Completely frustrated

I have a m505 Prussia i3 with 1.75mm extruded with .4mm nozzle. Using Melzi board and repetier. I had a part print the first time with default settings. Ever since then I have not been able to print anything to completion. The print starts and prints the first couple of layers fine then the filament stops flowing and that is it. I have changed the print speed, the extraction speed, the infill, the temperature, tightened and then loosened the extractor gear, tried between slicers (slic3r and curaengine). I have leveled the bed numerous times. I am now completely lost. Is it the filament, the heating element, the extruder?

The filament seems to flow fine at the beginning but then stops flowing. The filament does not seem to be gouged from the gear.

Completely lost.

Thanks,

Keith

What exactly happens when the filament stops flowing? Does the extruder stepper motor continue, but make clicking noises? How long does it print for before it stops? What kind of hotend do you have? Cooling fan(s)? What type of filament are you printing, and at what temperature? Can you print a small object (e.g. 10mm cube)? Can you post photos of what you are getting printed?

In addition to franks poins, is the hotend temperature stable or does it drop when extruding?

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Kind regards
Imqqmi

NFAN CoreXY printer:
[reprap.org]

The print continues but nothing comes out of the nozzle. It is a E3D style aluminum block. I am printing pla at 1.75. The extruder stepper continues as normal. I did notice on the filament little marks where the gear is. I have 2 fans one for the object and 1 for the extruder. I have tried numerous times to print a 10mm object with 1 success. The temp does tend to drop and then come back up. I will try to grab a few photos.

Try runnimg pid autotune, and save the values to eeprom or in firmware depending on your configuration, it will make the temperature much more stable. Search reprap.org wiki for a guide.

The marks are normal. If there's a cavety in the filament then that's not supposed to happen. It means the filament is blocked somewhere. But I'd first do pid autotune before anything else.

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Kind regards
Imqqmi

NFAN CoreXY printer:
[reprap.org]

I think you should check your Ext stepper motor RefV!
Also at same time, to check the pressure that you gave from the mechanical spring load.
If too much pressure, then you won't have enough motor strength to push the filament, therefore needing higher RefV to increase motor torque!
Cheers

Check the retraction distance setting in your slicer. E3D style hot ends should have < 1mm retraction.

Are you printing PLA or ABS? At what temperature?

Retraction can be even up to .3 without a problem.

Yes, you haven't said what the temperature is. Also, check to be sure that the drive gear on the extruder is TIGHT to the motor shaft. Even grind a flat spot on the shaft for the set screw to be tightened to.

Are you sure that the filament is not being held back by the spool or the path that it takes to the extruder?

I think we lost the OP..

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Kind regards
Imqqmi

NFAN CoreXY printer:
[reprap.org]

Maybe pulling hairs?

If u use E3D, you must have a fan that blow non stop at the aluminium fin. What happen is when the heater heat up the nozzle , because the cooling fin is aluminium, it conduct heat very well to the filament ...so if do not have fan the filament in the cooling fin will melt and harden..... So to prevent this, blow with a fan all the time... So that it only melts in the nozzle....

I have j-head, e3d , mk8 ... Total have at least 8 print head ....j head is the worst... I am using E3d. Nozzle 0.4. 1.75 mm filament...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2015 06:44AM by anikin2.

I also suggest you get a Temperature sensing gun. These are under $100usd and can be quite the headache shaver.
Just point, shoot and read.

Quote
Giantkiller
I also suggest you get a Temperature sensing gun. These are under $100usd and can be quite the headache shaver.
Just point, shoot and read.

No!! IR temperature guns are notoriously inaccurate! You will get different readings depending on the color and texture of the surface you are shooting. You need a contact thermocouple that is either self contained or can be hooked up to your DVM. IR readers are ok for monitoring for trends if you shoot the same exact spot each time, as in bearings and motors.

True. I was refering to pointing at the head metal itself.
All the surfaces will be different and have to be noted. Once you get your numbers then you can refer to those as an idea.

Thank everyone for your advice. I apologize for not responding, out of town then sick. I have tried most of the suggestions, I have the extruder temp at 195, bed heat 0 for pla. When the fan comes on it goes down a little. The most frustrating thing is that I actually printed a full part but since then it will print for a while and then stop flowing. I have never printed back to back full prints. I attached a pic from the most recent print to show what it is doing.

Thanks,

Keith

Debris in head, like partial clogged?
I learned a trick:
Have the filament run through sponge shot with light coat of silicon. This wipes the debris off of filament.

Thanks for the comment. I added the little sponge and silicon last night. It still prints a little then stops flowing. I have changed the tension numerous times. Here is a pic of the filament on the last stoppage.

Thanks,

Keith

The end looks blobby. Are your therms working? Is the hotend constantly on?

I just replaced the thermistor. The hotend is contastly on.

Keith

Is there a ptfe liner for the e3d style hotend? if not then perhaps you can try printing with abs and see if the problem persists.

my experience with all metal hotends is that they don't print pla well, because the expanded bulb sticks to the walls of the hotend very well (unless you polish till mirror finish). of course, many here have printed pla with no problem and ymmv.