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Extruder Motors - How Do They Go Bad?

Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 4:44 pm
by CCRN
This past week I had an issue where the extruder motor stopped moving, making a grinding sound during a print. I looked closer, thinking the drive gear came loose, but it was tight and there wasn't any filament jamming in the filament drive. The actual extruder motor was making this rough sound and was not turning.

I took the motor down and it seems to turn without jamming when trying it by hand. Since it was off, I decided to clean and lubricate the planetary gears as described here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2544&start=10&hilit ... tor+grease

I have ordered a replacement but wondered if I can keep the old motor as a backup or if the motor should be discarded. The pinon/planetary gears do not look worn and are about 10 months old. I have put lots of hours on this motor, but wondered if they just stop working or intermittently fail.

Thanks,
Jerold

Re: Extruder Motors - How Do They Go Bad?

Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 2:41 pm
by CCRN
I replaced the entire extruder motor and planetary gears, moving the filament drive gear over and the printer is working fine now.

Jerold