1 Topic by HestonKent (edited by HestonKent 2014-08-01 18:51:47)

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Topic: PLA just LOVES to get jammed in the stock PEEK barrel. Any help?

I've made the complete switch from ABS to PLA since it doesn't smell near as bad as ABS and it seems to have a better build quality and the lower bed temps are very cool.

However the filament will often expand within the PEEK of my extruder before it gets to the hot end, in the middle of a print, and will completely jam the extruder. The only known way I have found around this is to set the speed really high (around 50 mm/s across the board in slic3r and at 200% in repetier) and then set the retraction rate to around .3mm which inevitably causes huge blobs of filament to collect around the prints due to my extruder just slopping the extra filament around.

Does anyone have any idea of how to use PLA effectively in a stock extruder? I'd really, really like to stay away from the answers telling me "Go buy an e3d". I dont have the extra funds to do so right now nor do I honestly have the time to install the thing.

Edit: Oh and yes I forgot my printer model. Solidoodle 2 expert model.

2 Reply by elmoret

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Re: PLA just LOVES to get jammed in the stock PEEK barrel. Any help?

You could try putting a fan on the hotend blowing across the PEEK.

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3 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: PLA just LOVES to get jammed in the stock PEEK barrel. Any help?

You could try reducing the temperature until it is the lowest you can go and still extrude at the speed you are printing.  I also found at times that I couldn't even print ABS reliably without a fan on the PEEK, so that may help as well.

4 Reply by AZERATE

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Re: PLA just LOVES to get jammed in the stock PEEK barrel. Any help?

You really should just go get an E....um...nevermind wink  Just have to throw that out there.
Whats temps are you running? Also, what brand PLA? Some brands are superior to others, fluctuate in melting points, and in my experience, JustPLA clogs every week at least.

+1 on the fan. This will help your chances of a successful print.

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5 Reply by HestonKent

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Re: PLA just LOVES to get jammed in the stock PEEK barrel. Any help?

IanJohnson wrote:

You could try reducing the temperature until it is the lowest you can go and still extrude at the speed you are printing.  I also found at times that I couldn't even print ABS reliably without a fan on the PEEK, so that may help as well.

Interesting, i'll give this a try.

I do have a 40mm fan that I bought a while back and havent used, but i'm not sure what i'll use for a power supply in the meantime. May just have to rig up two 9v batteries or something to power it just to see if it makes the biggest difference.

6 Reply by grob

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Re: PLA just LOVES to get jammed in the stock PEEK barrel. Any help?

If it's a 12V fan, you can splice it into the power for the fan on the extruder motor.

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7 Reply by HestonKent

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Re: PLA just LOVES to get jammed in the stock PEEK barrel. Any help?

grob wrote:

If it's a 12V fan, you can splice it into the power for the fan on the extruder motor.

Yep it's a 12V fan. Does anyone have a guide out there for doing something like that? I'm up for trying that, i just don't really know a whole lot about electronics and would really like to not burn my house down.

8 Reply by grob

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Re: PLA just LOVES to get jammed in the stock PEEK barrel. Any help?

Hehe, fear not: there's not much you can do to kill the printer or yourself - it's all <= 12V in there, which unless you have very specific heart conditions and terrible luck will not be hazardous. Be more careful of burns from the hot-end.

Just follow the one rule: pull the plug out of the wall before working on it.

That said, red connects to red, black to black, tape it up and you're good. smile

Minimum tools - side-cutters to strip the insulation, soldering iron is optional (you can just twist+tape at a pinch), electrical tape

Look up soldering and wire stripping on google for tips!

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9 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: PLA just LOVES to get jammed in the stock PEEK barrel. Any help?

Depending on the extruder, mounting the fan may be as simple as getting a longer M3 screw for one of the lower corners of the motor and putting it through the upper corner of the fan.  You might need a few washers as well to shim it out to the right spot.

http://solidoodletips.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/fan.jpg