1 Topic by paul99

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Topic: Press doesn't extrude

Got my Press yesterday and unfortunately doesn't seem to extrude. Total newbie at 3d printing
Using Soliprint, I extrude manually 50mm , that works.
But when I do a Z- offset calibration hardly anything comes out of the nuzzle onto the bed.
Same when I print a model. Nothing comes out of the extruder.
I thought it might be the loose drive gear - The drive gear did not spin freely. Still tried to tighten the grub screw but it was already tight. Followed these instructions:
support.solidoodle.com/hc/en-us/articles/204137290-Loose-Drive-Gea
Thought it might be a loose wire as in this post
.soliforum.com/topic/9314/initial-issues-with-the-sd-press-how-to-fix-them
Checked the continuity of the wires from motherboard to the connector at the extruder - all work.

If my extruder head is too close to the bed will it block the abs filament from getting out?
I've been trying to bring the extruder further from the bed using the Z offset but can't seem to get it off the bed by a few mm.

Any help appreciated! I can post a video if that helps.

2 Reply by Robny

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

If the nozzle is too close to the bed it can stop or hinder the filament from coming out of the nozzle, try starting with the bed a bit further away, begin with your offset around 3.6 and use a good sticky hairspray like aqua net or glue stick.

3 Reply by paul99 (edited by paul99 2015-03-06 21:40:00)

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

When I extrude 50mm it now goes thump thump thump and filament coming out irregularly.
I've checked the nozzle drive gear and its firm.
I've checked continuity  of the 4 wires going from the extruder to the motherboard. All are fine.
I'm at a loss what to do next.

4 Reply by seven2099 (edited by seven2099 2015-03-07 00:35:34)

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

Very simple fix.

this happened to me. Let me make a video to show you how to fix it.

Give me 15 minutes

Edit: Unfortunately I had to run out, but the video is shot and uploading. I'll link it here when its done.

Sorry to keep you waiting longer!

5 Reply by paul99

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

Cool I'll wait!

6 Reply by seven2099

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

Here you go! Let me know if it helps!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m5JehkBuEM

7 Reply by paul99 (edited by paul99 2015-03-07 16:00:21)

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

Thanks for that! But my drive gear is not slipping.
I did remove it and screw it back in place. Same issues.
So I soldered the wires to the extruder head - and set my Z offset to 3.85. (After running at least 30 calibrations that seems to work best)
And up to now have not had any extrusion issues.
Next problem though, the filament doesn't stick to the bed. Best I've managed so far is print a cube the size of half a sugar cube and then it stuck off the bed and got "glued" to the extruder!
I've used glue stick but that didn't work at all. A hair spray is what has worked best - I'm off to buy some different types, hopefully one of them will do the job.
Any further help on how to achieve better adherence to the bed is greatly appreciated!

8 Reply by wardjr

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

Change that z offset to squish that first layer a little more.

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9 Reply by workwesty (edited by workwesty 2015-03-08 03:01:52)

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

I discovered that the filament wasn't going straight into the hole and the bottom, and this was my theory is that if the gear wasn't pushing the filament straight down then it wouldn't go in the  hole on the top of the hotend, my proof for this was that when I pulled the filiament out after a jam most of the time it didn't have that nice pointy tip on the and so for me that meant that it wasn't getting to the heat.
I had an issue with mine jamming I realigned the extruder gear with the holes by going past the dread spring and moving the whole motor to the left a bit. The spring isn't so bad if you set it up before hand and treat it kind of like a key turning the whole front panel around the screw. Hope that makes sense....

10 Reply by paul99

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

Thanks all - I have no issues  with the extruder not extruding anymore-
Sill have some warping and  sticky issues on bigger prints.
Otherwise printer works great (touch wood)  for  small prints. Better than I expected!:)
This is too much fun!

11 Reply by Robny

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

paul99 wrote:

Thanks all - I have no issues  with the extruder not extruding anymore-
Sill have some warping and  sticky issues on bigger prints.
Otherwise printer works great (touch wood)  for  small prints. Better than I expected!:)
This is too much fun!

So what was the problem?

12 Reply by paul99 (edited by paul99 2015-03-08 22:05:45)

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Re: Press doesn't extrude

Incorrect calibration, using too high Z offset (5).
Probably a loose connection  in the extruder's plug. I soldered the 4 wires directly to the motor pins.
Bad adhesion to the bed - using glue stick did not work at all (still doesn't) but then read about hair spray which works most of the time.
Total newbie at this - Now I have a routine prior printing - there are a couple of things to do to avoid crashing the head in the bed etc. etc. etc.
Definitely  not a plug n play printer.
Thanks to this forum managed to solve most of the issues.