were under the auger, right at the barrel cut for the hopper (which is of course where I could see the pellets from). Seemed like that was an issue to me.

If I were to go to hobby lobby or something and get wiring specifically for this project, what would I be looking for? At this point I can only think that the stall prevention board is being funky because my wiring is a hackjob and having loss somewhere. So I'm going to start fresh yet again and see if that works as my final resort. Out of ideas

27 Reply by napples

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Re: Motor Clogged?

http://soliforum.com/i/?oBdMN3i.jpg

forgot to send this

28 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Motor Clogged?

That thrust bearing is assembled incorrectly, the rollers should be between the two washers. That could definitely be contributing to your issues.

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29 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Motor Clogged?

napples wrote:

Crap, yeah thats what I figured was meant originally. The hex side of my coupler sticks a bit too well when pressed all the way into the auger, so it doesn't slide as freely as it should. But I know how far the coupler can push in towards the motor, and have enough distance that it would allow that movement if the coupler was freed from the auger. Is the movement just to represent the distance, or is the movement necessary?

The movement is there to represent the distance.

napples wrote:

While running it at 180 and putting a teaspoon of pellets in, I noticed that I could see some pellets stationary in the barrel. They were under the auger, right at the barrel cut for the hopper (which is of course where I could see the pellets from). Seemed like that was an issue to me.

Yes, that is odd. Could you shoot a video of this happening?

napples wrote:

If I were to go to hobby lobby or something and get wiring specifically for this project, what would I be looking for? At this point I can only think that the stall prevention board is being funky because my wiring is a hackjob and having loss somewhere. So I'm going to start fresh yet again and see if that works as my final resort. Out of ideas

I don't see any reason to believe it is the wiring at this point, I think it is mechanical assembly. When the motor stalls, how many amps are being shown on the display of the stall protection board?

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30 Reply by napples (edited by napples 2017-04-07 17:20:49)

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Re: Motor Clogged?

http://soliforum.com/i/?QQh2Nfo.jpg

sorry, bad picture. This is how it was in the previous picture too, I just didn't push the parts back together cause I got excited that I was able to see pellets and grinding out the back


edit: crap I just saw your other post. I gotta run outta the office for a bit but when I come back I'll take a gander

31 Reply by napples

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Re: Motor Clogged?

The board shows ~1.5 to 1.65 A when the light goes red

I cant attach the video, tried the smallest size I can and the server is giving me issues. Sending to your email

32 Reply by napples

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Re: Motor Clogged?

After reassembling everything and being very confident that I couldn't do anything more correctly, still having the same issue. I fed it teaspoons of pellets and when it started extruding, it went from 7 RPM and showing like .5A down to <1 RPM and 1.6A.

I can see pellets that are stuck between the barrel and auger, and if I try and push at them through the little window and flick them out of the way, it doesn't seem to help

33 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Motor Clogged?

I got the video. One more photo request - could you send one of the hopper so I can see how it was mounted during the video?

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34 Reply by napples

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Re: Motor Clogged?

http://soliforum.com/i/?hTsGAYY.jpg
http://soliforum.com/i/?yfK6pGl.jpg

I've tried it with this orientation as well as turned 180degrees, didn't seem to have any change

35 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Motor Clogged?

Thanks for that.

From your video, there's an excessive barrel to auger clearance - in other words, the barrel's ID should be smaller or the auger should be larger. That is why the pellets don't move forward when only a small portion is loaded in. I don't suspect that is causing the stalling issues, though. I think it is possible that the gearmotor was damaged early on by the shaft collar not being in the right position and allowing thrust force to be transmitted to the motor.

I think the next step would be providing a replacement gearmotor, barrel, and auger. But since those parts may get replaced anyway, there's no harm in trying higher currents. Run it until the gearmotor is stalling like you described in post 32, and turn the CC setting up one turn at a time while watching the current. You can take it up to 2.5A - damage is certainly possible and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone else, but perhaps your stall protection board is miscalibrated (limiting current too low).

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36 Reply by napples

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Re: Motor Clogged?

This definitely allowed me to add more pellets(teaspoons) at a time without it stalling up on me, and after letting it go for a few minutes operating at what I would assume to be "normal", I added about 2 tablespoons of pellets at once, and it's stalling right now reading ~3.1 A

37 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Motor Clogged?

Hmm. I would expect 3.1A, if an accurate measurement, to both trip the power supply and to bend the barrel. I suspect that reading isn't correct. If the barrel isn't bent I'd try dialing it up further.

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38 Reply by napples

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Re: Motor Clogged?

Earlier this week I took the nozzle apart to take a look inside and see if anything was wrong, should the end of my auger be nearly flush with my nozzle? I counted the visible threads on the assembly instructions and was able to turn my barrel and nozzle to a very similar "timing", but internally it seemed like there was a pretty big void for the molten plastic to reside, getting stuck on the threads and such. I also didn't know what to do with the little screen and the black bushing to hold it in, I skipped it when assembling and didnt bother to put it on when I had the nozzle off again because I figured it would cause more of a clog. Should I put that on and see if I'm getting clogged by contaminants?

39 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Motor Clogged?

The auger should stick out 2-10mm beyond the barrel, there's a photo of the measurement check in the instructions.

The screen is a good idea once you're making filament in order to keep contaminants from showing up in the filament, but leaving it out doesn't cause problems.

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40 Reply by napples

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Re: Motor Clogged?

I've probably turned it another 10 turns or so. And you're totally right because I remember when I bent the previous barrel, my reading was definitely not this high. I checked all the wires, they all seem to be sound. It's started making some weird noises but still turning.. going to crank it a bit more, it does still whine periodically

41 Reply by napples

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Re: Motor Clogged?

Actually these noises seem pretty clear that either the auger is scraping the ID of the barrel or the barrel is very close to bending. Either way I think it makes sense to save pellets since I'm starting to get low. My only other thought is that, when I replaced the previous barrel, I had to cut the insulation off, which means this barrel doesn't have it on as tight. Suppose the heat isn't creeping up far enough to melt the plastic?

42 Reply by napples

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Re: Motor Clogged?

So what's our next plan of action here? Was kindof awaiting instructions on where to send the parts

43 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Motor Clogged?

I suspect a problem with the stall protection board or gearmotor, since 3.1A should definitely bend the barrel. It is possible that the gearmotor was damaged when the first problem occurred (shaft collar in the wrong place).

Get in touch via the contact form on the Filastruder site if you'd like to set up a parts exchange.

https://www.filastruder.com/pages/contact-us

EDIT: Looked at the parts that were returned, the gearbox was significantly deformed from thrust load:

http://soliforum.com/i/?sn2j5tI.jpg

This indicates that the kit was not assembled correctly.  Possible causes are the shaft collar being positioned incorrectly, or not tightened sufficiently and slipping. It is important that the hex socket joining the geatmotor and auger has a few millimeters of axial play, this is a way of checking that the auger is not pushing against the gearbox. The sounds you heard were likely from the gearbox being damaged.

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