Problem Printing PETG
Hello All,
I am having an issue printing PETG. I have printed PLA without issue. The problem is that every time I start a print everything seems to be going fine, then the printer pauses the print, moves to the front of the print surface and tells me click the knob to remove the filament. I press the knob remove the filament, cut the end and put the filament back in and the print resumes. Two to three seconds later the cycle repeats.
What am I doing wrong? PLA doesn't have this problem. I have only started printing PETG.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jer
Re: Problem Printing PETG
Hard to say based on that info, but maybe your filament sensor is not seeing the PETG filament correctly. It can be thrown off by color or transparency. Try turning off the filament sensor (buried in the LCD display menu) and see if it works better. I don't use the filament sensor at all.
Re: Problem Printing PETG
The flament sensor trips on shiny or translucent materials. An upcoming firmware update should help.
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Re: Problem Printing PETG
I have found the filament sensor is not worth the hassle, had to many prints stop for no reason in the middle of the night and be lost due to it. I disabled it, and when i install my new hotend im not even bothering to install a filament sensor in it, complete waste of time.
Re: Problem Printing PETG
Under normal circumstances, I don't find it particularly important. It is great for using up left-over scraps of filament, and I'd probably try enabling it if doing a big print that has a chance of running out part-way. It is definitely annoying when it trips unnecessarily, so I'm hoping the firmware update fixes the issue.
I have found the filament sensor is not worth the hassle, had to many prints stop for no reason in the middle of the night and be lost due to it. I disabled it, and when i install my new hotend im not even bothering to install a filament sensor in it, complete waste of time.
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Re: Problem Printing PETG
Under normal circumstances, I don't find it particularly important. It is great for using up left-over scraps of filament, and I'd probably try enabling it if doing a big print that has a chance of running out part-way. It is definitely annoying when it trips unnecessarily, so I'm hoping the firmware update fixes the issue.
I have found the filament sensor is not worth the hassle, had to many prints stop for no reason in the middle of the night and be lost due to it. I disabled it, and when i install my new hotend im not even bothering to install a filament sensor in it, complete waste of time.
When i first ordered the mk3 i thought it would be great, but it turns out my PETG is just to shiny, even the not translucent colors seem to trigger it in error sometimes.
Ive now just started to plan out my spools, i know each spool is roughly 300 meters so i plan out prints and even name the gcode files by the spool it will be printed on and how much filament it will use to keep track of it.
To finish up the leftover ends of the spools which is always under 30 meters i simply attach it to a new spool with a soldering iron and wrap it onto the new spool and away i go. I also use this technique if im printing something i know will run out of filament on the current spool ill sit by the printer and wait for it to be down to last meter of filament and will use soldering iron to attach new spool to last meter of filament, so no stopping to unload/reload filament required just continuous printing. Soldering iron works perfect to attach two spools together if you get the timing right and dont burn filaments.
Re: Problem Printing PETG
Ive now just started to plan out my spools, i know each spool is roughly 300 meters so i plan out prints and even name the gcode files by the spool it will be printed on and how much filament it will use to keep track of it.
OCD? 🙂
Soldering iron works perfect to attach two spools together if you get the timing right and dont burn filaments.
IF 😀
That's "MISTER Old Fart" to you!
Re: Problem Printing PETG
If you are right there at the machine, you don't need a soldering iron. As the last of the old roll disappears down the feed tube, just push the leading edge of the new roll behind it. Keep pushing gently. In a little bit, the filament will get entrained in the Bondtech gears, with virtually no gap, and you're good to go. 😀
Re: Problem Printing PETG
I am having a more specific problem with printing with PETG. I can print fine with a red filament, but not a black one. So it seems the filament sensor needs to be tweaked a bit, perhaps in the next update...
Re: Problem Printing PETG
I had the same issue with shiny black PETG. Finally turned off the filament sensor and now printing fine. Most other filaments, primarily PLA have printed fine but need to try Black Extreme PLA (very shiny as well) to determine if it's the black color.
Re: Problem Printing PETG
Add me to the list of people having problems printing black PETG. My machine just keeps wanting to change filament for no apparent reason. It does seem to be the filament sensor since I can print orange PETG without a problem or even black PLA works fine.
Re: Problem Printing PETG
I have the same problem, PLA & PETG black.
Work fine with PLA silver, so it's not the sensor.
So I assume the black color is too shinny.
I hope the problem can be solve in the future, because it's a good feature, that can save print.
Event if till now it's annoying with black, and some other reflective color.
Just a stupid question, how do we known when the problem is caused by dust or dirty stuff?
Re: Problem Printing PETG
The problem can absolutely be aggravated by dirt or dust. You can remove the little cover at the top-right of the extruder assembly and blow it out with an air canister. The sensor is known to be sensitive to shiny or translucent materials. For now, just disable the filament sensor. A soon-to-be-released firmware update includes adjustments that should help with this problem.
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Re: Problem Printing PETG
I'm also seeing the problem with shiny black PETG, on both my printers, MK2.5 upgrade and the MK3. I've just finished a roll of very shiny Solutech Pink Ultra PLA with zero problems, and I've ran through eSun semi-translucent PETG w/o problems. The eSun has a rough finish on it, unlike other PETG, so that likely helps out a lot. I've ran through a roll each of black ABS and black PLA and haven't had any problems, or with any other colors for that matter. I've printed in a pretty good array of colors and materials since I upgraded to the MK2.5 and built the MK3, so it seems to be confined to the black PETG. We'll see what the future firmware has in store for a fix, until then I'll just disable the filament sensor when I print shiny black stuff.
Re: Problem Printing PETG
+1 on the shiny black PETG causing the filament sensor to false trigger.
I'm guessing that when the filament runs out the filament sensor is tuned to look for shiny black PETG that the extruder assembly is made of.