1 Topic by ekul3e3 (edited by ekul3e3 2015-06-25 17:24:29)

  • ekul3e3
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-02-12
  • Posts: 24

Topic: jamming/skipping steps/clicking extruder

hey guys,
I know this is a common topic but do you guys have any solutions for the extruder jamming or skipping steps?

i get this problem especially with PLA but i also get it with ABS.

Part way through a print the extruder will start to click and the plastic will start to flow way slower or not at all. Then sometimes it will recover and leave a nasty line in the middle of the print or it will never recover and start "air printing".

i have already flipped my fan around, and mounted a separate fan blowing on the print and extruder. I have also tested (on PLA) temperatures from 180 to 235 with little change in the jamming

usually to fix it i can just pull out the plastic cut off the end and then put it back in but then it'll happen again in a couple seconds/minutes

Have you guys tried anything else or have any other mods. that work for you?

2 Reply by Chapin

  • Chapin
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-09-05
  • Posts: 17

Re: jamming/skipping steps/clicking extruder

Are you sure that the extruder wheel is turning? Check the tightness of the set screw on the extruder wheel. This was loose for a great number of us. If that's tight, and its still doing it, I would suggest putting a mark on the wheel and see if its actually still turning. This should tell you if its a problem with the filament or extruder still.

If the wheel isn't turning, just wiggling, and making a thump/tick sound, you may have a broken connection to the extuder stepper motor. I had to solder the connection back together, then finally replace the cable when that failed again. Solidoodle worked relatively well with me on this, even so far as to resend the extension cable when the wrong one was sent to me initially.

3 Reply by ekul3e3

  • ekul3e3
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-02-12
  • Posts: 24

Re: jamming/skipping steps/clicking extruder

Yeah i tightened the extruder wheel already but ill definitely take a look a the connection to the stepper!

4 Reply by madfalcon81

  • madfalcon81
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2014-08-05
  • Posts: 242

Re: jamming/skipping steps/clicking extruder

I had the same problem, but only with PLA. ABS however, on taller prints, splits layers. Both problem not solved yet.

Fat kids are harder to kidnap!

5 Reply by chenderson

  • chenderson
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-23
  • Posts: 29

Re: jamming/skipping steps/clicking extruder

I had this issue when trying to print with the lid closed. Seems the angle when the print head was closest to the door was too much and would cause my stepper to thump. Lid propped open and a printed spool holder and I have had 0 issues since. Don't forget to adjust your extruder stepper voltage to 1.5v

6 Reply by mrallinwonder

  • mrallinwonder
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-03-08
  • Posts: 35

Re: jamming/skipping steps/clicking extruder

I haven't had the thump of death printing about half a dozen small pieces with low complexity - these are small boxes with mostly straight runs, no detail.
Done all the usual fixes from tightened screws to flipped fan to monokote/hairspray etc on the glass, latest Soliprint, rubber band holding wires etc etc. Running 230 extruder, 100 base. If it matters, bridging is just awful, so far I haven't cared.

Today I tried printing a lithophane of a scan with lots of detail - after the flat base printed, thump started after maybe 10 seconds of the detail. Cleaned it out, started again.

Turns out for fine detail the extruder motor spends most of its time in very short forward then reversing bursts for each detail bit.
Watching the filament, it just can't keep up, so it gets ground away.

If I pause, remove/trim/reinsert filament, those short forward/back bursts grind it away again almost immediately.

So...

  • Remove all fine detail from designs?

  • Find some other way to slice detail?

Thoughts?

ed

7 Reply by wardjr

  • wardjr
  • wardjr
  • Moderator
  • Offline
  • From: Minnesota
  • Registered: 2013-06-10
  • Posts: 5,624

Re: jamming/skipping steps/clicking extruder

More heat, slow down retraction and possibly decrease the amount of retraction.

Printit Industries Model 8.10 fully enclosed CoreXY, Chamber heat
3-SD3's & a Workbench all fully enclosed, RH-Slic3r Win7pro, E3D V6, Volcano & Cyclops Hot End
SSR/500W AC Heated Glass Bed, Linear bearings on SS rods. Direct Drive Y-axis, BulldogXL
Thanks to all for your contributions

wardjr's Website

8 Reply by workwesty

  • workwesty
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-15
  • Posts: 45

Re: jamming/skipping steps/clicking extruder

My press extruder was click and jam also, it was only on prints with a large surface area like a 4 inch badge for example what I discovered is that if it caught the click quickly I could fix it by pressing down on very slightly on the front of the print bed this told me that I needed to re-calibrate my z axis just slightly. I hope that helps.

9 Reply by mrallinwonder (edited by mrallinwonder 2015-07-02 17:34:35)

  • mrallinwonder
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-03-08
  • Posts: 35

Re: jamming/skipping steps/clicking extruder

Slaphead, just realized...what I changed to GET the thump was build and install this extruder fan:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:852826
Its mount has a big hole over the drive gear that I guess lets out the cooling air from the stock cooling fan so it misses the top of the nozzle where the filament enters.
When I put back the stock clear shroud that redirects cooling air down and over the top of the nozzle heat break...no more thump.
So...the stock cooling into the nozzle is marginal at best. In an ideal world there would be way more cooling air so the entry to the nozzle stays cold.