Clicking sound when printing  

RE: Clicking sound when printing

I had a similar noise  and spent ages gently feeling different parts during printing before discovering it was a rattle caused by a spatula on the floor of the enclosure that was partly propped up on some waste filament. It just wobbled due to vibration when the extruder  moved at certain locations. 🤣 

RE: Clicking sound when printing

Good Morning,

I have the same issue and I am in contact with Prusa for month now 🙁

Put your ear or phone mic on the x-motor and wait for the click 😉 it is the loudest at the shaft. At least it is in my case.
I created some videos for Prusa already. First we tought it is the firmware, the clicking with 4.x was the loudest, but it is not. Firmware 5 also has the issue, especially without the input shaping, but also with IS but not as noticable as the the x-axis moves faster.

I also got a new motor, which helped for some hours of print time, but the noise came back.

I think it is getting louder as the motor warms up, for me it is the x-axis motor and it is the loudest if I put my ear on the shaft instead of the motor-block.

The next step is to send my printer in. As it is a Kit, Prusa is a little complicated about warranty etc. This is something I do not like about Prusa, that it makes a difference for them, but it is what it is.

I will pack mine this week, send it to Prusa for inspection and repair. I have enough video footage for them so they cannot say I am seeing ghosts 😉 so I hope at the end, they cover the shipping and repair costs anyhow.

Get in contact with Prusa and if you want you can refer to me 😉 if this helps anything.

RE: Clicking sound when printing

Thanks for the info. 
would be interesting how much the inspection costs. 
and how do you ship your printer as it is a kit? 

RE: Clicking sound when printing

Ha, this is the reason why I struggled for so long 🙁 both packaging is a challenge ( https://help.prusa3d.com/guide/packing-i3-printer-for-return-custom-packing-material_229855) and pricing which is unclear for me right now, as if it is a production problem is covered by PRUSA.

I even thought about taking a ride to Prague and deliver it in person, but it is still a few hours of train time 🙁

Anyhow, I just thought, if I do not do it, I will get grumpy everytime I hear the click 😀 even though the printer is in the enclosure and less noticeable, on the other hand, if the can figure out whats the problem, others benefit from it as well.

Will start the packaging especially fining a box 😉 this week 😀

RE: Clicking sound when printing

I found out that the x-axis motor is responsible for the sound, like at Herbert's. Trying to find a solution with support today.

RE: Clicking sound when printing

Looking forward to your findings 🙂

RE:

For me the clicking comes from the gearbox.I think it is from the retracting. Notice on your Video, it comes always if the extruder retract.

My solution:

 I open the gearbox, clean it an regrease it. Recalibrate and the clicking was gone. After longer time, the clicking comes a little bit back. I do the procedure again with cleaning etc and it was gone again. 

RE:

It is not the X-Axis Motor. It is the Extruder Motor. I think, some dirt in the gearbox makes the motor need more force to retract and he  skips or something. But I am not really sure. If anyone have a correct solution from the support, pls let know us. 

RE: Clicking sound when printing

It was the x-axis motor. I had a chat with support yesterday. I removed the x-axis motor and ran the selftest (which failed obviously). But no clicking during the selftest.

You can see in my video, that the clicking was hearable always when the flattened part of the axis was pointing downwards.

Nevertheless, after running the selftest, I cleaned the pulley and the belt and reinstalled the motor. Another selftest and a small test print, and the clicking was gone.

Support thinks that there was some dirt or a rest of filament stuck at the pulley or the belt.

Posted by: @cloud1983

It is not the X-Axis Motor. It is the Extruder Motor. I think, some dirt in the gearbox makes the motor need more force to retract and he  skips or something. But I am not really sure. If anyone have a correct solution from the support, pls let know us. 

RE: Clicking sound when printing

The simplest test for this is printing a one layer height rectangle using the whole x-axis width.

Anyhow, for me it stopped as well with the new motor they have sent me, but started again after some hours of printing.

RE: Clicking sound when printing

The clicking sound is simply the skipping of any Stepper. Mostly the Extruderstepper, sometimes the X or Y-Stepper. 

RE: Clicking sound when printing

Had a similar Y-axis clicking noise in my factory-assembled MK4. Loosened the top screw on the mount, adjusted the belt alignment to center it as much as possible, re-tuned the belt tension, and it was almost completely gone. Just ignored it for a couple of days and started to print PA with a hot bed surface and it went away for good.

RE: Clicking sound when printing

Another time, the clicking noise was from some broken filament in the Nextruder that was not visible as it had fallen between the gap between the gear and the housing (Nextruder main plate). Only discovered when the Nextruder was taken part. My current practice is to use compressed gas to first blow through the filament entry path, then the little hole on the Nextruder main plate, and finally through the idler port itself.

RE: Hacer clic en el sonido al imprimir

Yesterday I contacted support to report an identical problem. In my case it appeared a few weeks ago after the penultimate update.It is impossible to know where the clicks are coming from. Support told me to clean the extruder with a brass brush, in case the remaining dirt could touch the last printed line. I commented that because of the noise it was almost impossible that this situation could happen. Later they told me to modify the filling and not to use the Grid. Today after doing these tests (without much hope), the noise has returned as usual. However, I decided to use the voltage test using the microphone of the cell phone, and it indicated little tension.I proceeded to tighten the X-axis belt and the noise has noticeably decreased. Now it makes those clicks with less intensity and very spaced in time.I am not an advanced user, but the only logic would be that with the Input Shaper and improvements in the speed, the previous tension was insufficient.IMG_6745

RE: Clicking sound when printing

@Cubo3d: Check the tension from the Springscrews from the extruder. Are they flush like in the assembling instruction?

 If they are to tight, the Extruder skips meanwhile the retracts and this makes eventually this noise in your video.  You can clean, degrease  and recalibrate the Extruder Gears. In my case it helped. 

RE: Hacer clic en el sonido al imprimir

Thank you!!!!!

RE: Clicking sound when printing

Hi, 

i have this "clicking/cracking" sound too especially after X-axis moves...Now i tried to investigate this...

I have an upgrade kit MK3s => MK4. During assembly it was an issue that the movement of the X-axis was very rough after fixing the bearings (i used the old rods and bearings) with the clamp/screws especially on the travel end on the right (not really sure if the prints of the mounts for them (left/right) are perhaps not fully parallel).

When i moved the extruder by hand left/right i can feel the roughness and i can hear the mentioned sound. I loosened the screws/clamp which hold the two lower bearings in place (4 screws)...and when they are nearly completely loose the sound disappeared and travel is more smooth...I moved/turned the bearings a bit parallel to the X-axis and retightned the screws and left them realatively loose that the can still hold the bearings...Now the sound is nearly gone...

Torsten

RE: Clicking sound when printing

Thanks a lot!. 

in my case I proceeded to make the adjustment mentioned above and finally the problem disappeared. At least this time it was exclusively a tension issue that I was able to correct.

RE: Clicking sound when printing

IMG_0561 (2)

So I just assembled my MK4 kit.  The only mods I made were a clear gearbox cover (Trianglelab) and changing the stock 0.4 brass nozzle with a 0.4 ObXidian nozzle (Printed Solid).

I could not load filament.  Eventually, I was able to load filament, but printing would quickly end with no extruding.

Prusa support said remove clear cover, replace with stock cover and install stock nozzle.  

Things did improve - had more extruding - but still clicking when printing.  The more I would loosen the idler screws, the less frequent the clicking, but still serious print quality problems.

Prusa sending out replacement idler lever - (it does seem tight to close and loosening the idler screws seemed to help).

Wondering if I should be checking anything else.  

Thank you.