Filament stuck in silicon
I just printed some few parts with my new prusa i3 mk2s. It worked fine, but after a few prints the filament got stuck. I read some articles, but they all talk about the noozle, and mine is fine, the problem is upper. It seems stuck in the silicon tube. I was using PLA. I have photos attached, can anyone help?
Vascular Surgeon https://vascular.pro using 3D printing for surgery planning.
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
I have a similar problem. It has now happened twice. After 2-3 hours printing, the filament stuck. Then it is very complicated to remove the filament.
It looks as if the filament melts farther up then thickened and stuck.
[img]filament.jpg[/img]
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
Could you make a Photo from the little Fan from the side? Will it blow on the Hotend? I think there can be the problem. Take a look on it. On my china Prusa i hab the same problem because i installed the Fan incorrect 😀
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
Now it has happened the third time. I can not manage to get the filament out.
I think the fan is installed correctly. It blows in.
[img]filament2.jpg[/img]
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
I have a similar problem. It has now happened twice. After 2-3 hours printing, the filament stuck. Then it is very complicated to remove the filament.
It looks as if the filament melts farther up then thickened and stuck.
[img]filament.jpg[/img]
if the filament melts further up in the heatbreak, then the cooling of the coldend is insufficient.
maybe the cooler fan is defective or doesn't deliver the 4 - 5 cubic-feet per minute any more.
and by the way: it's a good idea to check if the extruder fan is still running in all possible positions of the extruder carriage. sometimes it's power supply cable is broken and the movement of the x-carriage then disconnects the fan in, or beginning with, a certain position.
dem inscheniör is' nix zu schwör...
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
To free up the filament melted into the heat sink, I block the heat sink fan with a sheet of toilet paper. Much easier than disconnecting it.
Keep pushing filament manually into the heat sink while it heats up, until the filament moves freely again, then remove the paper so the air flows again.
Keep pushing in filament for another minute to give the heat sink time to cool.
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
Thanks for the hint.
I can remove the filament by stopping the fan for 1-2 minutes.
The fan is running and is not disturbed by anything.
Fourth failed attempt.
The printing starts ok. After a while, the quality gets worse and worse, until the filament stucks.
any other ideas?
btw: I use the PLA from Prusa
[img]filament3.jpg[/img]
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
Maybe the PTFE tube is not properly inserted, or too short.
Does every pring gradually worsen, and then end with a blocked PTFE tube?
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
After the next unsuccessful attempt, I have followed your advice and disassemble the extruder.
Unfortunately the cool body is different than in the "how to" of Prusa (see pictures below)
The cooler is another type. The PTFE tube, does not go completely through.
In addition, the screw threads comes obliquely out of the body. Possibly this is cause of my problem.
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
I just had to clear a clog as well yesterday. Use one of the small allen wrenches that came with kit and you can push out the stuck piece from the PTFE. The guide shows the orginal prusa and the newer kits have a different heatbreak but its generally the same. One tip is to chamfer and cone shape the PTFE that goes into the heatbreak. Just needs a little and gotta make sure you don't have any debris left. Good tips in this post although its for the multilateral upgrade. There is pics towards the bottom that show you how to cut the PTFE. https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/original-prusa-i3-mk2-multimaterial-f26/blockage-troubleshooting--t4643.html
Definitely should try to straighten out the heatbreak.
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
I just had to clear a clog as well yesterday. Use one of the small allen wrenches that came with kit and you can push out the stuck piece from the PTFE. The guide shows the orginal prusa and the newer kits have a different heatbreak but its generally the same. One tip is to chamfer and cone shape the PTFE that goes into the heatbreak. Just needs a little and gotta make sure you don't have any debris left. Good tips in this post although its for the multilateral upgrade. There is pics towards the bottom that show you how to cut the PTFE. https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/original-prusa-i3-mk2-multimaterial-f26/blockage-troubleshooting--t4643.html
Definitely should try to straighten out the heatbreak.
What is a good way to make the internal taper and the chamfer?
I'm not sure the PTFE tube is the same on multi-colour and standard I3MK2.
Re: Filament stuck in silicon
Its the same type of tubing. An exacto knife worked well for me at least for the inside. If you don't have spare PTFE, just go slow and light to scrape it away. Just be sure to get rid of any debris.
If you are working on the end that goes into the hotend, do the outside cone shaping first. This is hard with an exacto knife. Just slowly scrape it away to get a very slight cone, then do the inside part. If you do the inside first, you don't usually leave yourself enough space to do the outer side.
When i'm done shaving, I usually cut off a teeny amount to make sure the end is nice and smooth.
PTFE is pretty cheap online so I suggest ordering a foot or 2 so you can make a few and have room for error.