MakerGear Forum

Just started a print. Go to check it 20 min later and find it not extruding. Stop the print and start investigating. I don't know if my extruder gear motor just died or what. Tried backing the filament out in S3D but it won't come out. Gets to a certain point then stops. I don't know if my extruder motor just died or what. Is there a way to manually turn it with an allen wrench?

Any tips on removing the filament? Doesn't look like there's any extra in there jamming it. Only filament in there is what I was printing with.

I check the extruder gear adjustment every other time I change filament, so it was right on when I started this print. Anyone have this happen before mid print? If so what was the root cause you found?

I would try to remove the extruder mount, I believe that is what its called. This is the part that has the hole in the middle that the gear is in.

The only issue you may have is if there is filament going down into the nozzle, but if you loosen it you should be able to get it off and see what is going on.

minusbacon wrote:Anyone have this happen before mid print? If so what was the root cause you found?

Yep. Usually caused by incorrect Filament Drive Screw Tension.

if the nozzle jam the extruder try to push the filament down anyway but it wont go so the gear teeth will dig into filament and it lost any friction that's why it wont come out

at that point i usually remove the filament drive and manually remove the filament

i had many jam nozzle using wood pla so i got use to do it but is not that hard

minusbacon wrote:Just started a print. Go to check it 20 min later and find it not extruding. Stop the print and start investigating. I don't know if my extruder gear motor just died or what. Tried backing the filament out in S3D but it won't come out. Gets to a certain point then stops. I don't know if my extruder motor just died or what. Is there a way to manually turn it with an allen wrench?

Any tips on removing the filament? Doesn't look like there's any extra in there jamming it. Only filament in there is what I was printing with.

I check the extruder gear adjustment every other time I change filament, so it was right on when I started this print. Anyone have this happen before mid print? If so what was the root cause you found?

There was a knot in my filament that got caught in the guide tube and so the filament stopped, and the filament drive gear was stripping the filament and creating a giant plastic hairball in the extruder drive. After freeing the knot, this plastic hairball prevented the filament from proceeding, so I had to remove the fans/assembly to remove the plastic hairball that I couldn't see. Then it worked again, hoorah.

Jules wrote:

minusbacon wrote:Anyone have this happen before mid print? If so what was the root cause you found?

Yep. Usually caused by incorrect Filament Drive Screw Tension.

I figured. But I check it every filament swap and it was perfect.

I haven't been able to fix this until now. Work and life have been super busy. I can't even get the extruder to move through the software. I tap +10, no motor sound or anything.

Filament is still loaded in there and it will move if I tug on it a bit. At this point I don't even know where to start. I bought mine preassembled (weren't selling kits at the time).

Got the filament out. Made sure there was no filament in the gear. Motor still won't turn. Definitely dead.

I'm browsing the motors on Makergear's site but have no clue which one or order. Can someone please tell me the right one? And whatever else I might need when replacing it so I can get it all in the same order?

http://www.makergear.com/products/motors

I would be surprised if there was something wrong with it, but i suppose it's possible. You haven't had the machine for long - open up a support ticket on the MakerGear web page. (Be prepared with pictures of the problem - the more they have, the faster they can diagnose the problem.)

http://www.makergear.com/pages/support

Are you saying motor is apart and wont turn by hand if you grab shaft ? Or motor will not turn in machine control panel when jog is hit ? Is the hot end on ? Extruder does not jog with no heat.

PcS wrote:Are you saying motor is apart and wont turn by hand if you grab shaft ? Or motor will not turn in machine control panel when jog is hit ? Is the hot end on ? Extruder does not jog with no heat.

Thank you. I'm an idiot.

With the heat on, the extruder motor turns (well, makes noise...) when I jog it in the jog panel. The extruder gear does not move at all. I can't load any filament. Seems like the gear that attaches the motor to the extruder gear might be stripped?

How can I fix this ASAP? Was hoping to make some Christmas cookie cutters this weekend to make cookies with the kids.