New MK3S Quickly Clogged and Nothing I've Tried Has Fixed It
After finishing the setup, I printed a few things in the stock gray PLA and a few in some white Dikale PLA I had available. For the most part, things were printing decently. I had some issues with layer shifting but after tightening the belts a few times I got those mostly solved. Then soon after it was back up and running - and I am not sure what caused it - my extruder appeared to become partially clogged. It started printing inconsistently and in thin, curly strands that at first adhered to the bed less and less and quickly got worse until they began blobbing immediately for pretty much every print I attempted.
Now before contacting support about this new issue I decided to look into it further and see if I could fix it myself. Over the previous two days I read about clogs quite a bit and did the following troubleshooting steps:
- Updated mk3s firmware
- Reset and re-calibrated everything multiple times (haven't tried calibrating temp/pid though)
- Used the acupuncture needle on the nozzle hot end multiple times
- Performed ~3 cold pulls following instructions in manual and online (I hope correctly...)
- Used a wire through the top of the extruder. I did not have a 1.5mm wire on hand, so I used a thinner 22 awg wire, but also folded/twisted two pieces of this wire to make a thicker wire and pushed remaining filament through the extruder manually. This seemed to help clear a bit of material initially.
- Finally, removed the nozzle and used hot air set at 250 - 280 degC to heat it up while cleaning it out with wires. I tried this one twice, and each time was able to get quite a bit of material out of the nozzle.
Unfortunately, after all that my extruder still appears to be clogged, as filament continues to come out in loops and blobs immediately at the start of any print. I am starting to become quite frustrated as I cannot figure out with the problem with my nearly brand new printer is. My ideas right now are as follows:
1. I believe I heated up to 280 for a bit while trying to clear it. I wonder if I fried the nozzle or something else inside the hot end by doing so? Or the same wrt using the hot air at 280 while cleaning the nozzle. How can I tell if the nozzle itself is the problem and no longer functional?
2. I am still getting track marks on the filament from the extruder motor when I release it after attempting to print or forcing some filament through the nozzle. Could this mean I somehow damaged my extruder motor, perhaps while attempting to cold pull and yanking the filament out? Or is this just a sign that there is indeed a blockage and the filament is going through the extruder more slowly than the motor is trying to move it?
3. One of the times I took the nozzle off and cleaned, I think I had only heated the hot end to ~200 or so (another guide had instructed that instead of the 250-270degC I see referenced elsewhere....). Could this have damage some aspect of the hot end.
4. If it's nothing else,, could it be an issue with the PTFE tubing? I have read that damaged/jammed PTFE tubes are more rare, and my printer is relatively brand new so I would not expect this to be the issue already. Is there anyway I can tell if this is the problem without fully disassembling the extruder and replacing the tube? If I do need to do this, is there a reliable guide for doing it correctly on the MK3S?
That's really all I can think of. Please let me know your thoughts, and what else you think I should do or try to get my MK3S up and running again so I can try out the nice new blue filament that just arrived today 🙂
Thank you.
Re: New MK3S Quickly Clogged and Nothing I've Tried Has Fixed It
Do you have a spare nozzle you can try? It's always worth keeping a "known good" spare around for these sorts of situations. A swap would immediately help narrow down where the problem is.
Re: New MK3S Quickly Clogged and Nothing I've Tried Has Fixed It
I do not have a spare nozzle currently but I will purchase some to test with.
Is it recommended to purchase the official E3D nozzle like https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-E3D-Extra-Nozzle-V6-NOZZLE-175-400/dp/B00NAK9TWM/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=E3D+V6+Nozzle&qid=1553750577&s=gateway&sr=8-3 ?
Or could I buy one of the bulk sets for much cheaper like these https://www.amazon.com/Extruder-3D-Printer-Cleaning-EAONE/dp/B07HGP82TJ/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=E3D+V6+Nozzle&qid=1553750577&s=gateway&sr=8-7#customerReviews ? Is there any negative to this? Or any other recommended purchasing options?
Thanks for the feedback bobstro. If anyone has any other suggestions or information to share while I wait for the nozzle replacement to arrive and test please let me know!
Re: New MK3S Quickly Clogged and Nothing I've Tried Has Fixed It
The craptastic cheap nozzles are good enough for testing and use in a pinch. They're not very precise and I've seen posts describing them shearing off at higher temps. I liked this set as much for the handy tools it included.
For any serious printing, I go with quality nozzles, usually E3D. The cost of my time and filament is not worth $10 of savings. I keep some cheapies around for emergencies.
Re: New MK3S Quickly Clogged and Nothing I've Tried Has Fixed It
I tried a replacement nozzle and that unfortunately did not fix the issue either.
There is still significant curling, stringing, and rapid blob-forming when trying to print anything or even re-calibrate z axis.
Also concerned about these marks from the bondtech gear when I unload filament. Is this indicative of something? I have re-tensioned the gear via the screw numerous times and confirmed that the idler rotates freely. It also seems more or less clear of debris.
Re: New MK3S Quickly Clogged and Nothing I've Tried Has Fixed It
Finally solved the problem today! I decided to perform some extruder surgery and found that there appeared to be nothing wrong with the PTFE tube. Still I took it out, examined it and cleared out the bore, and placed it back in the heat sink. While everything was opened up I was able to see through the extruder fan from the inside and discovered a few thin strands of filament wrapped around the fan's axis. I fished around with some tweezers for a while, pulling as much of the thin stringy pieces of filament from the fan. When I started her up again and re-calibrated everything from the wizard the clogging issue no longer occurred.
My guess is that the fan was slowed down enough (though it appeared to be working fine) that heat-creep was affecting the temperature and flow of filament higher up the extruder body. Does this sound correct? Either that or somehow just adjusting the PTFE tube a bit moved it back into the correct place and cleared a blob if a gap had formed between it and the heat break..
Can anyone confirm if this has been an issue for anyone else? And is there a way to prevent the stringy, thin strands from the extruder from getting caught in the fan and causing similar issues in the future?
Re: New MK3S Quickly Clogged and Nothing I've Tried Has Fixed It
Mmmm, In terms of nozzles, we have been using "craptastic" for a while now, and as far as we can tell (on multiple) machines, there is no difference. And none have exploded. So don't be put off by others telling you how horrific they are. Lots of fake news out there.