Portabee GO extrusion troubles

Hi! I ordered a Portabee GO printer (portabee3dprinter.com because apparently nobody else has heard of this printer), and it recently arrived. After many re-reads of the instruction manual (The online version was different that the one that shipped with my printer, and solved my problem), I was able to get it connected to the computer via Pronterface, turn on the fan, and heat it up to 220 degrees. (I'm using PLA filament) However, when I clicked the extrude button, nothing would happen. I eventually tried heating up the printer more, and when I set it to 270 degrees, it will now melt and extrude the filament. I'm assuming a thermometer inside the printer was wrong or something.

Anyway! I was actually able to print something - an octopus that came with the software downloads. However, while printing this, the drive gear would stop spinning smoothly, and click back and forth. I eventually fixed this by supporting the filament above the extruder using sticks, and the rest of the octopus printed out fine. (You can see that the bottom part of the octopus is a bit messed up in the picture) But, when I later tried to print something else, the drive gear kept doing the clicking thing again. I was able to push it down with my hand at first, but eventually, it would actually stop moving even if I was pushing it, and the filament would keep moving up and down out of the extruder.

Help please!

(Note: I'm new to 3D printing, and don't know how stuff works. I'm probably doing something stupid, but any help would be appreciated.)

- Luke

Assuming there is enough tension placed on the filament from the extruder idler wheel, sounds like you might need to calibrate your stepper motor drivers:

The incomplete reprap beginners guide. [reprap.org]
Machine Calibration, Triffid Hunter's Calibration Guide [reprap.org]
Commissioning, Calibrating [reprap.org]
Calibration [reprap.org]
Trim the stepper drivers, A4988 stepper drivers at 0.4V. [forums.reprap.org]
Calibrate Stepper Drivers [bootsindustries.com]
Acceleration vs. Speed [forums.reprap.org]
POTs Calibration – RAMPS 1.4 [bootsindustries.com]

I looked closely at the Portabee when I was originally looking for my first printer to buy. To be honest, glad I didn't take that route.

Hey! A few of those have me in them! Sometimes I forget I've actually helped people around here. Other times I remember that too well and feel either entitled or like I'm smarter than others [both of which are false].

When you raise the temp, are you also raising the temp in your slicer? That's what actually tells the printer what temp to print at.

---

Realizer- One who realizes dreams by making them a reality either by possibility or by completion. Also creating or renewing hopes of dreams.
"keep in mind, even the best printer can not print with the best filament if the user is the problem." -Ohmarinus

Hi Luke,

Perhaps you could refer to their support page: [portabee3dprinter.com] and browse through the troubleshooting section. There could be insufficient tension applied on the filament.