Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Hello everyone, finally got my new mk3 up and running and i noticed when i started printing that there is a creaking noise coming from the extruder assembly. i just cannot seem to pinpoint where exactly it is coming from. its not dependent on either the x or y position from what i can tell. the creaking noise sounds almost like someone on a rocking chair rocking it back and forth, its very consistent. Should i just break my extruder assembly down and build it back up and see if it stops? i dont even know where to begin in finding the source of the creaking. could it be the extruder gears arent aligned correctly? this is driving me crazy.
heres video i took of the noise, it can be hard to hear and sorry for the popping noise.
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
I have somthing similar thought it had to do with heating the nozzle but I'm not sure.....?☺️
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Mine squeaks just a bit when retracting. It doesn't bother me much so I haven't done anything yet but I have seen links on the forum to lubrication guidelines from bondtech. Perhaps go to the bondtech website and look for maintenance/lubrication tips for the drive gear.
Any misalignment of the gears would probably make things worse, so double check that while you are at it.
Beyond that there are plenty of plastic on plastic and plastic on metal joints that might squeak as they flex and rub past each other. Check that all the bolts are tight. Just don't over-tighten, especially the ones that go straight into the plastic with no nut behind. Be especially careful with the part fan. I split a seam on mine with very little effort. Still works fine though.
If it's really driving you crazy and you have lubricated the drive gears you could try a very small amount of graphite rubbed(not sprayed) on any mating surfaces. Start with the motor to extruder mount, since the motor is the source of all the torque. Next guess off the top of my head would be hot end groove mount since there are some significant forces on the hot end too.
If I end up going down the same rabbit hole I'll try to get back here and post.
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
I had a similar issue with my MK3 extruder squeaking tonight. Have you tried opening up the idler door on the extruder to look at the gears? I opened the door up and closed it back and the sound completely went away. It did look like the ptfe tube from the hotend was dangerously close to one of the gears and maybe they were touching and causing the sound. Fingers crossed it doesn’t come back!
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
I had the creaky extruder noise as well. I tightened each of the extruder idler tension screws 1/4-1/2 of a turn and it went away. If that doesn't do it, maybe try partially disassembling and reassembling it?
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Mine had the same issue. I tried everything. I finally found that the shaft for the idler gear had wobbled out and only one side of the gear was supported. I pushed it back in and the noise is gone. Guess i need to print a new idler gear door.
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Not saying this is any of your issue, but I've had filament that will "Squeak" as it's fed through the hobbed gears in my old bowden printer.
Hi, I'm Sean. I used to work on CNC machines.
I try to not make mistakes, but the decision is YOURS.
Please feel free to donate to my filament/maintance fund.
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Mine would make a horrible noise not only while extruding, but unloading as well. Even with no filament in the extruder. That idler was the issue.
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Mine had the same issue. I tried everything. I finally found that the shaft for the idler gear had wobbled out and only one side of the gear was supported. I pushed it back in and the noise is gone. Guess i need to print a new idler gear door.
While I am not sure this is my issue, after inspection I see also that the shaft had slid out on one side of the gear, and the gear was subsequently wobbly. I assume this is a defect part, and not sure how to approach fixing. Did you solve this?
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
The only solution is to print a replacement. The part you want is extruder-idler.Download Link. Properly printed the part may be very tight to tight on the bearing rod. If that is the case a small circular file or a 3mm drill will be required to ream the hole. If reaming the hole do not over ream it as it needs to be very tight. If the gear was subsequently wobbly as you put it. Check to make sure that both bearings are still in the gear shaft.
If you have access to spare nylon washers you can use my alternative version of the part.
STL File Extruder Idler W2.stl
AutocadDWG Extruder Idler W2.dwg
Regards,
Martin
Martin Wolfe
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Well I just so happen to have a few extra washers thanks to Prusa. 😎
Thanks Martin! I will be printing your design presently. I'm assuming PLA is sufficient for this part as I don't recall ever feeling any heat in that area. Cheers!
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
No it is a mechanical part under stress it needs to be in PETG.
Regards,
Martin
Martin Wolfe
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
I ran into a similar sounding issue after finishing my Mk2.5 upgrade, plastic creaking come from the extruder.
My issue turned out to be the top hole where the filament enters the extruder wasn't perfectly round and the filament was snagging, which was causing the filament to rub on the extruder body causing the plastic creaking noise. This must of been a slight defect with the print. I confirmed this by pushing a short bit of filament through by hand and comparing the resistance which my MK2S part. There shouldn't be any resistance but there was.
To fix I first placed a piece of paper inside the extruder to protect the hotend and ran a 1.5mm drill through the top hole by hand, followed by a 2.0mm drill (I don't have a 1.75mm drill). Only a few pieces of tiny plastic dropped down onto the paper, but this was enough to remove all resistance.
The creaking noise stopped immediately after doing this.
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
I had a similar issue as daniel did and drilled out above the gears by hand. the catching and grinding had caused some real bad under extrusion and build up of petg flakes. decided to tear out my hot end and check the teflon tube in the heat sink and it was floating up 1-2mm higher than it should have been. So I took a copper washer and trimmed a slot in it to use as a retaining clip for the bowden retaining clip.
Earlier in the day I took the stock bondtech idler mount and shaved a bit off to add nylon washers and it seemed to help initially but didn't last but a few cm worth of extrusion.
So all that said, if you found your way to this post through a search while being annoyed by the sound of plastic chirps. check the filament path above the extruder and make sure that your hotend ptfe tube has not backed out.
Re: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Hi Makers
This squeaking sound has been driving me crazy since I took my MK3 and transformed it into a mighty MK3s....
I read this post yesterday, while I was still running a long print, anyway, took the idler door off today when I got the first chance I could.
With the idler door off, and that checked. I could see some small plastic residue under the gears, the gears had been rubbing on the top of the PTFE tube and had been making these psycho noises. Anyway a stanly knife blade was used in situ to trim the PTFE tube flush with the black plastic angled support holding it.
Anyway, after assembly, WOW, I am so back to the good old stealth days of mk3'ism.... Sat here close to midnight with the heathy hum of my now mk3S and the silence of the family sleeping somewhere in the backfground......
Long live stealth mode.
Alistair.
RE: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
I believe this will be my fix as well after verifying my idler is good (pin is very solid in piece), PTFE tube is not rubbing. Thanks for posting this.
MK3s / My IKEA Lack enclosure
RE: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
I used a 2mm bit but it dislodged debris in there from rubbing and it was quiet again. Found this replacement part set. Apparently there's some misalignment of the filament?
Gonna give this a go.
MK3s / My IKEA Lack enclosure
RE: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Hi Makers
This squeaking sound has been driving me crazy since I took my MK3 and transformed it into a mighty MK3s....
I read this post yesterday, while I was still running a long print, anyway, took the idler door off today when I got the first chance I could.
With the idler door off, and that checked. I could see some small plastic residue under the gears, the gears had been rubbing on the top of the PTFE tube and had been making these psycho noises. Anyway a stanly knife blade was used in situ to trim the PTFE tube flush with the black plastic angled support holding it.
Anyway, after assembly, WOW, I am so back to the good old stealth days of mk3'ism.... Sat here close to midnight with the heathy hum of my now mk3S and the silence of the family sleeping somewhere in the backfground......
Long live stealth mode.
Alistair.
Thank you @alistar-m2! This was the fix for mine as well. PTFE tube was rubbing on the metal gear. Cut the PTFE tube flush with an X-acto blade, and no more squeaking.
RE: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Hi Makers
This squeaking sound has been driving me crazy since I took my MK3 and transformed it into a mighty MK3s....
I read this post yesterday, while I was still running a long print, anyway, took the idler door off today when I got the first chance I could.
With the idler door off, and that checked. I could see some small plastic residue under the gears, the gears had been rubbing on the top of the PTFE tube and had been making these psycho noises. Anyway a stanly knife blade was used in situ to trim the PTFE tube flush with the black plastic angled support holding it.
Anyway, after assembly, WOW, I am so back to the good old stealth days of mk3'ism.... Sat here close to midnight with the heathy hum of my now mk3S and the silence of the family sleeping somewhere in the backfground......
Long live stealth mode.
Alistair.
Thank you @alistar-m2! This was the fix for mine as well. PTFE tube was rubbing on the metal gear. Cut the PTFE tube flush with an X-acto blade, and no more squeaking.
Well darn it. Was fine for about an hour. Went to bed. Woke up. Started another print, and the squeak is back. Will wait for this print to completed, and will check it again. The thrill of the hunt!
RE: Creaking noise coming from extruder assembly
Hi Makers
This squeaking sound has been driving me crazy since I took my MK3 and transformed it into a mighty MK3s....
I read this post yesterday, while I was still running a long print, anyway, took the idler door off today when I got the first chance I could.
With the idler door off, and that checked. I could see some small plastic residue under the gears, the gears had been rubbing on the top of the PTFE tube and had been making these psycho noises. Anyway a stanly knife blade was used in situ to trim the PTFE tube flush with the black plastic angled support holding it.
Anyway, after assembly, WOW, I am so back to the good old stealth days of mk3'ism.... Sat here close to midnight with the heathy hum of my now mk3S and the silence of the family sleeping somewhere in the backfground......
Long live stealth mode.
Alistair.
Thank you @alistar-m2! This was the fix for mine as well. PTFE tube was rubbing on the metal gear. Cut the PTFE tube flush with an X-acto blade, and no more squeaking.
Well darn it. Was fine for about an hour. Went to bed. Woke up. Started another print, and the squeak is back. Will wait for this print to completed, and will check it again. The thrill of the hunt!
Attempt #2. This time I cut the side facing me. Assuming its rubbing against the gear we assemble. I also put lithium grease on the bearings and shaft this time. Both sides of the shaft were evenly fitted BTW, or none of them ever fell off, as in some other problem/solutions. Hopefully cutting both sides of the PTFE tube and greasing the gear/shaft will quite her down. 30 minutes in and no noise so far. Will see.
