Extruder stops, constant clicking sound
I've been running my (pre-assembled) i3 for a few weeks. In the last few days, it's developed a problem where it stops extruding part way through a print and never resumes.
Sometimes this happens very early in a print, sometimes an hour or two in. The extruder stops taking in filament and I hear a clicking, like a gear slipping. The spool is mounted well and doesn't have much friction. I've tried running the extruder hotter, I've cleaned out the nozzle with a pin, I've tried tuning the Z adjustment and I've tried different qualities of print - I can't get the problem to go away.
When it happens, the only fix I've found is to unload the filament and reload it. Telling the extruder to extrude just results in more clicking.
Here's a video (with sound) showing it happening.
https://goo.gl/photos/W5r6SxpgtcTTLcKE6
Can anyone advise?
Thanks.
Re: Extruder stops, constant clicking sound
I had this happen once with customer supplied PLA. He purchased it from an Ebay source. The only way we could run this was to preheat in dryer to 65c and run the hot end at 250c. There was something in the pla every now and then that would not melt at normal temps. You could start the print at 210 and it would run for a period then it would stop feeding.
jb
Re: Extruder stops, constant clicking sound
I had this happen once with customer supplied PLA. He purchased it from an Ebay source. The only way we could run this was to preheat in dryer to 65c and run the hot end at 250c. There was something in the pla every now and then that would not melt at normal temps. You could start the print at 210 and it would run for a period then it would stop feeding.
jb
Re: Extruder stops, constant clicking sound
@toby: did you check that the grub screws of the hobbed pulley are well tightened ?
even so that your printer was bought pre-assembled.... the people who build the printers @prusa are human as well...
by the way: your video doesn't really get the point you're writing about.
dem inscheniör is' nix zu schwör...
Re: Extruder stops, constant clicking sound
I have tightened the grub screw on the hobbed pulley, I have also tried tightening the extruder screws to apply more pressure to the idler.
However, the hobbed pulley is still sometimes unable to push filament down.
I've tried running the extruder hotter when it gets into the stuck state, but the hobbed pulley still slips against the filament. If I unload and reload then it's always ok again (for a while).
If I loosen the extruder screws (with the springs), I can manually push the filament through the hotend with no problems - so there doesn't appear to be a major blockage.
As an experiment, I just tried printing Marvin from the SD card (to rule out any issues caused by Octoprint/Slic3r). At one point the extruder stalled and it's missed a few layers - but it did restart.
Re: Extruder stops, constant clicking sound
After nearly a week of failed prints due to filament jams, I think this is now solved.
I used a drop of oil to season the nozzle and am now able to print reliably again.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Re: Extruder stops, constant clicking sound
Just to share my stupid mistake with the rest of you, because it could save you some time and nerves.
Yesterday, after a few minutes of printing my extruder would start clicking and the filament would get stuck. Tried to print the same model a few times, but each time the same would happen at approximately the same progress. At first I thought I had a clogged nozzle, then i figured it out (dumbass!):
I had PLA filament, and in slicer settings instead of using PLA i selected PET by mistake. Higher temperature softened the upper part of the filament, which then could not enter the heat break, so it would get stuck. I changed the material in the slicer back to PLA, regenerated the gcode file and everything was OK again.
Re: Extruder stops, constant clicking sound
After nearly a week of failed prints due to filament jams, I think this is now solved.
I used a drop of oil to season the nozzle and am now able to print reliably again.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Toby,
What do you mean you used a drop of oil? Where did you put it? Thanks.
Re: Extruder stops, constant clicking sound
I have this problem too. I wonder how you solved the issue. Add oil to the nozzle? Sounds very odd.