Help Diagnosing Worrisome Sound
Attached (hopefully) is a clip of a sound that began as I sat here. Print is currently paused. (Thanks to Swiss for fixing my file!) I ran this print yesterday without issue. Running a second batch this morning, and this god awful knock began without warning. As in, this sound was not building, there was no indication, it was just suddenly there.
Bummer. Can't attach. Here's a google drive link.
Have had printer running maybe less than a month.
Thanks!
Best Answer by jsw:
I've had occasional clogs, and only once did I have to actually disassemble anything to clear it.
I would suggest heating the nozzle up very high, as in 275-285 or so, then letting the machine sit for maybe 1/2 hour or so to let the heat spread and work upward.
Then you can try forcing the stuck filament down into the nozzle and out from above (push filament, firmly, down into the extruder), or else use an acupuncture needle up through the nozzle to try to clear things that way.
Once I found that the clog was simply a piece of broken filament right below the extruder gears. I was able to clear that out with a dental pick.
Another time I removed the nozzle and used a drill bit in a pin vise to ream out the jammed filament piece, after which it cleared.
At the suggestion of somebody here I ordered a specialty set of small bits sold for the purpose of clearing such jams.
RE: For what it's worth
I cancelled print, manually moved each axis. Can not replicate that knocking sound. Maybe inside the extruder? (Oh please god, no.)
EDIT: Oh. Look. You can manually move the extruder in those settings if you scroll down. And. Oh, neat. There's that god awful sound when it tries to unload the filament. The filament will not move, and the knocking sound fires rapidly.
*sigh*
So... diagnosis seems moot. I guess I move onto repair? Damnit if this printer doesn't vex me. If someone can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it.
Neat
I opened the extruder and see no problems. Pic attached. I heated the nozzle, disabled stepper motors (I think... is there really no confirmation, visual or audio at all that this is the case? How do you know?) and tried to just push the filament through. It will not budge. Any thoughts?
Clicking
That clicking is the extruder gear clicking the filament. I would replace the Prusa heatbreak with a standard E3D.
--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
Follow this guide to clear the hotend: https://help.prusa3d.com/en/article/clogged-nozzle-hotend-mk3s-mk2-5s_2008
Grumble grumble grumble
That clicking is the extruder gear clicking the filament. I would replace the Prusa heatbreak with a standard E3D.
I guess it won't do anyone any good to state how frustrating it is to have paid $800 for a machine that requires a replacement part after less than a month of operation... but sometimes it's good to vent. Just when I was getting comfortable with all the work and extra money that went into this product over and above what I had originally spent on a CR10, and could have again (after giving the old one to my brother) I bump into another issue. And I'm STILL not printing with results as good as the Creality.
*sigh*
Ok. So, judging from the brevity of that response, I'm betting this is a common issue and it won't be hard to find more information about how to get it done.
Graggle, frickle damblodiddle stick blasted...
Thanks for your time and expertise.
I've had occasional clogs, and only once did I have to actually disassemble anything to clear it.
I would suggest heating the nozzle up very high, as in 275-285 or so, then letting the machine sit for maybe 1/2 hour or so to let the heat spread and work upward.
Then you can try forcing the stuck filament down into the nozzle and out from above (push filament, firmly, down into the extruder), or else use an acupuncture needle up through the nozzle to try to clear things that way.
Once I found that the clog was simply a piece of broken filament right below the extruder gears. I was able to clear that out with a dental pick.
Another time I removed the nozzle and used a drill bit in a pin vise to ream out the jammed filament piece, after which it cleared.
At the suggestion of somebody here I ordered a specialty set of small bits sold for the purpose of clearing such jams.
Man, I hope that works
I've had occasional clogs, and only once did I have to actually disassemble anything to clear it.
I would suggest heating the nozzle up very high, as in 275-285 or so, then letting the machine sit for maybe 1/2 hour or so to let the heat spread and work upward.
Then you can try forcing the stuck filament down into the nozzle and out from above (push filament, firmly, down into the extruder), or else use an acupuncture needle up through the nozzle to try to clear things that way.
Once I found that the clog was simply a piece of broken filament right below the extruder gears. I was able to clear that out with a dental pick.
Another time I removed the nozzle and used a drill bit in a pin vise to ream out the jammed filament piece, after which it cleared.
At the suggestion of somebody here I ordered a specialty set of small bits sold for the purpose of clearing such jams.
Sounds a lot better than rebuilding this thing, I don't mind telling you.
There's a learning curve to climb regarding such things as dealing with clogs and perceived clogs.
One time I learned the hard way not to let the machine sit at room temperature overnight after printing a small piece with PC Blend. 😉
Only took 10 minutes
Holy goodness, that worked like a charm man. While pushing it through got some nasty splatter blast of nasty PLA, but continued to use manual feeding with the knob to clear it after and everything looks OK. Will still look at whatever a "heatback" is.
There's a learning curve to climb regarding such things as dealing with clogs and perceived clogs.
One time I learned the hard way not to let the machine sit at room temperature overnight after printing a small piece with PC Blend. 😉
RE: Help Diagnosing Worrisome Sound
Heatbreak.
The piece between the hot and cool portions of the extruder.
Some believe that the version that Prusa supplies is inferior to the stock version normally supplied by E3D.
You might also do a 'cold pull' using either cleaning filament or a light-color PLA to be sure you have all of the crud out of the hot end.