Better extruder adjustment design on the mk3?
Has anyone come up with a good design for better extruder adjustment? With a half dozen failed prints, I can sometimes get things JUST right to the point that it doesn't just STOP extruding halfway through the print. For a while. Until the temperature changes or the humidity changes and it screws up again. Or until I change filament. It's not a clog, because I can manually feed the filament in with zero issues. It just... hangs up. It's either too loose or too tight. Getting it JUST right is less a science and more the phase of the moon coupled with the temperature of the room and the humidity. There is no GOOD way to adjust things. And there's no "this just works" setting.
Is this an issue with ALL filament extruder designs? Is there a never-ending stream of adjusting and readjusting and wasting tons of money on failed prints? Or is this a particularly Prusa problem?
I've had this printer a month. I've had maybe 18 successful prints. I print (or attempt it) numerous times a day. I spend probably the better part of half my time doing cold pulls to see if something has lodged in the nozzle (it hasn't).
Is this really the 'best' there is?
Re: Better extruder adjustment design on the mk3?
That's not been my experience, but it's certainly possible there are problematic units out there.
There have been plenty of troubleshooting discussions on the forums here, and Prusa has issued the R3 extruder part designs. You neglected to mention what measures you've tried, so providing any specific suggestions is impossible.
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He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Re: Better extruder adjustment design on the mk3?
Keep in mind that MK3 is a precision instrument and should be handled as such.
The filament string may be half to two office paper in thickness so a very small interference can sabotage your printing.
Please complete your post with pictures of prints and of the first layer.
Bear MK3 with Bondtech extruder
Re: Better extruder adjustment design on the mk3?
The first layers are usually quite good. And, again, I can get good prints on rare occasions. But 20 minutes in or , they will suddenly stop extruding. There's the tell-tale click, click, click of the extruder as it slips and grinds away. Sometimes I can adjust the screws a bit and get another 20 minutes in. Sometimes not.
Running more filament through never has issues. No pigtailing. No blobs indicating that it might have built up somewhere.
This is on the R2 design, as I haven't been able to get a reliable R3 print yet to actually replace the design they sent me a month ago (likely moving out old stock, as they released the new design DAYS after they shipped mine).
What have I done on this thing? I've replaced PTFE tubes. I've replaced nozzles. I've replaced set screws. I've cleaned and adjusted bondtech gears. I've done cold pulls until my fingers are sore. I've replaced the hot end. I've replaced the heat break. I've adjusted screws here and there. I've tried oiled filament and not oiled. I've tried filament guides and unguided. I've tried 10 different kinds of PLA (the Prusa labeled, Fillamentum, Proto-Pasta, Inland, etc, etc, etc). I've tried varying heat. I've replaced thermistors, heat cartridges, wiring, build plates.
This is not an issue that is easy to isolate. But my experience is that the Prusa has been an unsatisfactory device. And Prusa support has been non-existent. Which is why I'm wondering if this is just the way 3D printers are... or if it's just the Prusa design.
Because, frankly, I'd like a 3D printer to WORK after having spent $900. And the fact that it doesn't, even after replacing another $500 worth of components makes me pretty bloody unthrilled.