it’s a common issue. I had the same with replicator 2x . the problem was telated to 2 issues. the filament, too old and really rigid. you can break with fingers. and the second cause was the drive block that feed the extruder. It has a really smaal spring that with time loose strenght. check on thingverse a drive block upgrade. I ve designed one that can use the spring from a peg. and works perfectly using the old parts of the originak drive block.
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It could be that your temperature sensor is not reading the temperature correctly, (so your printer thinks it’s at 230 but it’s at say 210) In your position, I would normally clean the nozzle, but as you’ve replaced it, that isn’t the problem. I had this problem with a replicator 2 and replaced the thermocouple and it sorted out the problem.
There are a few things that can go wrong, it could be loose, or poorly terminated. A thermocouple is two wires of different materials (in this case K type chromel 1 & alumel) that have been spot welded at the end and then fixed into a hollow bolt. If you’d like to try and fix it, you can remove the bolt (trying not to put too many twists in the wire), pull the thermocouple from its cement, clean the end and twist the end together tightly to make a new join, then glue it back in the bolt and re-attach it to the hot end. It’s fiddly, but it’s something you can try before you order a new one. If you can’t get a new one from MakerBot, any KType thermocouple will do, you’ll need to open up the top wire harness to feed it back down to the motherboard.
Hope that helps?
Regards,
MakeALot
I had similar issues with mine at about the same point in time. I fixed two separate items that I found related to the problem and never had a failed print since the fix
1.) replace the cooling fan it is in any way damaged. Mine was missing two blades out of the 9 because a piece of filament swung down into it. Those two missing blades was messing up the cooling. Use one with the same number of blades. Also, make sure your fan is facing the right direction. (sticker side IN) Mine, during one of my nozzle clearing fits, got installed backwards and it jams everything up because the cooling doesn’t work. I also put a dab of heat sink grease on the cooling fins between the heater block.
2.) replace the drive gear on the filament feed motor. They’re $14 and over time they wear. Especially if you use specialty filaments with carbon fiber, steel or stone fill. You can inspect it with a magnifying glass and if the center of the ribs is misshapen or has a different appearance in any way, replace it.
Good Luck!
I think you’re right on, Andy. They never said what temperature settings they have been using, but depending on the version of Makerbot Desktop, it could be as high as 230. I have 4 Replicator 2s and I rarely run PLA above 210 degrees. I typically run the first layer at 206, then drop the temperature about 2 degrees every two layers until I get to about 198 or 200. Of course you really have to know your material, and I haven’t found a PLA I trust more than Hatchbox. Another thing that can cause similar problems (that people don’t seem to give enough credit to) is when the actual filament diameter doesn’t match what the slicer thinks the diameter is. For example, if the slicer thinks the filament is 1.68 but the actual filament is 1.82, the machine is trying to push more filament through the nozzle to keep up with the desired layer height and width. It usually is fine in the first few minutes, but eventually the nozzle and tube will get too much material in there and you’ll be prone to having one of these jams. This especially can happen when the filament is getting too hot further up the tube… as it gets soft, the extruder gear slips and starts eating into the PLA rather than pushing it through. The part that makes me think it’s setting rather than hardware is that they said they have changed nozzles and still get the problem. Typing that last part made me think… could they have possibly changed the nozzle to a smaller size by accident and not changed the machine settings? That will certainly cause the problems similar to the situation above. I have about 4 different sizes of nozzles in my toolbox and they all have settings they like best. If you keep having problems, put a .5mm nozzle on that bad boy and see how it prints. I have never seen a jam with this size nozzle.
There might be some buildup of dust, grit, or other substance in the extruder, this would prevent propper flow. I also have a Replicator 2 and I have had to replace the nozzle once before. I have owned it for 2 and half years. It could also be the filament…
I’m willing to bet you have a burned out MOSFET on your board. This is a common problem for the Replicator 2s and causes your fan to spin slower, cooling less.
Hi Anthony,
the problem is how are you storing the filament, it has to be dry, pla absorbs humidity
Switch of retraction and see if it keeps working then. You will have stringing then, but at least you know then that retraction contributes to it, and you can play with that setting.
Also, did you clean the gear that pushes the filament in? I dissassemble that and clean the gears with toothpick if traction starts to fail.
did you upgrade the software ?
I had the same problem as Andy explained I lowered my warmup temp to 200c and my print temp is 220c or less. Haven’t had any problems since. (also replaced the heating block at the same time as dropping the temp to make sure no extra goop inside would mess with it)