Once we finish up this print (the bulldog mount) we'll install our new parts and be ready to rock! Thanks for everyone's help!

You will love the E3D you will be able to print pretty much any type of filament you can find!!!

We're itching to get it on there with the new Bulldog XL. Just got the stock in disassembled. The parts are soaking in acetone. Once it's all clear we'll print out the parts for the Bulldog w/E3D and assemble that to the printer.. then the next upgrade will be a new power supply and carriage.

Thanks for the help everyone! We'll keep you posted.

You will love the E3D you will be able to print pretty much any type of filament you can find!!!

While the suggestion to get an E3D is great!!!... I normally suggest it myself just for the advantages it has over the stock hotend and added capabilities it has however there is no reason you shouldn't be able to print regular abs with the SD hotend that the printer comes with... which leads me to believe there is something else going on with your printer.... things to check on your printer that you may not be aware of:

1. Is the fan on the back of the printhead spinning? if not this can cause the filament to shoot out of the gap in the extruder.

2. Is the drive gear on the printhead's stepper motor aligned with the filament hole in the hotend? this also can cause the filament to shoot out of there if the gear is too far forward or back.

3. Does the filament extrude straight down when you are extruding into midair? if it curls continually then you probably do have a clog in the nozzle

One other thing the E3D while it is a great product does take a little 'modding' to make it fit and work with the SD printer, just the fact that you are using a 3d printer means you should be up to the task... in fact there are a few threads on this very forum that go into detail on how to install the E3D that I would suggest reading before ordering it

We did indeed order the E3D all metal hotend and the Bulldog XL which I will probably be working on this weekend if the E3D comes in..

To answer questions 1,2, and 3. Yes. All of those things seem to be fine.. The only thing we haven't tried is taking off the hotend and checking to see if there is an actual clog. Which we will do after this next print finishes. Are there any guides to walk us through the disassemble?

While the suggestion to get an E3D is great!!!... I normally suggest it myself just for the advantages it has over the stock hotend and added capabilities it has however there is no reason you shouldn't be able to print regular abs with the SD hotend that the printer comes with... which leads me to believe there is something else going on with your printer.... things to check on your printer that you may not be aware of:

1. Is the fan on the back of the printhead spinning? if not this can cause the filament to shoot out of the gap in the extruder.

2. Is the drive gear on the printhead's stepper motor aligned with the filament hole in the hotend? this also can cause the filament to shoot out of there if the gear is too far forward or back.

3. Does the filament extrude straight down when you are extruding into midair? if it curls continually then you probably do have a clog in the nozzle

One other thing the E3D while it is a great product does take a little 'modding' to make it fit and work with the SD printer, just the fact that you are using a 3d printer means you should be up to the task... in fact there are a few threads on this very forum that go into detail on how to install the E3D that I would suggest reading before ordering it

Thanks, there's definitely been a learning curve but I feel up to the task.  I'll certainly read up on it before trying anything.  I checked and the fan is spinning and the filament extrudes straight down.  How do I tell if the drive gear is aligned with the hole?  When it's printing I can see the filament going in and it's pretty well straight (not like its leaning and going in at an angle).

Madeline wrote:

elmoret wrote:

What'd you order?

Once its clogged, it won't matter what filament you try to push through it. 30mm/sec is really slow, by the way. I usually print at 150mm/sec. If you can't do 30 you definitely have a clog.

We ordered the Bulldog extruder.  It's not so much a problem of a clog that I can't fix, it's that it clogs repeatedly like it's just choking on the filament.

Just want to make sure you understand the difference between a bulldog extruder and an E3D all metal hot end?
You have a clogged hot end... Your extruder is working fine.
As the owner of both the Bulldog XL and the E3D I can verify that they work great together. 
Your new Bulldog will work about as well as your current extruder if you continue to use the SD hot end.

I do, it's just that I'm not quite as sure what all we ordered (my SO is working with the new printer too and he's the one that ordered the extruder and hot end.  I'm not sure what hot end it was he got).  I don't think the hot end has a clog in it that won't come out, but I could be wrong.  I've un clogged it many times and it always extrudes fine after that for a while.  I've been printing with the white filament again tonight and I'm five hours into a print and it hasn't clogged yet and is printing great.  But I know if I switch to a different filament it will clog as soon as I start the project.  I'm just not sure what's causing it to clog in the first place unless you think there is some sort of small clog in the hot end that I haven't been able to get out.

Edit: I just asked him and the E3D is what we ordered, it just hasn't arrived yet.

1. Is the fan on the back of the printhead spinning? if not this can cause the filament to shoot out of the gap in the extruder.

2. Is the drive gear on the printhead's stepper motor aligned with the filament hole in the hotend? this also can cause the filament to shoot out of there if the gear is too far forward or back.

3. Does the filament extrude straight down when you are extruding into midair? if it curls continually then you probably do have a clog in the nozzle

One other thing the E3D while it is a great product does take a little 'modding' to make it fit and work with the SD printer, just the fact that you are using a 3d printer means you should be up to the task... in fact there are a few threads on this very forum that go into detail on how to install the E3D that I would suggest reading before ordering it

elmoret wrote:

Madeline wrote:

That's good to know.  We ordered a really nice new extruder and hot end but haven't gotten them in mail yet.  I wanted to rule out everything else before resorting to replacing those, so that if the problem was some sort of error on my part, it wouldn't repeat itself with the new extruder.

What'd you order?

Once its clogged, it won't matter what filament you try to push through it. 30mm/sec is really slow, by the way. I usually print at 150mm/sec. If you can't do 30 you definitely have a clog.

We ordered the Bulldog extruder.  It's not so much a problem of a clog that I can't fix, it's that it clogs repeatedly like it's just choking on the filament.

Just want to make sure you understand the difference between a bulldog extruder and an E3D all metal hot end?
You have a clogged hot end... Your extruder is working fine.
As the owner of both the Bulldog XL and the E3D I can verify that they work great together. 
Your new Bulldog will work about as well as your current extruder if you continue to use the SD hot end.

yes, an e3d seems much more robust than the stock design but that doesn't explain the problem you are seeing.

Both of the times I've had a bad partial clog which I couldn't easily clear with a wire (including one this weekend) ended up being due to the brass tube coming loose in the peek creating a gap that would fill with half melted plastic while printing.  To clear mine, I unscrewed the tube from the peek while the unit was hot and popped out the plug of plastic inside.  After screwing it back in tight, it extruded like new.

A one piece metal hot end wouldn't have this problem, but that doesn't mean you cannot repair yours instead if you so choose.

Thanks.  I'll give that a try next time.

Madeline wrote:

wardjr wrote:

If I had a dollar for every time I've made this suggestion.....
Order the E3D all metal hot end from filastruder and stop fighting it.  You will wonder why you ever bothered with the stock SD hot end.

That's good to know.  We ordered a really nice new extruder and hot end but haven't gotten them in mail yet.  I wanted to rule out everything else before resorting to replacing those, so that if the problem was some sort of error on my part, it wouldn't repeat itself with the new extruder.

What'd you order?

Once its clogged, it won't matter what filament you try to push through it. 30mm/sec is really slow, by the way. I usually print at 150mm/sec. If you can't do 30 you definitely have a clog.

We ordered the Bulldog extruder.  It's not so much a problem of a clog that I can't fix, it's that it clogs repeatedly like it's just choking on the filament.

Both of the times I've had a bad partial clog which I couldn't easily clear with a wire (including one this weekend) ended up being due to the brass tube coming loose in the peek creating a gap that would fill with half melted plastic while printing.  To clear mine, I unscrewed the tube from the peek while the unit was hot and popped out the plug of plastic inside.  After screwing it back in tight, it extruded like new.

A one piece metal hot end wouldn't have this problem, but that doesn't mean you cannot repair yours instead if you so choose.

wardjr wrote:

If I had a dollar for every time I've made this suggestion.....
Order the E3D all metal hot end from filastruder and stop fighting it.  You will wonder why you ever bothered with the stock SD hot end.

That's good to know.  We ordered a really nice new extruder and hot end but haven't gotten them in mail yet.  I wanted to rule out everything else before resorting to replacing those, so that if the problem was some sort of error on my part, it wouldn't repeat itself with the new extruder.

What'd you order?

Once its clogged, it won't matter what filament you try to push through it. 30mm/sec is really slow, by the way. I usually print at 150mm/sec. If you can't do 30 you definitely have a clog.

wardjr wrote:

If I had a dollar for every time I've made this suggestion.....
Order the E3D all metal hot end from filastruder and stop fighting it.  You will wonder why you ever bothered with the stock SD hot end.

That's good to know.  We ordered a really nice new extruder and hot end but haven't gotten them in mail yet.  I wanted to rule out everything else before resorting to replacing those, so that if the problem was some sort of error on my part, it wouldn't repeat itself with the new extruder.

Nope the problem is well documented in the pages of this forum.  Good luck

If I had a dollar for every time I've made this suggestion.....
Order the E3D all metal hot end from filastruder and stop fighting it.  You will wonder why you ever bothered with the stock SD hot end.

That's good to know.  We ordered a really nice new extruder and hot end but haven't gotten them in mail yet.  I wanted to rule out everything else before resorting to replacing those, so that if the problem was some sort of error on my part, it wouldn't repeat itself with the new extruder.