Prusa MK3S extruder clicking  

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

If you replaced the entire hot end, there can't be anything preventing the filament from extruding.  So it is down to not enough tension on the extruder gears, or something is restricting the filament before the extruder.  You might check that the filament sensor ball is spinning freely and not acting like a jam nut. Open the idler door, feed filament down and out the door, and test movement: does the filament move freely up and down or does it tend to lock up?  Same for any filament spool add-ons like a autotension device.

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

I have the same problem with my mk3s.

Sirs, I am plagued by extruder jams!!! The alignment is correct, and the extruder will work just fine for about one hour, then it jams.

The gears operate as they should, in fact when a jam occurs the filament is fed through the gears then accumulates just above the PTFE tube and my print is lost.

During the first hour of printing everything is fine, and the print looks as it should then suddenly there is a chatter noise from the extruder as the gears force the filament to accumulate above the PTFE tube.

I have tried changing from Prusa filament to hatchbox, but I get the same symptoms.

Do you have any suggestions on what I should do next?

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

Hi Martin,

Take a look at this thread and see if it helps:  https://forum.prusa3d.com/forum/original-prusa-i3-mk3s-mk3-hardware-firmware-and-software-help/prusa-edition-heat-break-easily-jam-clog-with-pla/

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

Filament melting above the PTFE is a symptom of too hot a printing environment.  What is the room temp, or if using an enclosure the temp inside the enclosure? 

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

Have you replayed the Hotend with another Prusa OG Hotend? If so try to replace just the Heatbrak wit a stock e3d or e3d titan. this will fix your problem.

edit:

this Video will explain the Problem:

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

Hi,

  This stock Heatbreak modification interests me a lot!! I also have this issue, with some filaments and after 10 min, 30 min, 1 hour or 2 hours the nozzle stops extruding and/or I have layer shifting. I have tried everything to solve it : replace the nozzle for a nozzleX, adjust the tension, change for the MK3S version, check the alignement... Without any improvement.  So when I saw the video I thought : this is it!! 

  Does anybody already have tried to change the Heatbreak? Is it difficult to do? 

 Thank you so much for the link!!

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

Yes i change to a e3d heatbreak, and i have a mk3 (no S). E3d is smaller inside.

I had the extruder clogged all the time. Why i do not know.

I rebuild the tube, heatbrake, nozzle, with original parts of prusa, search on manuals on how to rebuild, prusa manual and youtube, so i am 100% safe that i rebuild it 100%.

Then i also did a extra fan on the extruder, to blow upwards, thingiverse you can find the 3d model. This is to cool down the extruder, so no heat can reach to the gears, to weaken the filament.

For the summer, and for pla only, a extra fan to blow in the enclosure, so the air in the enclosure stays under 40 temps. 40 is the maximum temps for the surrounding air for the heatbrake.

At the moment no problems, printing for weeks now, 24 ours a day.

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

I had an extruder problem for months, then came the answer!!!!! I had built a IKEA Lack table for my printer, there was my problem, the heat inside the enclose was too warm and the filament became soft just before entering the extruder. I removed the plexiglass cover and my MK3S is working fine.  I am now installing a vent fan in the plexiglass, a 24volt fan that is the same as the 24 volt LED light system

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

I'am also printing inside a LACK housing. I had a very problematic Job with a lot of retractions and hops - it failed every time.

I replaces the Prusa e3d Heatbreak with a e3d Titan an never had a single jam since then.  The problematic job - same gcode - printed flawless at the first try.

My printer is still in the LACK housing but works perfect now with the e3d Titan.

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

We've been having EXACTLY the same issues as the majority of people regarding this. Our printer was a factory built one as we needed quick access to the printing capabilities. Anyway, from the outset it was never right, we had clicking randomly pretty much within weeks of putting the printer to work. Finally after a few months the printer finally stopped printing properly and failed to extrude filament. So we moved onto trying to figure out what was going on. Like others on here, we'd gone through the usual fixes, different filaments, different temperatures, different nozzles, we tried it all and nothing resolved it.

So we decided to go nuclear and set out deconstructing the entire print head. First of all, we found that the heatblock was slightly loose and needed tightening up against the thermal break, so we took that time to also give the heat block a good clean as it was covered in melted filament, so that would cure any issues with temperature spikes on the heat block.

Then we moved onto what we knew was almost certainly the root cause......the bondtech gears.

After stripping it all down, we found two rather glaring issues with both gears. The one attached to the drive shaft on the motor wasn't tightened up properly so had moved ever so slightly so straight away that needed fixing. Secondly the other gear which is attached by a pin into the PET printed part, unfortunately has a slight design flaw, the pin is too short!!!! We're only talking a few mm short but it's enough to cause an issue. If the pin isn't exactly in the middle of the part and the gear, it can move, and then the filament will not feed properly.

So after rebuilding the entire unit, and lining up the filament gears again perfectly, the printer is back up and running and not only that, it's better than when we received it originally. Our prints were always pretty smooth but now they're off the scale good.

There you have it then, if you're struggling with the godforsaken clicking noise, check those extruder gears! You can thank me later.

Stu.

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

95% of the Extruder Clickings are because of the Prusa modified e3D heatbreak. Facts!

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

Got to disagree on that I'm afraid. The bondtech gears move, there's no discussion, it's a known issue.

We've had no issues with the E3D heatbreak other than the fact it wasn't tightened correctly. We've added an E3D thermal sock to the heater block and that should solve the issues with filament getting caught on the block.

We've got infinitely better printing now after correcting the gear alignment and calibrating the printer again. Whilst I agree there are known issues with the thermal break, to say that "95%" of the extruder clicking is down to this is a a false claim at best.

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

Don't get me wrong, i just want to help the people to get rid of their Clicking problems.

You may come to the point where you constantly get clicking jams while tryn to print a big job with a lot of details and retractions.

At this point you will thank me 😉

The problem with the heartbreak is that it is not the standard e3D heatbrak, its a custom one for Prusa to help pull out Filament easyer for the MMU.

Take 30 Min of your lifetime an watch the video:

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

We know what you're saying, as we've seen all the main videos related to this. But it doesn't constitute 95% of clicking issues, not even close.

We regularly run out jobs on our printers that take over 24 hours, as we use these for pre-production rapid prototyping, and we've never had heatbreak issues.

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

Posted by: sebastian.s18

95% of the Extruder Clickings are because of the Prusa modified e3D heatbreak. Facts!

They weren't last year. They'll probably be something else next year. Don't get too hung up on any one cause. Extruder clicking & jams can have a large number of causes and you want to eliminate them all as part of a troubleshooting process. There is sadly no one silver bullet.

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

All of these posts, and only one by the OP ... that's worth a chuckle.

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

Posted by: Tim

All of these posts, and only one by the OP ... that's worth a chuckle.

You have to reset the counter with every threadjack.

RE: Prusa MK3S extruder clicking

I am having this issue now.  I just replaced the hotend a few days ago due to broken wires (heater cartridge, thermistor).  I probably didn't pay enough attention to the gear alignment, so for fixing this, I would first investigate that, then the filament sensor ball.  Thanks to those who have suggested that.  Printing at higher temperatures is also a workaround for this as the printer can go for days without jamming and does a nice job too.