Extruder Motor Help
I'm confused as to what is causing this issue. The isssue: The extruder motor just clicks back and forth and won't advance or retract.
It started after a successful long print, hours later I attempted another print and the extruder motor would not feed filament.
I've removed the filament and the secondary tension gear so that the extruder gear can move freely to test.
I thought perhaps the motor has failed; to test this I rewired the extruder motor into the Y axis, then moving the y axis, the motor moved freely in the direction expected, no clicking.
I then thought perhaps it was the controller board, so I plugged the y-axis into the extruder spot, then advanced the extruder and the y-axis motor worked perfect no click either.
I moved the wires back to where they should be and tried extruding and the extruder motor clicks back and forth again.
I've also put the printer in high power mode, no difference.
I'm not sure where to go from here for troubleshooting as the motor seems to work fine in a different port and a different motor works in that spot on the controller board.
Any ideas?
Re: Extruder Motor Help
That's good troubleshooting, but I think there may be some differences in the amperage being sent to each motor.
I wouldn't be surprised if the extruder motor receives more current than the y-axis motor from the control board since torque is little more important on the extruder motor. It's possible (although I'm speculating) that the high current being sent from the control board to a damaged extruder motor may be causing issues but not causing issues on the un-damaged Y-Motor.
I'm speculating that the jammed extruder motor caused overheat damage on the motor (the control board has thermal protection) and therefore the combination of that motor with the extruder driver on the control board isn't working any more.
A lot of users are experiencing jamming because the pin that holds the bondtech idler in place tends to back out and ruins the gear meshing between the extruder gear and the idler gear. Other users are noting that the Prusa heatbreak in the MK3's are causing jamming issues.
Re: Extruder Motor Help
I'm speculating that the jammed extruder motor caused overheat damage on the motor (the control board has thermal protection) and therefore the combination of that motor with the extruder driver on the control board isn't working any more.
I get where you're going, however the extruder wasn't jammed, it had successfully completed a flawless looking print hours before. Then it had cooled and started this issue when attempting a new print before extruding any new filament.
A lot of users are experiencing jamming because the pin that holds the bondtech idler in place tends to back out and ruins the gear meshing between the extruder gear and the idler gear. Other users are noting that the Prusa heatbreak in the MK3's are causing jamming issues.
Mine is the mk2.5, and I have heard of the gear meshing issues, I think the last print would have shown some signs of an issue. I did previously struggle with skipping and jamming after the upgrade to 2.5, however after some tweaks I have had it running very smoothly for 30+ prints. (until today).
That being said, would you suggest a replacement extruder motor or a replacement rambo board?
Re: Extruder Motor Help
That being said, would you suggest a replacement extruder motor or a replacement rambo board?
Whichever is cheapest would be my recommendation, but I know that shipping charges from Prusa can be a decision maker. Maybe both?
Before purchasing either I would recommend calling/chatting with Prusa first. They may know something we don't.
Re: Extruder Motor Help
Before purchasing either I would recommend calling/chatting with Prusa first. They may know something we don't.
I've sent them an email outlining the issue, I'll wait to see if they come back with something.
...Oddly enough I've just managed to get it to work, been fiddling with it on and off all day. It's now doing a test print, so far so good. I decided to try controlling it via Pronterface and my desktop instead of octoprint or direct on the printer. Now I'm not sure why, but once i heated it up and tried to move the extruder in Pronterface it worked. I've now gone back to controlling it via the printer interface and with octoprint and now the extruder works properly on both.
This is good news; however it leaves me scratching my head as to what was the cause. I'd still like to figure it out to prevent re-occurrence or to prepare for the failure of a component. It seems I have a ghost in my machine.
Thanks for your help!
RE: Extruder Motor Help
Hi Hobb3s,
I have exactely the same issue. Just wondering if you found a solution?
All the best!
RE: Extruder Motor Help
Ah, nevermind. The plug of the extruder motor got loose.