Oddly enough, I don't have any guitar string laying around. I do, however, have some wire cleaning thingies I got with my Da Vinci Jr that should work.
OK, in the morning: clean nozzle, crank up temps.
Odd "chirp" from extruder, excess stringing
Re: Odd "chirp" from extruder, excess stringing
So, one problem was a very clogged extruder tube.
Not the nozzle, which was clear.
This morning I tried printing again and could only get a few drips and drabs out of the nozzle. The extruder would click madly and strip filament when I tried to feed. Obviously something was blocking the filament.
I followed Jule's instructions on removing the nozzle for cleaning. I could easily see through the nozzle-- there was no plastic filament in it as Jule's photos showed. However, I couldn't see through the feed tube, so I heated it up and used one of the smaller hex wrenches to push a huge wad of filament out of it. This was obviously a big part of the problem.
Re-calibrated the head height, printing configuration squares, now printing a badge. Wish me luck.
Not the nozzle, which was clear.
This morning I tried printing again and could only get a few drips and drabs out of the nozzle. The extruder would click madly and strip filament when I tried to feed. Obviously something was blocking the filament.
I followed Jule's instructions on removing the nozzle for cleaning. I could easily see through the nozzle-- there was no plastic filament in it as Jule's photos showed. However, I couldn't see through the feed tube, so I heated it up and used one of the smaller hex wrenches to push a huge wad of filament out of it. This was obviously a big part of the problem.
Re-calibrated the head height, printing configuration squares, now printing a badge. Wish me luck.
Re: Odd "chirp" from extruder, excess stringing
BTW, the actual issue that caused the stringing was...a partially clogged nozzle.
This caused plastic to build up in the hot end, and once that happened retraction was futile. I finally figured it out after noticing the hot end feed tube kept filling up with plastic.
I couldn't push a wire through the nozzle, so I soaked it in acetone overnight. That opened it up partially, but not enough to get good prints. I finally just ordered a couple of spare nozzles from Makergear, which cured the problem.
One interesting note: a sure-fire symptom of a partially clogged nozzle is when the filament doesn't drip straight down from the extruder during a purge, but comes out at an angle and forms "dust balls" of tangled filament on the end of the nozzle.
(Of course now I have other problems. But that's another thread.)
This caused plastic to build up in the hot end, and once that happened retraction was futile. I finally figured it out after noticing the hot end feed tube kept filling up with plastic.
I couldn't push a wire through the nozzle, so I soaked it in acetone overnight. That opened it up partially, but not enough to get good prints. I finally just ordered a couple of spare nozzles from Makergear, which cured the problem.
One interesting note: a sure-fire symptom of a partially clogged nozzle is when the filament doesn't drip straight down from the extruder during a purge, but comes out at an angle and forms "dust balls" of tangled filament on the end of the nozzle.
(Of course now I have other problems. But that's another thread.)
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pyronaught
- Posts: 684
- Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 8:24 pm
Re: Odd "chirp" from extruder, excess stringing
I just had a similar clicking noise that was occurring at random during printing and also during just jogging the extruder. This was on a new V4 upgrade, and it turns out the issue was caused by the idler bearing being jammed in the slot. I had to sand the inside of the slot (not an easy thing to do) and also re-drilled the bearing shaft hole because it was very tight. After doing this the bearing was able to spin freely like it should and the noise went away. I think with the bearing jammed the drive gear was just having a hard time dragging the filament through and would occasionally either strip a notch or stall the stepper. The prints were not effected, but it's just not a sound you want to hear coming from your printer.
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.