RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Did you replace the idler door and latch with PCCF parts? So you still have preload on the doors?
I have not. I'm just getting started trying to figure this issue out. I just put my 4th new nozzle in and am printing now but this is getting old.
Can I buy those parts or will I need to figure out how to print them? I'm assuming this is going to help the drive gears shove material through it? I still don't understand why these nozzles plug up so high above the tip. I can run a needle up the nozzle several times but can't get new filament to feed from the top.
Electrical Engineer/Drafter
RE:
Do you have an enclosure? What happens is the original PETG parts deform if they get too hot and lose preload so the filament does not get enough pressure against the main drive gear.
You can buy the parts from Prusa, or get some PCCF and print them yourself(assuming you have a working printer.) The parts are on Printables. The Prusa PCCF prints really easy and I had no issue using the Prusament profile.
The new door also has more preload than the original door.
If you have an enclosure I'd recommend replacing all the parts Prusa does when you buy the enclosure.
- idler door and latch
- Part cooling fan duct
- XY belt clamps
I personally reprinted all of the plastic parts with PCCF. It's a bunch more work to do that, and not needed, but since I had a entire roll I decided to.
I ran fine for almost a year until I did a large ASA print and I started having issues. I discovered that my idler door had lost almost all preload. Changing the parts fixed the issue.
RE:
Yes, I do have the enclosure...and I did not replace all the drive belt parts when I put it together since they said I didn't need to since my XL was made after a certain date. I'll try replacing the idler door and latch as you said. Thanks for the info. I do have a working MK3 next to it so maybe I can print them on there. I need to get into the CF filaments anyway so maybe that will push me to learn something new as well. Appreciate the info!
What I don't get is that once they clog, they are uncloggable....even with pressure by hand or tools.
Electrical Engineer/Drafter
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Yes, I do have the enclosure...and I did not replace all the drive belt parts when I put it together since they said I didn't need to since my XL was made after a certain date. I'll try replacing the idler door and latch as you said. Thanks for the info. I do have a working MK3 next to it so maybe I can print them on there. I need to get into the CF filaments anyway so maybe that will push me to learn something new as well. Appreciate the info!
What I don't get is that once they clog, they are uncloggable....even with pressure by hand or tools.
If the clog gets above the heat break it's nearly impossible to clear. Some have had success with torching them and burning the filament out. But in my opinion for the cost of a nozzle I'd just throw it out. It's not worth possibly having more clogs if all of the filament didn't get burned out.
Was your XL built after June? If not then likely your parts are PETG. The PETG parts are black and the PCCF ones are more of a gray color.
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Well, I thought it was since we bought it after June....but maybe it wasn't. Here's the serial. I'm googling trying to find how to get the date out of the SN. Assuming 24 means 2024 and then 02 means feb? So...maybe I need to swap that stuff. The drive belt swap looked like a mess to a newb when I got the enclosure so I opted not to swap it all.
Electrical Engineer/Drafter
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Well, I thought it was since we bought it after June....but maybe it wasn't. Here's the serial. I'm googling trying to find how to get the date out of the SN. Assuming 24 means 2024 and then 02 means feb? So...maybe I need to swap that stuff. The drive belt swap looked like a mess to a newb when I got the enclosure so I opted not to swap it all.
The belt swap is super easy, just loosen both belt tension screws 2 turns. Change the belt retainers, then tighten them back up 2 turns.
Not sure on the serial number, and it's hard to tell from the pictures, but your Nextruder cover is for sure PETG, but it's hard to tell on your idler door.
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
My apologies to the OP for completely high jacking the thread. I hate to start a new thread for the same issue, but I've made a mess of this one. 😎
Came to work this morning and started a 14 hr print with a brand-new nozzle. I also left the enclosure door open on top to lower the temp inside the enclosure. Guess what? 1.5 hours in....clog. (dirty words everywhere). Thinking leaving the enclosure open didn't work. So now I'm thinking my idler parts are PETG and they are already warped, and temp won't matter at this point.
So, I dug out the bag of nextruder upgrade parts from the XL Enclosure that we bought that I never installed thinking my printer was built after June. I disassembled the nextruder that just clogged. The parts on the head look exactly like the ones in the bag for the upgrade but I replaced them all anyway just so I could learn how to do it. They are same color and look identical to the parts that came in the head. Replaced the Idler Lever A, Lever B, the Idler Swivel, and the Idler Nut. Instructions say to screw idler adjusters in until the screw is flush with the front of the nut. Mine were already past that and are past that as well on the second head (I only have two print heads).
Currently I'm at an impasse. I don't want to keep throwing nozzles at this thing but I'm not sure what else to do. Any more advice from those who have fixed their issues?
I've also ordered a 6" long 5/64 drill bit to try to clean out the 5 wasted nozzles I have. I'm wondering if I turn it slowly by hand if I can drill out the clog in the middle of the nozzle tube. I'm hoping I can feel it when I hit the metal on the other end. They are all junk already so it's not like I can hurt them any worse.
Any more words of wisdom before I start the weeklong back-and-forth with tech support? I sure appreciate anything you have to offer.
Electrical Engineer/Drafter
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Can you check to make sure your heat break fan is working?
You can also set the heatbreak temperature to be one of the things your can see across the bottom of the screen.
What temperature are you reaching in your enclosure?
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Can you check to make sure your heat break fan is working?
You can also set the heatbreak temperature to be one of the things your can see across the bottom of the screen.
What temperature are you reaching in your enclosure?
Heat break fan is functional. I added the RPM to the UI screen. It reads 3200-3300 RPM. Monitoring it during filament loading, not an actual print. I have one nozzle left so I don't want to start a print if I don't have to.
Temps are usually around 95-98F in the enclosure reading on the lid from the junky little display. I swapped out the C one for an F since I have zero reference of how hot things are in C.
Electrical Engineer/Drafter
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Can you check to make sure your heat break fan is working?
You can also set the heatbreak temperature to be one of the things your can see across the bottom of the screen.
What temperature are you reaching in your enclosure?
Heat break fan is functional. I added the RPM to the UI screen. It reads 3200-3300 RPM. Monitoring it during filament loading, not an actual print. I have one nozzle left so I don't want to start a print if I don't have to.
Temps are usually around 95-98F in the enclosure reading on the lid from the junky little display. I swapped out the C one for an F since I have zero reference of how hot things are in C.
That's not too hot. It wouldn't really start to be an issue until probably about 110 F, or at least that's when others have started reporting issues.
I'm at a loss. It sounds like from what your describing that the heat break is getting too hot and your melting filament inside it.
Sorry if you've already stated, but do all of your print heads do this? Also what are you printing with.
RE:
If OP means original post... I guess I can welcome you to mess this mess as much as you need! 😀
My apologies to the OP for completely high jacking the thread. I hate to start a new thread for the same issue, but I've made a mess of this one. 😎
My beloved XL monster suffered from most (if not all) of the symptoms you mentioned. I put a sensor to measure the temperature everywhere inside the enclosure, used proper VoC and PM2.5-10 sensors, torched my blocked nozzles, looked on the internet to learn more effective ways to curse in different languages and dialects, and created new rated R insults to no avail.
The only thing that worked for me was to print the extruder's PC-CF upgraded parts that came with the enclosure myself using the best parameters I could come up with, like a lot more infill and the structural 0.10 or 0.15 (I don't remember) using a 0.4mm nozzle. I used all the new cursing language created in my previous steps while assembling my five tool heads --again-- with utmost care—the same care I used the first time—and voilà!!
That thing prints so freakingly beautiful ever since that I recovered my voice after all the aforementioned use of cursing language!
Seriously, that's all I did. Below is a PCCF part I printed on my previously known as sir-clog-a-lot XL to upgrade my MK4 to MK4S. Nope, I no longer use the printed PCCF parts from a Prusa upgrade.
Just print the upgraded parts the best you can. My printer still prints wonderfully; it is, by far and away, my favorite printer!!!!
I hope this helps!
Happy all to everyone!!!
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Can you check to make sure your heat break fan is working?
You can also set the heatbreak temperature to be one of the things your can see across the bottom of the screen.
What temperature are you reaching in your enclosure?
Heat break fan is functional. I added the RPM to the UI screen. It reads 3200-3300 RPM. Monitoring it during filament loading, not an actual print. I have one nozzle left so I don't want to start a print if I don't have to.
Temps are usually around 95-98F in the enclosure reading on the lid from the junky little display. I swapped out the C one for an F since I have zero reference of how hot things are in C.
Hey, another idea. Some are having issues with their toolhead plug coming loose. Maybe as a test tape your toolhead plug down to make sure it's not wiggling loose and stopping extruding leading to your clog.
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Sorry if you've already stated, but do all of your print heads do this? Also what are you printing with.
Currently only head #2. I don't remember if #1 has ever done it. I'll have to keep track now. I predominantly print orange Prusament PETG from head 1 and 3DExtech ESD PETG from head #2. The ESD material is a bit more abrasive, so I'd expect to replace things after thousands of hours but not this regular. I'm trying to print 6U VME card chassis for our production floor that they can use to hold PWB Assemblies though our production process. The ESD requirement is obvious, and the orange is just used to highlight the text on the parts. So statistically, head #2 prints 95%+ of the time so I'm not sure if that plays into why #1 hasn't clogged lately. However, I do have 3 clogged nozzles with ESD and also 2 with Prusament PETG so I'm not thinking it is a filament issues. I know tech support is going to say "3DExtech isn't an approved filament" and all that jazz. I can hear it coming already. These are brand new spools right out of the vacuum seal. Clogs with different spools as well. I just cant' seem to blame the filament at this point.
I just wonder if I need to use different nozzle temps. I'm using the defaults for all of them.
The part, the XL, and the MK3S.
If OP means original post... I guess I can welcome you to mess this mess as much as you need! 😀
Just print the upgraded parts the best you can. My printer still prints wonderfully; it is, by far and away, my favorite printer!!!!
OP, original poster, indeed. Appreciate the hijack approval. So is there parts other than Idler Lever A, Lever B, the Idler Swivel, and the Idler Nut that I need to replace? Does anything else come into play for the feed?
Hey, another idea. Some are having issues with their toolhead plug coming loose. Maybe as a test tape your toolhead plug down to make sure it's not wiggling loose and stopping extruding leading to your clog.
Plug was tight and latched when I removed and replaced parts yesterday, but I'll keep an eye on that too.
Thanks fellas!
Electrical Engineer/Drafter
RE:
@4x4dually
I don't think the connector was coming completely loose. I think as the print head is moving around the tension from the umbilical is wiggling the plug and it temporarily looses connection and it stops extruding.
So taping it down good can maybe test this theory for you.
If this fixed the problem @ray123 came up with this. I think I'm going to do it to my printer even though I have not had issues just because it's a more solid connection.
https://www.printables.com/model/1124941-secure-xl-nextruder-cable-connector-solution/files
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Nice. I'll try that and see if it helps! Thank you all very much for your time and help. I greatly appreciate it.
Electrical Engineer/Drafter
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Maybe one more tought/try: The idler tension- maybe still too high and squeezing the filament. I've set the idlers to very very low tension without having a single problem. "Low tension" in my case means, that I have no preload on it, when filament is unloaded. I first set this for flexible filament, but didn't change afterwards for other filaments.
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Did you try my previous suggestion?
It doesn't take much of a change or warping of a part to cause issues. I reprinted my parts in ASA. The problem with mine was that the two parts that make up the leveler and the two parts that made up the leveler lock were slightly warped . Another issue was that the nut and bolt that held the locking device in place needed to be tightened periodically to pull the two halves together. If I didn't tighten them every few hundred hours or so I would get underextrusion or no extrusion. Look at the pic below I circled the issue parts with the nut and bolt. If these parts are loose or warped there will not be enough pressure applied to the leveler arms
RE: My XL is now called Sir Clog-a-lot after upgrades. Any ideas?
Maybe one more tought/try: The idler tension- maybe still too high and squeezing the filament. I've set the idlers to very very low tension without having a single problem. "Low tension" in my case means, that I have no preload on it, when filament is unloaded. I first set this for flexible filament, but didn't change afterwards for other filaments.
Well, the manual says to set it until the screw comes through the backside of the nut. There were several threads showing on both of my heads. How far do your screws protrude through the nut? Not sure where it needs set of how to calibrate it.
Did you try my previous suggestion?
It doesn't take much of a change or warping of a part to cause issues. I reprinted my parts in ASA. The problem with mine was that the two parts that make up the leveler and the two parts that made up the leveler lock were slightly warped . Another issue was that the nut and bolt that held the locking device in place needed to be tightened periodically to pull the two halves together. If I didn't tighten them every few hundred hours or so I would get underextrusion or no extrusion. Look at the pic below I circled the issue parts with the nut and bolt. If these parts are loose or warped there will not be enough pressure applied to the leveler arms
I did replace the levers. They didn't seem warped compared to the new ones. The screw that held them together was tight. I just checked head 1 and it's tight as well.
Electrical Engineer/Drafter