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Extruder motor broken  

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Tom
 Tom
(@tom)
Trusted Member
Extruder motor broken

Hi,

Yesterday evening I started a 12hour print, the morning after I woke up and saw that the printhead was lifted up, but the print itself didn't got any higher. (No extrusion anymore). So the printer was still printing without extruding filament.
Today I tried another print and watched it closely and indeed after around 1 hour the printer stopped extruding filament, the motor seemed to had troubles with getting filament out. I measured the 2 screws and they where still 13m, so not to much pressure.
I unloaded the filament, first tried with the settings but ofcourse didn't worked. So I needed to do it manually.

Now I notice that the extruder isn't moving anymore at all. I checked the cables and they where plugged in right + seem to be OK. I guess that the motor was at it end of power and lost it all now...

The printer is around 1 month old, how do I apply to receive another motor? What should I test or try first?

Please help me with this issue 🙂

I'll post a video about my issue asap.

Posted : 20/10/2016 8:00 pm
Tom
 Tom
(@tom)
Trusted Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Extruder motor broken

here is the video of my issue:

Posted : 20/10/2016 8:14 pm
Omikron
(@omikron)
Estimable Member
Re: Extruder motor broken

here is the video of my issue:

It certainly seems like something is not working with your E-stepper. I would advise carefully checking the cable from beginning to end for any breaks or damage, and then re-seating the connector to the Mini Rambo board and see if it still behaves the same way. If so, you indeed have a dead extruder, and you should be able to receive a replacement via email support.

Posted : 20/10/2016 9:44 pm
PJR
 PJR
(@pjr)
Antient Member Moderator
Re: Extruder motor broken

The extruder motor is disabled when the extruder is not at printing temperature...

Peter

Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…

Posted : 20/10/2016 9:58 pm
ayourk
(@ayourk)
Reputable Member
Re: Extruder motor broken

So then another way to test the stepper motor would be to temporarily move it to a known axis (example X-axis) and try it via that axis instead. If the motor runs, you know you have a working motor.

Dimensions PNG

and an 8 inch (200mm) or greater caliper is recommended.

Posted : 20/10/2016 10:01 pm
Tom
 Tom
(@tom)
Trusted Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Extruder motor broken

The extruder motor is disabled when the extruder is not at printing temperature...

Peter

That still wouldn't explain why my print didn't finish.
At around 1 cm height, the printer stopped extruding filament, even when it was at around 195 degrees.

Posted : 20/10/2016 10:59 pm
Tom
 Tom
(@tom)
Trusted Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Extruder motor broken

So then another way to test the stepper motor would be to temporarily move it to a known axis (example X-axis) and try it via that axis instead. If the motor runs, you know you have a working motor.

you are totally right.... this indeed works, so the motor seems not to be broken. But... I have to say, my prints always do start for a few hours, but after some time the motor did stop working, so maybe the motor lost its powers? Is that even possible?

Trying another +- 6h print right now.

Posted : 20/10/2016 11:13 pm
Tom
 Tom
(@tom)
Trusted Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Extruder motor broken

The print wasn't that far... at around 1mm height the extruder stopped extruding filament. So it seems to me that it really did loose power/strenghth...

Does anyone else have anymore ideas or sugestions?

Posted : 20/10/2016 11:41 pm
Omikron
(@omikron)
Estimable Member
Re: Extruder motor broken

The extruder motor is disabled when the extruder is not at printing temperature...

Peter

Noted.

So then a better test would be to raise the carriage up away from the heatbed, pre-heat the nozzle first, then do the same test.

Posted : 21/10/2016 12:47 am
ayourk
(@ayourk)
Reputable Member
Re: Extruder motor broken

The print wasn't that far... at around 1mm height the extruder stopped extruding filament. So it seems to me that it really did loose power/strenghth...

Does anyone else have anymore ideas or sugestions?

Maybe your heater is losing heat? Do you have some way to monitor the temperature in real-time like OctoPrint? Do you have some sort of heat gun or other temp sensing that can handle 300 degrees celsius like a food thermometer? Maybe you need to check the thermisistor connection, not the motor connections? Maybe the printer is losing connectivity on "sensing" the temperature.

Dimensions PNG

and an 8 inch (200mm) or greater caliper is recommended.

Posted : 21/10/2016 2:40 am
Tom
 Tom
(@tom)
Trusted Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Extruder motor broken

The print wasn't that far... at around 1mm height the extruder stopped extruding filament. So it seems to me that it really did loose power/strenghth...

Does anyone else have anymore ideas or sugestions?

Maybe your heater is losing heat? Do you have some way to monitor the temperature in real-time like OctoPrint? Do you have some sort of heat gun or other temp sensing that can handle 300 degrees celsius like a food thermometer? Maybe you need to check the thermisistor connection, not the motor connections? Maybe the printer is losing connectivity on "sensing" the temperature.

Well... as long as the temp sensor is still working fine, I would say no. The printhead was still at 215 degrees when it stopped extruding. manually pushing the filament is possible though. So don't think this is really going to be the issue.
I really think that the motor lost its strength...

Posted : 21/10/2016 7:38 am
ayourk
(@ayourk)
Reputable Member
Re: Extruder motor broken

The print wasn't that far... at around 1mm height the extruder stopped extruding filament. So it seems to me that it really did loose power/strenghth...

Does anyone else have anymore ideas or sugestions?

Maybe your heater is losing heat? Do you have some way to monitor the temperature in real-time like OctoPrint? Do you have some sort of heat gun or other temp sensing that can handle 300 degrees celsius like a food thermometer? Maybe you need to check the thermisistor connection, not the motor connections? Maybe the printer is losing connectivity on "sensing" the temperature.

Well... as long as the temp sensor is still working fine, I would say no. The printhead was still at 215 degrees when it stopped extruding. manually pushing the filament is possible though. So don't think this is really going to be the issue.
I really think that the motor lost its strength...
Another thing that can cause a stepper motor to lose strength is a stepper motor driver (i.e. bad RAMBo). If only there was a way for you to swap the X-axis stepper with the extruder to test. I think the wire length is the only limitation.

Dimensions PNG

and an 8 inch (200mm) or greater caliper is recommended.

Posted : 21/10/2016 9:01 am
Tom
 Tom
(@tom)
Trusted Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Extruder motor broken

This is a new video I made when doing a test print, as you can see, no more extrusion unfortunately 🙁

Posted : 22/10/2016 12:04 pm
miferr
(@miferr)
Trusted Member
Re: Extruder motor broken

I noticed a few days ago that both of my fans stopped working consistently. When I moved the cable bundle back and forth, the fans would turn on and off, indicating some kind of loose connection. I stripped the wires on the hot end fan near where the wires meet the extruder assembly, and found that there was a break in the wire. I wonder if the same thing has happened to you with the extruder motor?

My hypothesis is that over time, as my printer moved the X axis back and forth, the wires eventually broke. I've ordered new fans, but I was wondering how long before my extruder motor and probe stop working.

I'm not sure how you would test this with your extruder motor, but maybe one of the other members can chime in with some thoughts.

Posted : 22/10/2016 4:10 pm
ayourk
(@ayourk)
Reputable Member
Re: Extruder motor broken

My recommendation is to start a dialog with support and point them to this thread with the possibly of getting replacement parts (assuming your printer is under warranty).

Dimensions PNG

and an 8 inch (200mm) or greater caliper is recommended.

Posted : 22/10/2016 5:29 pm
Tom
 Tom
(@tom)
Trusted Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Extruder motor broken

I already did, they are going to send me an other E motor.

Posted : 25/10/2016 1:27 pm
MrMik
(@mrmik)
Honorable Member
Re: Extruder motor broken

Check if the filament has worn away at the extruder pulley.

If so, tighten the extruder idler tensioning screws a little shorter than 13mm.

Posted : 03/11/2016 10:40 am
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