Extruder gear calibration - confused
Hi everyone,
Trying to resolve some major issues that have arisen with my mk3... Tightened extruder/hot end assembly on x-axis carriage and attempted to adjust extruder idler tension... have been having print quality/consistency/first layer issues ever since.
Starting with extruder tensioning - the lastest method instructs ‘to disengaging the idler door and then tension ONLY until filament engages’...
So, I’m confused - what is supposed to engage? The idler gear? Filament extrusion? (Do both gear have to be engaged for extrusion to happen?)
My extruder will extrude filament with or without the idler gear in-place and the idler gear engages as soon as it contacts the filament (without tension). Without the idler in-place I have gear-tooth marks (light) on the drive-gear side of the filament. Is this correct?
Should I have gear-tooth marks on both side of the filament once the extruder idler is calibrated correctly or ONLY on the drive-gear side? If both - should they be the same depth?
Honestly, will tightening the five (5) screws holding the hot end/extruder assembly to the x-axis and changing the extruder idler tension cause this printer to go from ‘ok’ print quality to unstable/unusable?
Thanks!
Re: Extruder gear calibration - confused
what do your prints look like?
Re: Extruder gear calibration - confused
When adjusting your extruder, tighten the screws just as much as the filament starts to feed. There will be extremely small marks after the two bontech wheels.
The fault many do is that they tighten the adjusting screws too much so that there are rough marks in the filament after the drive wheels.
The extruder motor will then need to work harder, causing clicking and the engine to become too hot.
A filament with coarse marks will probably also cause uneven extrusion and jam in the extruder.
If the printouts get poor even though you have adjusted the feed, then you may need to adjust the Z level to get a good first layer.
Bear MK3 with Bondtech extruder
Re: Extruder gear calibration - confused
Also be aware that one extruder mounting screw doubles as hinge pin for the bondtech idler door, if that screw is so tight that it stops the door swinging freely, then you will find it very difficult to get smooth extrusion.
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
Re: Extruder gear calibration - confused
Thanks for the replies...
Joan - thanks for the tip regarding the mounting screw holding the idler door. It was a bit too tight. It’s been loosened now.
I found that if I let the extruder push filament without the idler engaged - it would EVENTUALLY stop pulling filament into the hot end. Once this happened, along with the idler door tweak, I was able to make the newly prescribed Prusa Tech tension adjustment to the extruder gear set.
The first print after this was good (whistle test print). First layer, ok - top layer, artifacts in gcode(?) - outer walls, BEST YET. HOWEVER - I have yet to get another print to complete due to not sticking or an unusable first layer.
I’m not passing judgment yet - I need to recalibrate my first layer and then try again... Hopefully that will solve the rest of these issues.
Thanks!