Unnerving squeaking/creaking from the extruder gears on a new MK3S
Hello Forums,
This week I finally got my new Prusa i3 MK3S but disappointingly found it producing high-pitched noises akin to rubbing styrofoam. Here's a video of how the printer sounds (the video is quiet, but in reality the noise is far more severe). Having this noise meters away from me in my workspace makes it all the more painful to hear.
I'm aware that there's a similar conversation about this issue here on the forums, but none of their sounds are quite the same and it's an older, multi-topic discussion that seems unlikely to receive a reply on. Changing the tension in the extruder-idler hasn't altered the noise, but imperfect tension or orientation in those gears is my only lead. The worst moments of noise come from filament retractions where there's sudden movement of the idler gears. I'm using the Prusa filament that came with the printer and print speed/accuracy has no impact on the presence of the squeaking.
Given how much this great, fully tested/assembled printer has set me back (right before the reveal of the budget Prusa Mini nonetheless), I'd be thrilled for any chance to solve this and give stealth mode the credit it deserves.
--Cheers
RE: Unnerving squeaking/creaking from the extruder gears on a new MK3S
Best guess - without pictures - would be that your PTFE tube has ridden up a bit and is rubbing on the Bondtech gears.
Easy to check by looking in the extruder window.
RE: Unnerving squeaking/creaking from the extruder gears on a new MK3S
Some have reported the PTFE is squeaking as filament rubs down the extruder; caused mostly by the weird offset in the filament path on the MK3S design. That it often goes away with new filament or time; like a break in period.
RE: Unnerving squeaking/creaking from the extruder gears on a new MK3S
Some people on posts elsewhere have said that the noise stops after a few weeks or printing. This could be their gears wearing down or pushing the PTFE until it's out of the way. Thoughts?
(It also might be worth mentioning that the gear that opens with the window has some wobble on its axis)
Rotated for some reason during the upload...
--Cheers
RE: Unnerving squeaking/creaking from the extruder gears on a new MK3S
I suspect (am guessing) the squeaks stop as the filament polishes/wears down the PTFE at the tight spot.
RE: Unnerving squeaking/creaking from the extruder gears on a new MK3S
That seems like the best action at this point. Since I don't believe the squeaking is having too serious of an impact on prints, and I'm doing some low-detail, bulk printing right now anyway, I'll give it some time and see if it's just the printing breaking into its new shoes.
Thanks for the feedback~