Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models  

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

can you feed filament smoothly by hand? there could still be gunk in there that you can't catch with a cold pull, gears could be misaligned, ptfe tube could be chewed up, etc.

I think you need to pull the hotend out and clean by hand.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

What firmware are you on? Recent updates addressed overheating extruder motors causing too much heat in the extruder with associated blobs and jams.

In general, try slowing down your prints using the knob on the front. Dial back speed and see if it helps. I'd suggest trying a print that has consistently failed, then watching and dialing speed back to 50% at the start. If it print then, you've got a strong clue that it's resolvable through settings. If it fails, you've likely got a mechanical issue.

It's possible you have a partial clog. Raise Z to max, heat the nozzle up to printing temps and extrude some filament using the Move Axis->Extruder menu option. Does filament come out straight, or "drag" to one side? If not straight, you might have blockage.

Have you done cold pulls? Loosen the extruder screws, heat up and extrude some filament, then let it cool in place. Heat up again and gently pull up on the filament while bracing the extruder when temp hits 90C. Ideally, use some cleaning filament for this as PLA may just snap. (You could use ABS as well, but it has its own issues.)

If it still looks mechanical and you've got a block, you might have to remove the part fan and nozzle (not a full extruder teardown) and clean things out. It's a pain, but doesn't take long once you're used to it. I'd suggest having a spare "known good" nozzle available at all times just to eliminate it from consideration.

You could have a permanent partial blockage in the PTFE tube which would require inserting new tubing, but you're not at that point yet. Even that doesn't require replacing the entire hotend.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

Hey, I am having the same issues!

I have installed the update that should have adressed the extruder current and tried changing the PTFE tube and the nozzle to a new one (although there were no imprints of dirt on all of the several atomic pulls i did). Tried multiple Filaments, even ordered new ones.
When it jams on my machine I cant push it through, so it probably isn't the extruders fault for being to weak. But when i back out and go in again it works properly again for a few minutes. I already tried printing slower, but i cant see any change in behaviour.
I currently have the printer in a ikea lack enclosure, and have to properly compare results from inside and outside the enclosure, but I am not very hopeful that there will be a difference at the moment.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

I have the same problem, after changing the filament brand the problem was gone for 20 hours.
Also tried all solutions mentioned with no improvement.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

Maybe checkout my thread: https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/hardware-firmware-and-software-help-f64/strange-extruder-sounds-t19907.html

TL;DR In my case the problem was the axis of the passive Bondtech gear. It grinded against the hatch. Recentering the axis fixed the problem for me.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

Here are videos from my extruder:

Passive Baondtech:

Active Bondtech

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

A bit hard to see for the handheld shaking in the video, but I think I see the stepper motor axle turn while the bondtech gear doesn't. Have you checked that the gear (the active one) is securely fastened, and the grub screw is tightened to the flat part of the axle?

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

I am also having these issues. Fairly often the plug will snap off in the PTFE tube as I try to extract it forcing an extruder tear down. I've had to take it apart 4-5 times in the last couple months (twice just today).

I've tried multiple filaments, temperatures, print speeds / slicer profiles, lots of cold pulls and a nozzle change. I have replaced my PTFE tubing 3-4 times and checked alignment of my bontech gears at least twice. I even tried adding a heat sink to the extruder motor case in case it was softening the filament too early - it seemed to help the motor stay cooler to the touch but the behavior didn't change.

The last few times it happened I measured the distance from the top of the PTFE to the plug and it was 56 and 57mm which is longer than the PTFE tube (50mm) so this is happening right at the base of the heat sink - I guess ~ at the thermal transition point.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

A bit hard to see for the handheld shaking in the video, but I think I see the stepper motor axle turn while the bondtech gear doesn't. Have you checked that the gear (the active one) is securely fastened, and the grub screw is tightened to the flat part of the axle?

I tried to make a better video. The extruder starts to click after the hotted is clogged (3 hours after starting the print). When i unload the filament and reload it the extruder will push it through with no problems. Any suggestions why the extruder gets clogged after this time?
I already reduced the print speed and halved the retraction speed.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

I tried to make a better video.

Yes, the new video shows that it isn't what I thought. I'm afraid I have no other ideas, as you already have tried the other suggestions in this thread.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

I have same issue! It started with latest firmware upgrade and it is driving me nuts. I have tried increasing temperature, adjusting bond tech extruder, and it keeps happening! Hope someone can provide a solution for this issue.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

I had this issue alsio, that the filament jammed after some time, especially on prints with small layer heigth or a lot of smal details.

My Filament looked exactly like the one in the beginning of this threat. I tried different nozzles, a new heatbreak, different temps etc...

my final conclusion was that the heatbreak gets too warm (heat creep).

When i assembled my hotend i noticed that the thread of heatbreak is quite loose in the cooling part.

So i bought some thermal compound, like you use to mount cooling on a CPU, and put it on the heatbreak thread.

This transfers the heat better to the cooling fins.

Now my printer works as before. So maybe try that.

I used "Arctic mx-4 "

take a look at the E3D Howto: https://e3d-online.dozuki.com/Guide/V6+Assembly/6?lang=en#s76

Step 15

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

I took the printer out of the enclosure and put a room fan next to it. Since then i had no problems at all. I will try reassembling the heatbreak with thermal paste.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

Thanks for the advice maximilian.r 🙂

I applied thermal paste to the Heatbreak.
First 2 small prints with low layer heights (0.6) worked well, even with the problematic Prusa PLA.

I am now into an 12 hour 1.2 print which failed the last 3 times, will report back this evening.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

I applied the thermal paste aswell. The print I was having issues with before printed without any issues. This seems like it fixed my problem, but I will keep on testing! 😀

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

Yep the thermal paste trick seems to work, my 10 hour 1.2 layer height print comes out fine.

The last 3 prints before the thermal paste failed or had quality issues.
The print on top is the one with thermal paste applied to the heatbreak thread.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

That piece look good, so it seems it is a fix for the problem.

what paste did you use ? i went for the artic mx because it has a very high heat conductivity (or how it s called)

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

I had some leftovers from the coolermaster paste coming with my cpu cooler.
The problems seems to increase in the summer, because of the higher room tempratures.

What is curious, that there was no heat paste applied to the assembled hot end shipped with my printer, although it is recommend by e3d.

https://wiki.e3d-online.com/E3D-v6_Troubleshooting
Like the heatsink and fan cooling your CPU, proper thermal conduction is necessary for the heatsink to work. In the case of your E3D hot end, the threaded heat-break tube should be snugly tightened into the heatsink otherwise the threads will not make sufficient surface contact to conduct heat. If you are printing in hot climates or continue to have issues, a liberal coating of thermal paste on the upper heat-break threads will ensure much better thermal contact with the heatsink. Even with thermal paste the threads can vibrate loose and cause performance issues. To combat this heat up the heatsink with a heat gun and then thread in and tighten the heat break tube with two pairs of pliers. The heatsink should contract around the heatbreak when it cools and ensure a solid connection.

Re: Clicking Extruder, followed by a jam across different temperatures, filaments, and .stl models

I also have the same problem with the extruder motor!

I received my MK3 kit 2 weeks ago! In the first week after some difficulty in getting a good first layer (I still have this problem because my bed is not flat, there are some pits), I was able to print parts with good quality and the extruder motor worked without problems with Prusa's PLA filament.
Afterwards I tried the ABS filament without enclosure and was impressed with the print quality.
After that started the problems with the extruder motor!
I have had to disassemble the hotend 4 times, because the filament was blocked.
I went back to using PLA and the problem remains, since the last 3 days that I can not make a print.
I've already updated the firmware, I've checked the alignment of gears many times, I can not figure out where the problem is!
The extruder motor heats up immensely, very hot after first layer!
I think the problem is in the motor extruder, has anyone tried to replace it?
So many people complaining about this problem and Prusa is still silent?

I paid € 800 for this?!