Stock and Phaetus Dragonfly both not extruding, clog at cold part hotend.
Dear all,
First off: I'm fully new to 3D printers. This is my first. It's self-built
I've self-assembled a Prusa MK3S+ with both a stock hotend and the Phaetus Dragonfly BMO. I run the Wizard to calibrate the printer, but at the point it'll start loading up filament and extruding, once in a blue moon filament comes out, but as soon as it does its first internal test print, usually nothing comes out, or only shortly it comes out but curls up and never lands on the hotbed. I tried adjusting the Z-axis live up to the point it nearly scratched the hotbed plate, but nevertheless, at some point filament simply doesn't come out.
I'm using the following material (is this the problem?): aliexpress.com/item/4001274911285.html - As far as I know I received the correct (PLA) material.
Now, I looked around to find ways to get filament unstuck. It seems my filament heats up too much higher up in the hotend (even though I set PLA 215/60). So at some point it'll cool down and get clogged. This is my best explanation.
First time I took the Phaetus out and cleaned it, retried, same result. I bought the Phaetus as an improvement over stock, but since I'm new, I thought I may had messed up. Used the stock, it extruded (as test) once, but it's self-test print again failed miserably.
I'm now used to taking my hotend out of the extruder, as simply heating up the machine and trying to push the filament through doesn't seem to work for me. Also, I tried finding anything (needles, etc.) that's thin enough to pass through the nozzle, but I haven't found anything yet to do so.
I'm not using the Bowden insert, as I don't have one and don't yet understand whether it's necessary or superior to the direct insert method.
Hopefully someone can point me to my obvious mistake, so I can start printing 🙂
Cheers
RE:
Good afternoon Allubz
Is your printer a genuine prusa or a prusa replica?
if it's a prusa Replica, you may find the extruder fan (left hand fan) is not satisfactorily cooling the extruder heatsink.
did you put the Phaetus Hotend in first or did you use the e3dv6 hot end?
which version of Phaetus dragonfly did you buy?
I have seen a number of different versions 
This type is probably more compatible, than 
this type, because this type seem to not have the bowden tube clip
below you will see a 1.75mm e3dV6 with black bowden tube clip and Blue retaining circlip the assembly with grey and red clips, id for 3mm filament and is not appropriate for a Mk3
normally a mk3 has a short length of PTFE tube between the bondtech gears and the heatbreak in the e3dv6 hot end. this guides the filament for smooth filament loading, the black clip stops the PTFE Tube moving up and down
the blue clip is usually un-necessary, a small blue clip will fit inside the extruder housing, if you choose to use one, a larger clip will prevent the extrude housing closing properly.
this is a cross section of an e3d v6 hotend... (0ld style which uses a bead thermistor, screwed to the outside of the heatblock)
do you have the mk3S+ extruder housing? or an earlier version?
the early versions do not constrain the top of the PTFE Tube in the extruder heatsink, the Mk3S+ version, i believe does constrain the PTFE Tube.
Please let us know what you have
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: Stock and Phaetus Dragonfly both not extruding, clog at cold part hotend.
Dear JoanTabb,
Thanks for getting back to me!
It's in fact a replica. I noticed that when turning on the side fan is doing spinning up, and it also passed the relevant tests I believe. But during printing it's not spinning up at all. Is that the problem?
The exact hotend I purchased is following: https://www.3djake.nl/phaetus/dragonfly-hotend-bmo - I do believe this is the first picture. I had to modify the blue clip to make it flat all over, so I filed off the part that sticks up, otherwise it wouldn't fit, if I remember correctly.
I am not using a Bowden insert at all. Is this a problem? It didn't get supplied, and as far as I understood it's not necessary.
I started off with the Phaetus hotend. After using this, having it clogged, trying to save it, reusing it, with the same result, I put in the stock one. The stock one extruded one line whilst self-testing, but when making the zig-zag figure it already failed.
As far as I know I have the MK3S+ extruder. I'm having a hard time finding the differences between MKS3+, but if you're referring to for example the MK2, then I'm pretty sure I have the MK3s+ model. I attached a picture, for certainty. It's here: https://imgur.com/a/tp1WJmG
I hope you know what I'm doing wrong. To a veteran, it's probably something obvious 😛 Thanks!
RE: Stock and Phaetus Dragonfly both not extruding, clog at cold part hotend.
I put a non standard hot end fan on my mk3S, I immediately started getting clogs... on a printer that has worked for years... long enough to wear out the bearings on the fan...
the extruder fan is supposed to start running as the extruder rises above 50C. when I checked (Using Gcodes through Pronterface) my fan was running at half speed, I could briefly force the fan to run at full speed, but the firmware kept resetting it to half speed.
there is an experimenal menu hidden in firmware that might help you with the fan
https://help.prusa3d.com/article/experimental-menu-mk3s_161213
have a look at the link above. and you should be able to turn the fan on faster
as far as the PTFE Goes, if the PTFE is missing from your hot end, you are likely to have filament feed issues when inserting new filament
the image above shows an e3dv6 extruder seated in a Mk3S+ extruder housing. in this instance the black plastic, has a small section (Nozzle) that fills the v shape that the Bondtech rollers cause, and the PTFE immediately under the nozzle and it guides the filament straight down into the heatbreak of the extruder.
If the PTFE is missing the incoming filament is likely to catch on the top of the recess in the heatbreak, and resist entering the heatbreak causing frustration. and poor loading. 
as you can see in the image above the curve in the filament as it goes into the extruder is likely to deflect the filament to the side of the heatsink chamber, rather than straight into the heatbreak filament channel, if the PTFE is missing.
hopefully turning the fan to full speed, and adding the PTFE, will resolve your issues
I find the Prusa fist layer calibration fool to be poor, so I use
'Life Adjust 'Z' My Way'
there are test profiles for a 0.4mm nozzle on the bottom of the first post
Good luck, 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: Stock and Phaetus Dragonfly both not extruding, clog at cold part hotend.
Thanks for all the input! It's very clear and helpful 🙂
So I added a Bowden tube. I was wrong to assume that the tube that's used to 'line' the cables going to the onboard PCB was a different tube than the one to use as a Bowden insert. It fits fine.
I entered the experimental menu and could turn OFF AltFAn. But, it doesn't turn on the fan when in use, still. Only when I start / reset the machine, it'll spin up. If I preheat, or do First Layer Calibration, the fan doesn't spin up. What are probable causes? I assume the seller knows what they're delivering. Since the system detects the fan and can spin it up in the fan test section as well, I'm not sure where to look to solve this. The PCB must be giving off the right signal / power to the fan, the software detects it, and even with AltFan OFF it can't seem to force it on when (pre)heating.
RE: Stock and Phaetus Dragonfly both not extruding, clog at cold part hotend.
As a follow-up (I would like to edit the previous post, but I can't): Would you recommend, if there are no other options, to purchase a Noctua NF-A4x10 5V? I'm pro silent fans, so it'll probably help me in that sense as well.
RE: Stock and Phaetus Dragonfly both not extruding, clog at cold part hotend.
Can't edit, so I'll update: I did think I checked the wiring, but both fans were switched on the PCB, after checking: https://help.prusa3d.com/article/einsy-rambo-electronics-wiring-mk3-mk3s-mk3s_2107 So that was silly, and is now fixed. On to trying to print 🙂
RE: Stock and Phaetus Dragonfly both not extruding, clog at cold part hotend.
there is a very small opportunity fro editing messages.
now that you have the fans the right way round you stand more chance of it working... the standard Noctua does not have the correct connector for the Prusa, i would try the fan you have and use the secret menu... if it's too loud, but the fan later!
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: Stock and Phaetus Dragonfly both not extruding, clog at cold part hotend.
there is a very small opportunity fro editing messages.
now that you have the fans the right way round you stand more chance of it working... the standard Noctua does not have the correct connector for the Prusa, i would try the fan you have and use the secret menu... if it's too loud, but the fan later!
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:
Thanks for the feedback. The clog in the hotend problem is now solved.
Am I right to understand that the print fan won't spin whilst doing First Layer Calibration? I'm getting poor results, especially at the last section where it fills a block, it just swirls around the nozzle rather than put down filament. During the FLC my print fan isn't spinning, but I read something like that here: https://help.prusa3d.com/article/print-fan-is-not-spinning_2081
I'm using a textured plate on the hotbed.