MakerGear Forum

Hello all:
Just wanted to share my recent experience when it came time to upgrade my V3B to a V4 (single) Extruder. The conversion went well and the printer worked great for about 4 hours, or the length of 4 part runs. Then I was plagued with jamming, at no particular time or level of print. After trying the usual remedies, cleaning the nozzle, checking Z heights and the such, I resorted to a more in depth look into the problem. What I found might help another/others with similar problems:

1) Found the (2mm) Filament hole (thru the Extruder Housing) to be ever so slightly out of alignment:
I re-drilled the hole as best as I could given that the plastic is typical not very cooperative.

2) Found that the bearing (opposite the Extruder gear) was hitting the housing when the Tension screw was tightened, causing the bearing to stop spinning:
I removed a bit of material from the housing so the bearing would spin regardless of how tight the Tension screw.

3) The spool of Esun filament would stop, then "jump" as it rotated:
I removed burrs from the inside of the spool, most likely left from molding.

Since performing these "fixes", I've had no jams in 12 runs of product (about 14 hours of printing).

I look forward to the expanded printing opportunities the V4 Hot-End will allow me.

I lost some sleep, some parts and at times, my mind... but in the end I learned something new.

Mike H.

good info. thanks for sharing!

With the Filament Drive being a printed piece, there is totally the issue with there being something obstructing the path, causing sticking, etc.

It also takes a bit for a new drive to wear in, nature of the beast, but as you can see you can do some cleanup with a file or razor and have good results.

I just had to deal with a similiar problem with the filament stopping during a print. I removed and cleaned everything. Put it back together and it would run for maybe a minute or two.

My problem was the result of moving the filament roll to a position above the printer and it was jamming where it went into the 2mm tubing. I had to temporarily put the spool back inside my case until I can figure out a solution.

John