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Jul 2015

If it was jamed - manual feeding would also be a issue I think… No, my extruder does not make use of a ptfe liner :slight_smile:

okay, if this is PLA, you should be using Blue Tape… If it’s ABS, is the bed hot enough? Not directly related, I know, but just to clarify.

This looks like the Jr V2 with the Aluminium Extruder upgrade and I have worked with one of these for ages and they’re quite stable. Have you tried different sliced models? do you have some previously sliced GCODE that you can try and print with?

The first layer does normally print slower, but parts of the print look okay, apart from a little squashed and not sticking particularly well (which is why I asked the first question).

Run the GCODE command M503 and check the line beginning M92. The value for E should be in the 93-96 region. If it is, then the motor should be turning as it should.

Physically, check the screw is not overtight and the temperature not too cold. I normally make sure there is enough tension to provide friction, but not overly tight as the drive gear will start to dig into the filament.

A few ideas there, you may find more answers on help.printrbot.com 2 or by opening a support ticket if you get really stuck

Ian

1: As I said - I did this. I even added a new printer etc.

2: As I said - I did this also :slight_smile:

3: On my to do list

4: Cura doesn’t have a extrusion multiplier (?). Slic3er does though - no improvement.

6: As I said - did this also; both usb as direct SD.

This isn’t a copy-paste message ^^?

Good point - sometimes you oversee the simplest things. ‘Unfortunately’ for me - I didn’t :slight_smile: (1.75 is in the settings)

Yeah, it still could be the issue even if your motor doesn’t tick. The ticking is from heavy resistance that overpowers the motor.

I’m still not sure what the exact cause was. I’m leaning towards temperature issues though because it’s as if the melt zone never reached the tip anymore. I cleaned the crap out of that thing and it still jammed so I can’t think of what else it would have been.

When it got to it’s worst, there was a weird symptom when it got jammed. I wouldn’t be able to feed it by hand unless I pulled the filament out, trimmed it flush and reinserted it. That made me thing the tip wasn’t getting hot enough anymore and the filament was solidifying at the tip. So when printing rafts and simple parts, it would print fine because the flow was constant. The jams would start when there was constant retracting in the print process - so the filament at the tip just sat there and solidified.

My issues started when I used a new spool of filament that I just so happened to buy on eBay. I can’t prove it was the cause and it might have only been a coincidence. Needless to say, I threw that spool out just in case. With that spool, I had a bad print which somehow caused the print to detach and stick to my nozzle. This saturated the fiberglass sock with plastic and may have contributed to my issue. I tried flipping it around to see if the heat was being released too fast, but it didn’t help. It’s possible some plastic got up to the thermistor but I haven’t checked yet. One person in another thread suggested that I hadn’t screwed the tip on all the way. Thing is my issues started before ever messing with the tip. I could have made it worse by doing that though. Also, when you disassemble, make sure you have some spare ptfe tape for the tip. They use it on the threads.

Can you post a picture of your hot end? Not familiar with the Printrbot, but this kind of sounds like an issue i experienced.

does it come apart? I took my nozzle apart last night (different kind) and thought i had it back together, but i was having issues with it not feeding, checked it while it was hot and it was not all the way back together, there was cooled plastic in the threads during reassembly. There was a space between the barrel, and the nozzle, which was catching the filament and not allowing it to make it to the nozzle. I disconnected the hot end from the “x” carriage and let it heat up to temp, and re tightened everything. Worked like new after that.

It’s almost silly for me to ask but a lot of problems on my printers arise when the fan that cool down the extruder start failing, almost imperceptible; most of the time when you are not there but it makes the filament softer and thus to under extrude. I’ve been through more than a dozen of those. They still work but they are not that smooth, same on the CTC with the PCB fan.

18 days later

I used a few old 12v computer fans to blow on the Printers to keep them a lil cool. They can get pretty hot on long prints. A small 12v and put the bot on some feet to allow air travel to pass under the bot.

Keep it cool,