1 Topic by prpickett (edited by prpickett 2014-09-09 18:42:03)

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Topic: Extruder keeps stripping / clicking (SOLVED)

Noticed an occasional clicking noise a couple days ago that has now progressed into continuous clicking from the extruder and it no longer will print. I can load an unload filament but after it reaches the nozzle and about a half an inch extrudes it starts clicking until the filament is stripped. I tried multiple filaments and measured with a micrometer and it is 1.75 +- .03 and round. It is also ABS. The extruder temp is set at 230C and I am assuming it is reaching temp since that is what the display shows and a small amount does extrude. I removed the extruder and cleaned the feed wheels and it continues to strip. Looking in the side of the extruder with the 2 wire harnesses (2 black wires, 1 red/1black wire) I noticed that the silver gear rotates until the clicking starts. I also noticed that the silver wheel moves slightly towards the back of the machine as it initially feeds.  I was hoping that someone could take a look at their feed wheels and verify that the silver (larger) one has a little bit of wobble in its axis. That is the only thing that seems a bit off. The spring on the release lever is attached and seems stiff. If anyone has suggestions for troubleshooting I will be grateful.

DaVinci 1.0 w/ repetier firmware, Andy's Carriage, E3D V6, Filastruder #1956, Filawinder

2 Reply by prpickett

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Re: Extruder keeps stripping / clicking (SOLVED)

I have tried both lowering and raising temp (200/245) and still not having any changes. I also used the provided wire to ensure that the nozzle is clear. I can force filament through the nozzle with pliers but with the head installed I still get the gears clicking. I'm still within my Amazon return window so I may just send it back for another although I'm pleased with how the Y-axis mounts turned out and don't really want to have to swap them again.

DaVinci 1.0 w/ repetier firmware, Andy's Carriage, E3D V6, Filastruder #1956, Filawinder

3 Reply by prpickett

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Re: Extruder keeps stripping / clicking (SOLVED)

Did some more searching and think that I may have a partially clogged extruder. Will try cleaning better this evening. Has anyone completely removed the nozzle from the extruder for soaking in acetone or should I just try the cold pull method. I really don't want to return this unit if I can get it working again. I was able to manually force a few inches of filament through the extruder and when I reassembled it printed the first layers pretty well but started clicking again and stripped as soon as it sped up for the higher layers. This is using that same settings that had previously worked well.

DaVinci 1.0 w/ repetier firmware, Andy's Carriage, E3D V6, Filastruder #1956, Filawinder

4 Reply by wardjr

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Re: Extruder keeps stripping / clicking (SOLVED)

A couple of things worth noting...
1. You have a clog of some sort and probably don't want to be in the habit of returning your printer every time this happens.
2. Highly saturated (moisture) filament can cause symptoms exactly like that of a clog and this is common during high humidity seasons.
I am not familiar with the DaVinci printers so I am no help when it comes to your question about the "Silver Gear"
You might try dehydrating your filament.

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5 Reply by prpickett

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Re: Extruder keeps stripping / clicking (SOLVED)

I am currently working on cleaning the extruder. I would like to soak the entire thing in acetone but don't want to damage any of the wires. I've removed the heater but am not sure if the thermister/thermocouple can be removed. It appears that there is some type of sealant covering the opening where it is installed. Has anyone completely disassembled the extruder head?

DaVinci 1.0 w/ repetier firmware, Andy's Carriage, E3D V6, Filastruder #1956, Filawinder

6 Reply by prpickett (edited by prpickett 2014-09-09 18:49:05)

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Re: Extruder keeps stripping / clicking (SOLVED)

Cleaned the extruder with acetone / wire reaming. Flushed by manually extruding filament until steady vertical stream. Suspect I gunked it up with a combination of performing temperature profiles on several filaments up to 250C without printing much in between. Also had a couple of failed prints that occurred why I wasn't watching and may have baked for a while without extruding. Lesson learned. I have also added a sponge filter for the filament and dropped by cartridge temp to 210C. Reasoning is that having the extruder at 210C waiting for the bed to heat and then heating to 230C for printing is better than having it sit at 230C while the bed heats. I was able to print one of Emmet's gear cubes from thingiverse and everything worked great.

DaVinci 1.0 w/ repetier firmware, Andy's Carriage, E3D V6, Filastruder #1956, Filawinder

7 Reply by edwardr

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Re: Extruder keeps stripping / clicking (SOLVED)

Actually the clicking is from having the print bed a fraction to high. try rotating all the screws by about 1/8th of a turn. Print a raft covering the entire print bed. If  no clicking it is good if not rinse and repeat. Once I got the clicking to go away no more 'filament jams' and good quality prints. Be especially careful with the back left hand corner which always seems to end up too high on mine if I run a calibration

8 Reply by DJMajickMan

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Re: Extruder keeps stripping / clicking (SOLVED)

edwardr wrote:

Actually the clicking is from having the print bed a fraction to high. try rotating all the screws by about 1/8th of a turn. Print a raft covering the entire print bed. If  no clicking it is good if not rinse and repeat. Once I got the clicking to go away no more 'filament jams' and good quality prints. Be especially careful with the back left hand corner which always seems to end up too high on mine if I run a calibration

Actually I had this same problem and it was a stuck piece of cracked filament in the tube not allowing the next load of filament to complete. Once extracted, it loaded fine until another cracked piece got stuck after which the heating element must have stayed hot to long and decoupled its cables. Got the unit RMA'd with XYZ only to have the replacement have a failing heat element as well. Another RMA later and I'm printing again.

Clicking had nothing to do with print bed location.