SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — New build issues

Re: New build issues

2019-03-19T21:16:12Z

I've replied to your email, please use either email or the forum for support, not both, in order to keep conversation from becoming fragmented.

If you sourced your own barrel, you no longer have a Filastruder - the interior surface of your barrel, as well as clearances, could be different, resulting in different performance.

Also if you're using the included pellets, they have a pretty low MFR (melt flow rate). 7 inches per minute is on the low side, but not crazy low, for a low MFR plastic.

Re: New build issues

2019-03-19T20:56:08Z

After milling a new nipple and getting a flange that is actually square, I was finally able to get everything back together and get extruding. The motor finally chugs along without rotating the nipple or stalling. However, the rate is super slow! After letting it run for an hour to insure it was at a steady state I measured its output. Over a 10 minute window it only extruded ~ 66 inches of filament weighting 4.30g. At this speed, it will take 39!!! hours to extrude 1kg of filament. Surely this isn't normal. Any ideas ?

Re: New build issues

2019-03-15T17:06:47Z

While attempting to get the nipple on good and tight into the flange, I actually bent it :-/ That milled out portion weakened it more than anticipated. I'm buying a replacement and will work on getting it milled out and reassembled on Monday. If it's still binding up then, I suppose it might be the auger ? I'll try letting it run awhile with no plastic and let you know. While I was ordering parts, I ordered a brass coupling as well. Figured if I was still having issues I could attempt that - higher heat conductivity in that region couldn't be a bad thing, right ?

And yes, the thermocouple is in the hole on the nozzle and then the cable is routed on the outside of the insulation so it's not sitting directly against the heating collar. I did shred the insulation a bit and will probably need to get a replacement. The adhesive on the wrapping piece didn't let go cleanly and just kind of ripped the paper when I was removing it. Where can I order something similar ?

Also - how large should the melt zone be ? There was melted plastic about halfway up the nipple. That amount seems like it'd be an awful lot of extra stress on the motor ?

Re: New build issues

2019-03-14T21:40:42Z

I'd say reassemble and try again, if you still have trouble, we can send a new barrel/flange and auger.

It might be good to run it for a bit without any plastic first, just for troubleshooting purposes.

The thermocouple is in the nozzle, right? Not under the heater?

Re: New build issues

2019-03-14T16:40:51Z

I disassembled it - bit of a chore with all the melted plastic! The auger is not impacting the brass nozzle and everything seems free of debris. The collar is lightly rubbing against the flange - but not enough to cause it to bind. One thing I did note is that the flange itself is not square with the nipple - it's off by a couple degrees. The nipple is relatively straight though - after baking all the plastic out of it and removing the auger, I threw it on the lathe and I can run the auger through easily by hand without any significant rubbing.

Any other ideas ?

Re: New build issues

2019-03-13T22:28:52Z

Could be your auger actually touching and digging in to the back of the nipple maybe?

Re: New build issues

2019-03-13T22:09:03Z

So everything is now assembled, however, once the unit had reached temperature, the pipe nipple was rotating - I let it sit at 180C for an hour and tried again. It would extrude a little, then start to rotate... so I allowed the nipple to turn almost a half turn, thinking it was merely just a little loose before it stopped turning and stalled. I then bumped it up to 190C - extruded a little, then it started turning again and stalled. I bumped it up to 200C let it sit awhile - it started extruding while sounding like it was struggling quite a bit and then eventually stopped, hitting the current limit and stalling, but no turning this time.

Any ideas ?

New build issues

2019-03-12T15:55:04Z

Greetings,

Attempting to get my new Filastruder assembled and seem to be having problems with the stall board. I've adjusted the pots as indicated and connected the heating collar - the display shows an input of 12.5V but an output of only 6V. Current is limited appropriately (though with the # of turns it was at ~ 2.0A - I turned it back to get it down to 1.6A).

Adjusting the voltage pot all the way down to the click and then turning it up results in a smooth increase up to 6.0V and then no further increases occur. Did I get a defective board ?

EDIT:

In case anyone else has this issue, the directions are merely wrong. In order to see an output voltage of 11.5, you must disconnect the heating collar. And these values are the actual outputs, not the max set points.