E3d struggling with supports...

So I've had my e3d titan for a few weeks now and I've done several calibration prints. From simple cubes and towers all the way to bridging, xyz vibrations, hole tolerance, etc. However, I'm having an insane problem...I've been trying to print this design from thingiverse on behalf of a coworker.
[www.thingiverse.com]

My machine is custom built, uses an all lead screw based system, and I have pictures attached of whats happening. I swear I'm getting good bed adhesion too. I'm not too familiar with using this many supports though, as the author recommended printing it horizontally, so if anyone has any input I could really use the help. My hunch is that it's the retraction settings but I've done batches of multipart prints and had no problems. This is getting to feel like I just can't print this wand.
[i.imgur.com]
[i.imgur.com]
[i.imgur.com]
[i.imgur.com]

As can be seen, it's like print production grinds to a halt. The symptom of the problem is definitely a clog because I walk back to the printer and it's moving around in mid air. But I don't know what's causing the clog up, even my tension setting on the titan is at the lowest possible setting.

Retraction settings:
Length 1.5mm
lift z .5mm
speed 40mm
extra length on restrat 0mm
min travel after retraction 2mm
no retract on layer change
no wipe while retracting

Printing meltink green pla at 210C on a heated bed of 65C.
prints speeds are:
30mm/s perimeters
10mm/s small perimeters
10mm/s external perimeters
30mm/s infill
20mm/s solid infill
15mm/s top solid infill
10mm/s support material
10mm/s support material interface
40mm/s bridges
20mm/s gap fill
60mm/s nonprint moves.
50% first layer speed.

Setting the tension too low on a titan will cause it to grind the filament rather then push it. Set it to about 50% tension for PLA(half way across the little window). Support material often comes with alot of retraction, increasing the chance to grind the filament. It may also be a jam but if you are using an official E3D hotend I see no reason why your settings should cause a jam.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2017 02:38PM by Origamib.

Couple of ideas yes.
1 tighten the idler tight you don't want filament to slip ever, better that the motor skips if something jams or you're just extruding too much volume for the amount of heat available.
2 orientate the wand so that you split it in two and angle it so that you print it as two long thin flat bottomed pieces. Then bond them together after printing and hand finish the seam. If it was abs I'd vapour smooth it after hand finishing the seam. Support is useful but if there is any way to get rid of it do so.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2017 05:34PM by DjDemonD.

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Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

Thank you for the tip! I never thought of splitting the wand in two. I will however try ramping the tension all the way up and seeing what the output is. I guess I've just been under the assumption that you don't want to use more tension than absolutely necessary to extrude.

Well if you see the thread I started in general about titan clone there a debate about how tight you want the idler but splitting it saves you a lot of trouble.

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Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

You want just enough tension on the extruder that the extruder motor skips rather than grinding away filament.

I agree about splitting the wand in two... Slic3r will do that neatly for you with the "Cut" function.

I don't think there's a direct connection between "support problems" and clogging. You may be right about retraction... maybe all the little support pieces mean that there's lots of retraction happening, which increases the odds of it causing a clog. Try disabling retraction altogether... the downside is that you'll have a bit of stringing between parts (but that's not a problem for support pieces anyway).

Another possibility (based on zero evidence ) is that this wand is the biggest thing you've printed? How far are you getting into it before it clogs? If it is quite a long way, then it's probably a cooling issue; the driver chips on the controller board or the extruder stepper motor overheating, or the fan on the heatsink not doing a good enough job.