Also can you provide us with the sailfish version you are running I’ll check the changelogs to see if a newer firmware fixed a problem like you are having
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Sailfish F CreatorX
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Thing 32084 14/11/05
Sailfish v7.7 r01234
That’s what the panel says.
all connections are sound. solid 24v
It can heat the bed and both extruders all at once, the bed works fine, and the extruders heat the same way if you do either of the three or all of them.
Ok so you have the latest stable release. There is apparently 7.8 version released but it hadn’t been widely adopted yet so wouldn’t recommend upgrading unless you really feel the need to. Changelogs don’t mention hotends issues either.
Are the set screws tight on the heaters? Unrelated, but were there display glitches before the changeover? The loose wire while printing theory is good.
I have an extra fan to cool the part that also tends to cool the extruder. Are you using one?
I wiggled the wires like crazy on the thermocouple and they are fine.
Only after I change nozzles is when the panel went strange, but the panel appears to have fixed itself now.
I don’t have an extra fan
all screws are tight!
Hmm that is strange… The only thing I can think of is that the extruder with the lower temp is not getting the same amount of current to heat the hot end. That’s the only other thing I can think of. I mean the wires are good your getting correct voltage. The thermocouples are tested. Only other thing other than firmware is the current going to the hot end. If you can check the current that would be something else we can rule out. I don’t think they go over the 10 amp max on most amp meters so my suggestion is test the current on both and compare to see if they are both in the same ball park. Do this especially at around the 195 degree threshold when the faulty nozzle doesn’t heat more.
Did you update the power supply? You may not have enough watts now. I think you can do that upgrade with a 220watt, my 120 can barely hold the temp on both nozzles and plate simultaneously.
I have a stock NES-350-24 power supply
The flashforge comes with a 300 watt power supply though so it should be good enough to heat both nozzles. I also think that if it were the power supply not providing enough wattage we would probably see both nozzles not reaching the desired temp.
nothing looks odd with the voltage,
there is this red light on the board that’s on and under it it says y-min and overheat? is that something? or is that normal?
this is what it looks like on the board []=light [1]= the red one on
Y-MIN
R91[] [1]
overheat
[]R109
Can you heat only 1 nozzle at a time? Can both reach and hold the desired temperature alone?
Tom
Darn not at my flashforge right now. I’ll look to see if someone posted a video on YouTube real quick.
Try speaking to Mr.Tang from flashforge. He might have more information on the debugging process for the motherboard lights since I can’t find anything on YouTube other than a video showing the motherboard powered off.
So I found a Google blog post stating that the overheat light is no longer used for overheating but for the 5v bus according to here: Redirecting to Google Groups 4 so it seems you can ignore that led.
Is the overheat light flashing or on steady? The google post I mention below states that if it’s flashing you have a problem which would affect the hot end.
The red light is solid.
Both nozzles will heat up to 192/195 but wont get to the desired temperature.
At this point I think testing the current going to both hot ends is needed to pin down whether correct wattage is present. Since you have the necessary 24 volts the next step is the current. If something in the heating circuit is defective you should be able to to see it when testing both the voltage and current. Since the voltage is fine the next step is checking the current. Try putting an amp meter in series with the wire connected to the hot end. Most voltmeters these days have a setting for testing the amperage. You should set it to 10 amps for testing I am just worried that the current going to the hot end is higher than 10 amps and you burn out your amp meter. If anyone else has the specs to ensure he doesn’t burn his amp meter please chime in.
Both have the same current in and out,
However the left nozzle that can heat to a higher temperature uses 1.39 at first then declines to 1.34 and then when its 5C from the target temp then fluctuates 1.00-1.32 and the right one uses 1.43 all the way, do you think the heating cartridges are not accepting what power they need?
Well it definitely seems like the firmware, motherboard and thermocouple is working. Since the right extruder is not at the correct temperature the thermocouple is telling the motherboard and hence the firmware that it needs to supply more current to heat the hot end some more. What seems odd is that you are using more current on the right hot end than the left and yet the left hot end is reaching a higher temperature. Since you have ruled out the heatsink thermopaste we seem to of isolated it to the heating element in the right hot end. I would say that maybe by switching to a full metal hot end it put more stress on the heating element which caused it to fail. Since after reading multiple places and having the same issue myself with a full metal nozzle, having so much metal causes the hot end to become a heatsink making the heating element stress more to maintain temperature. I’ve noticed this when converting to a full metal nozzle where with a brass nozzle I could get to 260 degrees without issue, I couldn’t even make it to 250 degrees with the metal nozzle. I have a hunch that the heating elements arent the best on the flashforge and that’s what you are running in to. I would propose one last test and that is to replace the PTFE setup (only on the right hot end) and see if you can achieve the correct temperature. If everything is exactly as you had it before switching to the full metal hot end and it still doesn’t achieve the correct temperature, then I would say that at this point it is definitely the heating element. Would you be able to submit a picture of the wires on your hot end for the right extruder?
I just realized I didn’t answer your question about the heating cartridges not accepting the power they need. I believe that the left extruder is accepting the power it needs since anything between 1 and 2 amps is within the range I would assume to be acceptable ie. Between 24 and 48 watts per extruder. Since we have a ~ 350 watt power supply I assume a large portion of the power goes to the heated bed and the rest for the motors. Since there are two hot ends I would assume at least 48 watts for both extruders during heating up which leaves 300 watts for the rest. 300 watts does seem like a lot but I assume 150 goes to the heating of the bed since it’s a large object to heat and maybe another 15 watts go to the motors and the rest is overhead since you should never run a power supply at its maximum rated load. Again this is all speculation based on reasoning. Finally the reason why I say the left extruder seems like it is correct and not the right hot end is because the right hot end is getting more current but not doing a good job at heating. Which leads to my previous conclusion that it must of stressed to the point of failure. Sorry for the long replies but you have me thinking ;P.
Should I upgrade to an 24v 80W cartridge then?
You would definitely be able to get to 260 degrees no problem. Just make sure the motherboard can handle such a load. Try asking the company selling the 80w upgrade if the mighty board on the flashforge creator pro can handle the current draw for it. I’m thinking of upgrading my hot ends in the future too because of the lack of heating with metal nozzles. If you do end up upgrading to the 80W would you mind posting to update me on wether it solved your problem or not. I want to see if the upgrade works for you and if it does I’ll probably join you on the upgrade.
The heat shielding kapton tape is intact so the heat should be kept in the hot end which is good. The wires to the heating element look fine too so it’s gotta be a defective heating element on the right extruder. Unless anyone else has any other idea’s I think it’s pretty much case closed and pick up a replacement hot end for the right extruder and it should solve your problem.
I agree. Try the old setup on the worse extruder. Otherwise try a new heater. All else seems functional.
After thinking about it, if both are pulling the same current, and one gets hotter, it has to be a heat sinking problem. The law of conservation of energy says the energy has to go somewhere, and it apparently isn’t staying in the hot end of the setup, unless the thermistor is lying.