Alright guys I’m in need of some serious help, my schools Replicator 2 (4th gen) is officially jank.
Its started failing many prints in a row recently, even at very slow speeds. Very uncharacteristic of it. I felt like it wasn’t working at all with a roll of the Makerbot filament, the new(?) larger diameter roll, and its just PLA black. So I swapped it out with an older roll with a bit of filament left, and its still being wierd. It had an issue where it stopped extruding mid print again, and, something that had kinda been appearing showed up again at a much greater rate. PLA keeps oozing out of the side of the extruder block, where the kap. tape is covering it. It does not look like its coming out of the hole where you screw the actual nozzle in, but somewhere else on that piece. I cant tell for certain, but the ooz of PLA seems like its coming out of the kap. tape…
Anyone have a clue what is going on? Why is it leaking or something? Is it possible that its something as simple as the nozzle being loose? A teacher at my school and I have opened up the head to fix little things a bunch of times recently, and they cracked it open last week, I think right before the issues started. Since then I noticed the screws that go through the fan and everything were loose, I’m wondering if everything is? I really need some help with this, so any ideas, experience, advice, thoughts, ANYTHING, is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
first I hope when you took off the nozzle that you follow the procedures some people have put on indestructibles where you need to heat up the nozzle first otherwise if you didn’t do that you might have ruined some of the threads where the PLA is actually coming out the side like you mentioned is the plastic still coming out of the nozzle fine though because when I had a problem like it coming out of the side it was not coming out of the nozzle and there was some blockage not in the nozzle but in the threaded to between the heater block and the motor assembly that had to get cleaned out I ended up getting a full replacement part from MakerBot because I contacted the help desk and had some maker care
I’ve had a few problems myself with the same makerbot. I’ve been a proud owner for over a year now so have experienced a lot of the technical issues - warping - nozzle clogging - blown up mother board - filament tangling - nozzle head over heating loose x axis belt - parts sqeeking - the list goes on…
I replaced the bar mount assembly on my makerbot yesterday after ordering the replacement part a month ago. The bar mount assembly is exactly the component your having trouble with (nozzle with kap tape section)… Sounds like you may have some other issues as well but pla leaking sounds to be the most serious.
Anyway is your printer in london? If so I could take a look for you and replace the extruder with my old one. Its still functional just needed to replace for general maintenance
If your quite far away maybe I can just send couple of links that might help
I’m building a 3d printing service at the moment and thought it would be useful to offer printer MOT’s… In this case I wouldn’t charge, more interested in piloting the experience
The nozzle needs to be butting up against the threaded tube inside the heat block. If they didn’t put the rig together with this in mind, the results would be what you describe. Tear it down and do it right.
yes, the opening of the extruded head (more exactly the closing) has to be done carefully - if it is not correctly sealed, the you will see loss of PLA from above the block - after doing any maintanence here, once you have carefully screwed in the heat break tube above the block, then the nozzle itself just below, but MAKE SURE that there is a tiny bit of thread still visible on the nozzle side when the nozzle won’t go in any further (that means that inside the block the nozzle has met with the heat break tube), and DONT tighten too much whilst cold - once heated up to 200’C then apply the final careful press with the spanner, whilst holding the block with a monkey wrench, to make sure you’ve sealed the block whilst hot - there after you should not have any PLA coming out from above the block!
Whilst your at it, make sure all the othe screws (fan, etc) are also tight - you may have to undo other screws to get to the screws under the fan that attach the fan holder to the main block.
if I’m doubt, check out the makerbot channel on YouTube, I’m sure there is a video explaining all this
This is a photo of a Replicator dual (original) not a replicator 2. Did you upload the wrong photo? Rep duals print with ABS not PLA.
So going on the assumption that you linked to the wrong photo. Tighten everything. There is no way that plastic should be able to ooze out anywhere if the extruder is tight.
I don’t really a dripping of extra material but it looks like there’s some buldge on the bottom horizontal shoulder. Must be an internal leak. I’ve never seen anything like that with ABS on my 2X. When I’m clearing jams in the extruder head I remove the overhead drive motors and manualy push/pull material directly with my hands or a pliers when more traction is needed.
Sorry for the confusion, (I’ll make this noticeable) NOT MY PHOTO. The printers are my school’s and so I cannot go see it again till Monday. I may have a pic or video on my phone that Ill try to upload.
It sounds like it might be time to replace the heater block assembly 1. A fresh thermal barrier tube, heater block, nozzle, and ceramic tape should make it all better.
I don’t know if proper procedures were followed when taking off the nozzle, since at my school I print more than anyone, but they still think taking it apart past the point of the heatshrink is a job for the adults… however when taking it apart and putting it back together I do not know of any specific method or way that the teacher was following. I get the feeling there is some kind of issue or loose bit in there… It seemed like a really rushed job to me, and I already had to tighten other screws.
If you have had the unit apart one thing worth double checking is that the fan on the front heat sink has not been installed back to front. When its the wrong way around the PLA will overheat above the heater block and become too soft for the feed roller. Eventually (10-15 Minutes into a print) it will stop extruding. There will be a mess around the feed roller that needs to be cleared. Sometimes the PLA can be seen feeding out of the side near the stepper/feed roller area above the heated block.
Yup somebody messed up the head most probably. Have you been running regular maintenance? Do you have the new spring loaded mechanism to push the Filament in the Extruder against the gear to push it out? What’s happening is there is now a gap between the heated Filament and the Nozzle so the Filament bends and extrudes out from another outlet created during the messing about with the head.
I use Goof Off heavy duty wipes and AR Kleen Lens cleaner to keep the extruder going once it clogs. Have not had to dissassemble as of yet - and have a standby extruder on hand just in case.
I am located in Chantilly, VA. If not too far from me, I could come by and take a look.
