1 Topic by Torque (edited by Torque 2015-02-25 23:18:07)

  • Torque
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Topic: Ready to give up on the stock hotend

I had my press working pretty damn well for about 3 weeks or so until it all went wrong. I experienced the wire failures to the extruder stepper that have been detailed elsewhere. I have now replaced 3 of the 4 connections on that cable bundle, and solidoodle is shipping me a new wire.

However, I cannot get the filament to extrude. With the hot end removed from the extruder assembly and mount, I can push filament through it manually. When I hold the hot end assembly in place in the extruder assembly using pliers, the extruder gear pushes filament through the hot end fairly well. However, when I mount the hot end properly and secure the metal plate (heatsink?) with the thumbscrew, the extruder fails, and simply grinds down the filament. It seems like the hot end isn't lining up properly with the channel in the mount, but it was printing well two weeks ago, and I don't see how the metal could have bent.

The stepper moves the filament perfectly when the hot end is not installed.

Do you have any suggestions on what could be causing these issues?

Alternatively, I am considering giving up completely on the stock hotend and buying and installing an E3D v6 as detailed in MacgayverX's thread.

2 Reply by android78

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Re: Ready to give up on the stock hotend

If you hold the lever for the filament tensioner back, are you able to manually feed the filament through (when it's hot)?
I'd probably check that the extruder wheel is lined up properly. It needs the middle of the channel in the wheel that the filament goes through to be lined up with the face of the metal before you put the front metal radiator part on.
Also, check that the bearing on the other side is not getting stuck on anything, preventing it from turning.

TBH, I'm seriously considering doing the E3D mod for this printer.  The stock extruder design is pretty terrible and I don't see any way they (we) will be able to make this work for PLA.  It's just tough to justify spending any more money on this when there seem to be so many other issues that need addressing.

3 Reply by Fredjikrang (edited by Fredjikrang 2015-02-26 00:29:36)

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Re: Ready to give up on the stock hotend

I had this same problem. My printer just stopped printing seemingly randomly one day. What I did take the hot end out, clean it out with a pin, and clean all of the mating faces on the extruder. Then I put it all back together cold, and kind of wiggled the hot end as I tightened everything down. Since then it has worked perfectly. Well, as perfectly as the extruder can with its current design.

Also, make sure that you clean the cold end of the hot end really well! Sometimes a little bit of melted filament can get stuck there, and it doesn't quite get hot enough to melt and let new filament through.

4 Reply by MacGyverX

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Re: Ready to give up on the stock hotend

lol MacgayverX

SD Press - v1 (Pre-order) / RAMPs /w DRV8825's / Cyclops (25w) / Dual Bowden / Mk8 Gear / MK2b PCB Heat bed /w custom replacement Z / PEI Bed
SD2 / E3D v6 / Direct Drive / Mk8 Gear / RAMBo v1.3 / PEI Bed / Anti Z backlash mod / Ikea Expedite enclosure.
Both Driven by Octoprint (devel) via a RPi B+ / Neopixel status alerts / GPIO Controlled SSR / (SD2) 450 Watt PSU for remote power-up/shutdown.

5 Reply by jagowilson

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Re: Ready to give up on the stock hotend

MacGyverX wrote:

lol MacgayverX

6 Reply by Torque

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Re: Ready to give up on the stock hotend

Whoops. Sorry about that.

7 Reply by Torque

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Re: Ready to give up on the stock hotend

I've attached an image of the extruder assembly without the front heatsink cover on.

It seems as though the extruder gear is to far to the right, and the filament bends around it. This isn't an issue above the gear, but below the gear, the channel is a little bit wider than the filament, and it seems like the filament is off center as it leaves the channel.
Could this be the cause of my trouble?

I just don't understand why it worked before. I haven't touched any of the hardware there, so I don'y know why it stopped working.

I'd like to get this printing, and get some more experience before I start tearing it apart to install aftermarket parts.

Thanks,

Torque

8 Reply by Fredjikrang

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Re: Ready to give up on the stock hotend

No picture.

9 Reply by Torque

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Re: Ready to give up on the stock hotend

Sorry. I Think this should work now.

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