Help with extruder setting

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duckracer
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Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2016 1:05 pm

Help with extruder setting

Post by duckracer » Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:16 am

All, I have an issue with my M2 printer, and after reading everything I could on the forum, and I got nothing, so time to reach out to the keepers of the knowledge. So I have been using my printer to produce a part for a company. It has run perfect until recently. I mainly use ABS for these parts, but I ran out so I moved on to making some jigs for another project using PLA. When I got my supply of ABS in I went back to it. I got 3 of my parts printed then started to have partial prints. The parts are 8 inches tall, and I would get 2 to 3 inches then the machine would just keep running the program but not extrude. So I figured I had a plugged extruder. I used my esun cleaning filament and was able to clear the blockage and got one more part printed, but that was the last successful print. I ended up having a blockage in the nozzle and the extruder. I pulled the extruder and cleaned it and the nozzle spotless. Now I have an issue where I get a good print for about 3/16 th of an inch, the it just prints strings. I am using the exact same file as before, and the same slicer. Since I pulled and cleaned the hot end, I am questioning if I have it, or my z stop set wrong. I did use the biz card test and I'm good there, and since it prints part of the file correctly I don't know if the bed to nozzle clearance is my issue. I am sure I do not have a clogging issue anymore because I can extend filament cleanly. I am at a loss at this point. I have tried resetting the z stop and moved the extruder. Here are a couple of pics of the last print that was followed by a barrage of f bombs.
Attachments
20160823_201533.jpg
Failed print 1
20160823_201514.jpg
Failed print 2

jsc
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Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2014 4:00 am

Re: Help with extruder setting

Post by jsc » Thu Aug 25, 2016 5:21 am

I'm sure other people will chime in, but here's my two cents. When you went to PLA and back to ABS, you may have baked on some PLA in there giving you a partial blockage. You said you cleaned it out, what procedure did you use? You can either give it a good long soak in a PLA solvent like MEK (paint thinner), or preferably give the nozzle a good blow torching. You may not have gotten all of it. You can also sometimes clear partial blocks by using a guitar string < .35mm in diameter by shoving it up the out hole while it's heated up. Since nothing has changed in your setup, I think you're looking at one of two situations:

1. You still have a partial clog. If you're confident that's not the case, then
2. The new ABS filament you're using is not identical to your old ABS. Try printing hotter, and double check your filament drive tension screw (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2694).

duckracer
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2016 1:05 pm

Re: Help with extruder setting

Post by duckracer » Wed Aug 31, 2016 11:50 pm

Thanks for your input. I found that the file somehow became corrupt. I re-exported it and all is good now. Seems it was printing the file as 2 parts without bonding the 2 parts so when it tried to print the second part it didn't fuse it to the first part, so it wasn't anchored and just moved the filament around making a bunch of booggers. This forum has been a wealth of knowledge. Thanks again.

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ednisley
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Re: Help with extruder setting

Post by ednisley » Thu Sep 01, 2016 11:52 pm

duckracer wrote:printing the file as 2 parts without bonding the 2 parts
That can sometimes come from a non-manifold solid model producing an STL file that gives the slicer a bad case of indigestion. Usually, the slicer will complain about eating a non-manifold file, but if the problems make the model look like two separate parts, then the slicer will do exactly what it's supposed / told to do: print two separate parts.

It's worth running suspect STL files through the online repair programs, although sometimes those automatic repairs produce something disturbingly different from what you intended...

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