Hey guys, I have one of the PowerSpec Ultras (FlashForge Dreamer Clone). It works great for the most part except I’m having repeated issues of the filament melting in the teflon tube before it gets to the extruder, thus making a massive clog. Has anyone else had this issue, and is there a way to upgrade the heat break so it’s more effective? I’ve noticed that the cooling fans barely have any surface area on that heat break… I put some mid-level CPU paste on it (not a lot, just a little) and it’s helped some, but I’m still having issues.
What temp are you extruding at?
Replace the Teflon with inserts from micro Swiss
OK, Can we get a few more details? Is this happening when you are trying to load filament, or when you are printing?
If when you are printing, does this happen after the print is going awhile, or right away?
"Replace the Teflon with inserts from micro Swiss " - no, don’t do this, its probably not the answer right now. If you give us a few more details, we can help.
Also, does this happen, then it happens a lot after that? Or is it truly random?
I was looking at those. Logic tells me that replacing a non-conductive material with metal would make it worse, I sent them an email asking about it though.
PLA - 210, it hovers right around 207-208. PETG - 240. PET+ - 250.
It happens as soon as I unload filament, and sometimes as soon as I finish a print. It’s only happened while I was printing one time, and it was about 10 minutes into it.
The hotend upgrade is probably not a bad idea as I’d like the ability to extrude more exotic materials from this printer in the future. But for the moment I want to understand it as best I can so I will be able to know what that kind of upgrade will do to it in a more complete sense.
My advice: Never unload filament. Too many chances for issues.
Always LOAD filament, following the new filament behind the old.
That’s a good thought, but what about when you’re going from a hotter filament to a cooler one, like from PETG down to PLA?
I would suggest loading at the hotter PETG temp and turning the temp down when you notice the PLA coming through, I have the powerspec pro never had this type of issue, then again I never unloaded always loaded. Is the fan turning on properly? and is the heat sink seated properly? Your temp of 210 should be fine although I print PLA in stages first layer is 210 I then gradually move down to 190. But this all depends on the brand of PLA
Everything appears to be running properly. I don’t run PLA below 205 anymore, I was getting all kinds of jams in my E3D on my other printer when I did. The issue I had when I tried to load filament like that a couple times was that they wouldn’t stay contacting one another.
Do you preheat before unloading?
I’ve only had my Powerspec Ultra for a few months and have no issues with it. One thing I did notice right away the first time I tried switching filaments is that using the unload feature on the printer’s led screen is a bad idea. When the filament retracts, the stuff that has built up in the nozzle would get stuck in the Teflon tube so I don’t use that feature of the printer. Instead I just load the next color in and run the filament through for about 30-60 seconds to push out the old. When switching filament types (PLA>ABS and vice versa), I run a stick of dyna-purge through first before loading the new filament through. I highly recommend getting dyna-purge to keep the extruder clean, especially the Teflon tubes. Dyna-Purge® 3D Clean™ – Fargo 3D Printing
^^^ Good Answer, I actually just preheat and disengage the tension on the servo, gently push filament (you can feel the feedback on the extrusion), depending on how I left the printer I may feed 2 inches in before switching to the next. I should clean way more often 
