Filament Run Out and You
So, I just had the filament run out on one of my prints. The printer attempted to back the filament out but was unable and produced a message on the screen that indicated I should loosen the idler and pull out the filament. I wasn't sure how to do this, and I couldn't find it in the documentation until after I solved it by other means.
I had no access to the filament from the input side of the runout sensor. I pulled the PTFE tube off the runout block's output side and could not pull out the filament. I then pulled off the tube from the print head itself, and I could disengage the filament, but not before a print head "Mintemp" error indicated it had no communication with the head.
Acknowledging this caused the printer to reset, and all was well with the hardware, but I could no longer resume the print and lost 3.5 hours of print time. That was VERY frustrating.
I believe the filament was caught in the runout sensor as the head tried to back it out, which caused the Jam. I can't prove this, though, so it's just a theory right now.
I've got a two-head XL, so I'm posting here instead of the other channel, but I'm sure this applies to both.
Aaron
RE:
If you look carefully at the forward area of the top of the nextruder right below where the filament enters the top you’ll see the clip the hold the breech closed. If you pop that towards you, the breech opens with the flat, fluted bearing in the breech cover and the large knifed edge wheel that feeds the filament. This provides all the access we will need to get in there and clear out filament bits.
RE: Filament Run Out and You
I have found that since, but I didn't stumble on it in the initial troubleshooting, which made the whole experience much more complicated than needed.
Aaron