Help with Printer filament jamming up

SummersideGuy · 2016-02-04T19:36:36.000Z

I had reduced the retraction to 2mm originally it was max of 4 as this has a bowden tube. My filament keeps getting bound up/stuck in the hotend somewhere. ive disassembled the hot end several times and restarted but within 30 minutes or so it is slowly getting bound up again

SammamishHub · 2016-02-04T19:45:08.000Z

Yes, exactly - that’s just the name that came to mind as I picture them moving the filament back and forth as it’s wound onto the spool. I get filament trapped underneath the next loop, and I can just push it into the knot a bit to loosen up a few more windings, but it’ll eventually hit the next stuck spot.

SummersideGuy · 2016-02-04T19:56:55.000Z

I do find the filament strand itself is very twisted and feels knotty and very springy, see photo. Is it hard to straighten this out, could this solve some of the issue. I know I will never order this crap brand again.

20160204_155354.jpg1265×540 114 KB

PepCo_Parker · 2016-02-05T03:37:23.000Z

Hello! I too have a Chinese printer kit, well, actually three… and I must say in the beginning it was rough but man once these things get working are they ever a piece of art! I have to ask, are you printing with Chinese filament? Some filament is actually extremely poor in quality, not just the diameter or shape but the plastic itself. My first printer I bought came with really good filament, but the next two had filament that was better off being burned than trying to extrude it. I also have to ask, as I made this mistake myself, when you cleaned the extruder assembly, did you do so with a torch of some type? I was unaware at the time, but there’s actually a piece of Teflon tubing in the upper threaded part of the extruder assembly and I had actually burned it right out, filament was constantly getting clogged without it and it was a massive pain until I got a new one and realized my mistake.

PepCo_Parker · 2016-02-05T03:41:10.000Z

Also if you live in Canada, depending where you are, I would highly recommend ordering your filament from filaments.ca, they do a great job, I’ve probably ordered upwards of 15kg from them

SummersideGuy · 2016-02-05T04:17:15.000Z

Ok I cut 2 10 meter sections off the roll. I then spent 5-10 minutes pull the twist out of each section. I was able to get 2 successful prints from both pieces after doing this, so maybe the roll is salvageable

SummersideGuy · 2016-02-05T04:21:17.000Z

On their website the majority of their pla is sold out

ldanut · 2016-02-05T07:56:25.000Z

I would do two things:

- check if extruder gear is not filled with grinded filament that will make it slip

- try a good quality filament since yours looks like a low quality one

Namekkural · 2016-02-05T08:03:58.000Z

I also bought a Chinese brand printer and had problems with hot end jamming from the start. I finally replaced the nozzle with a different brand and everything is fine now. Cost me 8 $ but was totally worth it. Don’t buy cheap extruded nozzles.

shane_simon_779 · 2016-02-05T08:05:57.000Z

I had constant jams on my generic MK8 hotend plus a stripping drive wheel / clicking. I fixed it on mine by adding an oil wipe / vegetable oil drops on the filament while it is printing. This works for both ABS and PLA.

If your hotend is really buggered up, you may have to clean it using acetone first. Also, you may need to put a stronger or weaker spring in your tensioner - the default that came with mine was very weak and allowed the hob to slide.

Finally, double check that your extrusion rate is correct for your stepper / motor. My default setup was pushing slightly too much per turn and would instantly overload the head. Raising your heat a bit might also help, especially when using the oil.

jimmyvonsnipe · 2016-02-05T08:08:07.000Z

I use the Micromake Mini Kossels a lot, and they work flawlessly. Your printer looks quite similar. Definitely try some new filament. I use esun in my machines as it is easy to attain here in Australia, and works very well!

Regards,

James.

dramaprint · 2016-02-05T08:08:26.000Z

Hi, Filament problems could be caused by inconsistent diametar, you could change the spool and try again. Try to push the filament trough by hand and you should get consistent flow, if not nozzle needs cleaning. You could thy the cold plug method for cleaning. Also try to tighten the part that holds the filament against the hobbed bolt, hope this helps

CALLMEBIGGPAPA · 2016-02-05T08:23:51.000Z

I would honestly return the spool for that much of a variance in diameter. Double check that your extruder gear is aligned and properly tightened as well! Ps. I run a filament oiler/duster to help reduce the chance of jams and clogs.

primaltalk · 2016-02-05T09:34:26.000Z

I’d agree with the others that the most likely cause of the inconsistencies in feed rates is caused by inconsistent filament diameter. Where the blockage is concerned, it may also be that the filament gets too wide and jams, but I’d also look to heat creep as a possible culprit. You’re printing at a high temperature for PLA and, if the heat sink on your hot end isn’t that great, heat can flow up, cause the filament to expand and you’ll get a jam. From the looks of your hot end, the heat sink doesn’t look that great (compare it with a picture of an E3D from e3d-online).

PepCo_Parker · 2016-02-05T12:37:38.000Z

Ok, for the most part I order abs, haven’t really payed attention to pla on there. They normally keep quite good stock but lately every time they get stock it’s sold before I even get the email notification, guess the word about their quality has started getting out…

SammamishHub · 2016-02-05T16:32:51.000Z

I think I misunderstood what you guys mean by twisting. The more a filament sits out in the open air the more it holds it’s curl and gets brittle. Hard to see what’s causing the waviness in the photo, but I suppose I could see my little stock mini kossel extruder struggling to pull that through consistently.

I was talking about where you can’t pull the filament off the spool because it’s tangled up in the other windings; maybe it’s more common on large spools. Once a spool does it to me, it’s a repeating problem. Sometimes it clears with a tug, others it needs more TLC - so I just wind spools onto new ones once this happens, working through all the knots.

SammamishHub · 2016-02-05T16:47:39.000Z

Thumbs up on the ESun cleaning filament. I just got some this week (ordered thru Amazon), and manually pushed about an inch worth through each 0.4mm hot end and then just pulled it back out. They were both printing hairlines that would curl up around the nozzle, even after I cleaned the nozzles and the heat break tubes with a blow torch (probably leaving some carbon traces behind.) Apparently PVA can really clog things up. Then after the cleaning filament, they were squeezing out straight 0.4mm extrusions and printing nicely again. I was truly amazed.

SummersideGuy · 2016-02-05T19:13:27.000Z

I printed a little filter container for the filament, put a small sponge in with a few drops of vegetable oil and closed the lid, there is a small hole to feed the filament through, Besides cutting sections of the poor roll I added this to help ensure less jams. Dont know if it actually helps or not

adiab · 2016-02-05T19:26:54.000Z

I had a problem like this and it turned out the hot end thermistor was shorting out. This was causing the hot end to cool and then it would jam. Run it until it starts to jam and then check the temp of the hot end.

adiab · 2016-02-05T19:28:41.000Z

I have never had to clean my filament and I print alot. I think jams are generally due to the nozzle being too close to the build platform or incorrect temp.