Perpetual heat creep on the Mini
So, I've been having a number of extrusion issues with my mini. I replaced the PTFE tube with the correct length and of course that shrank over time. I replaced the heat break with the bondtech one and used thermal paste, eventually that tube shrunk as well and I replaced it with a slightly longer one. Even with all of this and rebuilding the hot end several times any long print greater than 4 hours will end up failing and eventually clogging the nozzle. I believe that the heat creep is unavoidable in this design and I'm disappointed that there is really no other solution for me. I've done successful cold pulls after the failed prints and there seems to be no indication of anything stuck in the nozzle. I am out of answers. I almost feel that I might want to return this mini only because it just has not been reliable for me. Any feedback and thought are kindly appreciated.
RE: Perpetual heat creep on the Mini
Have you made any progress? I seem to be having the same problem. I had no issues with the first few prints on PLA. I switched to PETG where I'm having to print with higher temps. I can do short prints, but as soon as its been going for 6-8 hours, I start to hear clicking of the extruder and eventually it stops extruding. This has happened to me multiple times and its only a few days old.
It also now makes a noise when trying to load filament. I've played with the tension but that doesn't help. I also removed the tubing from the extruder to eliminate any possibility of clogs or issues in the hot end, and the extruder still buzzes trying to push the filament through when not connected to the hot end. Any ideas?
RE: Perpetual heat creep on the Mini
Have you made any progress? I seem to be having the same problem. I had no issues with the first few prints on PLA. I switched to PETG where I'm having to print with higher temps. I can do short prints, but as soon as its been going for 6-8 hours, I start to hear clicking of the extruder and eventually it stops extruding. This has happened to me multiple times and its only a few days old.
It also now makes a noise when trying to load filament. I've played with the tension but that doesn't help. I also removed the tubing from the extruder to eliminate any possibility of clogs or issues in the hot end, and the extruder still buzzes trying to push the filament through when not connected to the hot end. Any ideas?
Unfortunately I have not made any progress. I'm limiting my prints to less than 4 hours for now. I would suggest you doing a cold pull, specifically follow the cold pull procedures for the mini as they are slightly different. Next I would check that the PTFE tube has not shrunk for you. If so, you should replace it with the spare as per the instructions. If that fails, then next step would be to rebuild the hot end. Did you have this problem with PTEG as well ?
RE: Perpetual heat creep on the Mini
I've only had this problem with PETG on the mini. And keep in mind my mini is brand new with maybe only 40 hours of print time on it. I really shouldn't have any issues that require me rebuilding or replacing parts already.
RE: Perpetual heat creep on the Mini
I am having the same issue. Mine will clog after the first layer everytime.
I have replaced the heat tube, heat block and nozzle, I upgraded to the bondtech extruder ($100) and it still does this. The only way to avoid this is to slow down prints to 50% or greater and modifying the maximum extruder speed, acceleration and jerk. Even then sometimes it still happens. at this point it would have been cheaper to just buy the MK3s+ kit for how much money I have spent it replaced parts trying to solve this. It's clear to me it's something to do with the print head.
I'm at a loss for this. I know someone who has had their mini longer than me and it prints just fine and they have used it much more then me.