Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot  

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

Open up the idler gear mount and inspect the gears. Take note to see if the cover is warped or twisted and if the gear teeth are only wearing on the inner edge side near the filament drive groove. Your motor drive gear may need realignment to the idler gear.

A few pictures would help.

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

unload the filament,
undo the pressure screws,
clean the hobbed gears in the extruder, if necessary,
re insert the pressure screws and screw in, until you just feel the screw contact thehousing, repeat with second screw,
insert pointed filament,
the filament will add a little tension to the springs as it is drawn between the hobbed gears....

hopefully the tension will be correct.

regards Joan

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

unload the filament,
undo the pressure screws,
clean the hobbed gears in the extruder, if necessary,
re insert the pressure screws and screw in, until you just feel the screw contact thehousing, repeat with second screw,
insert pointed filament,
the filament will add a little tension to the springs as it is drawn between the hobbed gears....

hopefully the tension will be correct.

regards Joan

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

Is your filament sensor working? A failed one can overheat to such an extent that your filament will be soft when going through the extruder, and what you describe will happen.

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

I inspected the gears and they seem fine. Attached are pictures.

After playing with the tension in the idler screws. If I unload/reload the filament each time before a first layer calibration I can get a few of the first lines out and then the gears start catching on the filament and it stops loading it. The gears seem aligned fine and I increased the tension in the gears by small incriments (180 degree turns each attempt) to the point where it wouldn't catch at all and just turn, to the point where it seems to just have enough tension to get the filament but then it starts clicking again.

Here's a link to a quick video of the problem:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eWptLo8aGjNsRsShTN81xKPwcfu40jHg/view?usp=sharing

Also how can I check if the filament sensor is working correctly?

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

Your first layer looks smashed in the video- I wonder if you are building up pressure in the nozzle due to it can't extrude properly.

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks!


Your first layer looks smashed in the video- I wonder if you are building up pressure in the nozzle due to it can't extrude properly.

i agree with reid and I would also suggest you consider lowering fan speed incase the cooling van is cooling off the nozzle. The temp reading is done in the block not in the nozzle so if the fan is set too high it will cool the nozzle off just enough.

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

I suspect the extruder is working fine.

Quick check: unload the filament and load new filament. While it pulls the filament in, resist the loading by pulling it out. If it can pull hard, it's probably fine.

If the extruder is working fine and you are getting clicking, you have resistance in the hot end. This can come from:

You might try a cold pull (loosen the extruder bolts, heat filament from cold to 200, as it passes 130-150 pull the filament out by hand) to see if you can clear any debris from the hot end. You could also check your nozzle.

What temperature are you running, and what speeds? Try running 10 degrees hotter and half the speed, and see if you still have the issue.

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

From your last picture it appears that the gear is slightly misaligned to the filament. From this angle it seems that the gear is too far to the left. Hard to say for sure if this is the issue but worth a look.

DJ

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

From your last picture it appears that the gear is slightly misaligned to the filament. From this angle it seems that the gear is too far to the left. Hard to say for sure if this is the issue but worth a look.

DJ

I observed the same misalignment as well.

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

I went to load a filament in and if I pull back I can feel a good pull and the gears will start clicking if I use too much force.

Now the filament doesn't completely load/extruder so I'm guessing I have a jam in the hotend. I'll re-align the gears as well just to be safe.

If I don't have the right sized wrench, is it okay to take the hotend off with pliers? I tried this earlier but was worried when I noticed I styarted scraping off some of the material on the hotend.

Thanks!

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

If I don't have the right sized wrench, is it okay to take the hotend off with pliers? I tried this earlier but was worried when I noticed I styarted scraping off some of the material on the hotend.

Thanks!

I wouldn't use anything other than a correct hex socket on the nozzle and the correct spanner/wrench on the heater block. Brass is very soft and slipping pliers could easily take out some of the wiring.

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

I tried a cold pull and re-loaded the filament and was able to get a good first layer calibration with no clicking, but when I tried to do another the filament wouldn't come out of the hotend. Am I allowing it to get cold and then clog up the hotend?

I'll wait till I have access to the proper tools before dismantling the hotend then!

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

I had the same issue last night. I have had my printer for about a month and have run about two and a half spools of filament through making various things. Everything checked out as far as the extruder gears and such. I used nylon filament and performed three cold pulls with little improvement. I happened to have some extra new nozzles for my MK2. Swapped out he nozzle (for a cheap 4mm nozzle from china) and the problems went away. I had a clog issue in the nozzle that did not clear with the cold pulls.

If you change the nozzle remember it MUST be done so while hot. The heater block can be held with a 17mm wrench and the nozzles are 7mm.

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

Hi Alex,

Have you ever sorted out your issue? I have the exact same problem happening and it's driving me nuts!

Loading and unloading filament is absolutely no problem and I don't get any of the clicking sounds. However, as soon as I begin a print, it clicks right off the get go and I can't print a single line even.

Any help is much appreciated!

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

Kinda the same issue here but it's clicking even when there is no filament in the extruder...
Clicking while printing flex but not when printing pla/petg/pc...
I'll have to check the alignment and the pressure screws...

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

I have the same problems (only with layer hights < 0.1). Unfortunately I broke my hotend when I try to change the nozzle... Next week I will replace it and try again.
There are so many posts with this kind of issue here in the forum and in the facebook groups. I think the whole MK3 Extruder seems to be "critically constructed". My Extruder Motor is so hot that I can't let my fingers rest on it (yes, I already lowered the tension to the loosest possible point). The whole extruder is so hot that I think this will lead to the problems. Filament will get soft at the gears already and I'm not sure if the heat may deform the PLA parts of the Extruder...

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

I have the same problems (only with layer hights < 0.1). Unfortunately I broke my hotend when I try to change the nozzle... Next week I will replace it and try again.
There are so many posts with this kind of issue here in the forum and in the facebook groups. I think the whole MK3 Extruder seems to be "critically constructed". My Extruder Motor is so hot that I can't let my fingers rest on it (yes, I already lowered the tension to the loosest possible point). The whole extruder is so hot that I think this will lead to the problems. Filament will get soft at the gears already and I'm not sure if the heat may deform the PLA parts of the Extruder...

I guess that is one of the reasons why the extruder ist printed in PET and ABS. 😉

Re: Filament Idler Clicks, Can't find tension sweetspot

I guess that is one of the reasons why the extruder ist printed in PET and ABS. 😉

Are you sure? That would calm me down a bit!