second extruder not working properly

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marty-sullivan
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second extruder not working properly

Post by marty-sullivan » Mon Aug 14, 2017 6:01 am

I just set up my new dual extruder kit. The Motor0 extruder works fine. However, the Motor1 extruder seems to not be working correctly. I can look in and see the gear turning when I manually extrude/retract without any filament. However, when I stick filament in, I hear the motor but the gear is not able to turn. It's almost like the filament is preventing it from turning... I've tried adjusting the tension but there is no difference. Any advice?

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sthone
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Re: second extruder not working properly

Post by sthone » Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:03 pm

When you say you "hear" the motor is it a spinning noise or popping/clicking noise?

If it sounds like it is spinning.... The first thing I would do is see if maybe the gear is spinning on the shaft....


Image

Draw a line across the face of the shaft and the gear (see blue line in picture above)... try to extrude filament and see if the lines stay lined up. If the shaft turns but the gear doesn't you just need to tighten the set screw on the gear.

If that isn't the problem and the motor make noise like it spinning you might have a issue with the planetary gears or the main shaft gear inside the motor.

If the motor makes a popping/clicking sound this is the rotor/magnets bouncing around and usually means the motor doesn't have enough torque to turn the shaft because something is preventing it from happening. This could be something as simple as a clogged nozzle. Try to extrude the filament and watch for it to come out of the bottom of the extruder drive (before it goes into the hotend) if the filament stops after it reaches the hotend your nozzle is probably clogged.

-Steve
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See my projects at https://www.theneverendingprojectslist.com

Hugs
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Re: second extruder not working properly

Post by Hugs » Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:08 pm

You might want to make sure you have the connector plugged in correctly...which is reversed compared to extruder 0. If you don't, extruder 1 will retract instead of extrude (because they feed from different sides of the gear).

I had a similar problem when I installed my dual kit. Here's a picture of the correct orientation: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4662#p30089

marty-sullivan
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Re: second extruder not working properly

Post by marty-sullivan » Mon Aug 14, 2017 4:46 pm

I don't think the connector polarity is a problem because it doesn't pull the filament through regardless of the direction I choose.

sthone, thanks for the detailed response. To clarify, the sound is just of the motor spinning, the gear is not even biting the filament to pull it through. I checked, and it seems like neither the shaft nor the gear spin when filament is present but the motor still makes a normal sound. I am going to disassemble and make sure everything looks right. If the issue is "planetary gears or the main shaft gear inside the motor" like you mention, I assume I will just have to get a replacement from Makergear, correct?

EDIT: I disassembled the extruders and I can tell that something is definitely internally wrong with the motor. It spins much easier than the functional one and is making a clicking sound when I turn the shaft manually. Looks like I got a defective stepper, unless there is something to adjust.

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sthone
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Re: second extruder not working properly

Post by sthone » Mon Aug 14, 2017 5:48 pm

marty-sullivan wrote: If the issue is "planetary gears or the main shaft gear inside the motor" like you mention, I assume I will just have to get a replacement from Makergear, correct?
Sometimes that's the easiest fix. But once you take it apart you should be able to see any problems as there's not much to them.

I'm not sure how old the motor your using is but..... Known things to look out for...

Once upon a time they did have a bad batch of motors where the main motor shaft inside was snapping.

I've personally had an issue with the main gear that turns the planetary gears was not secured (glued) to the shaft and it would lose contact with the planetary gears once it slid down the shaft enough. I did resecure it with red lock tight but it's not a motor I use for everyday printing I only use it for my paste extruder project so I don't know how good of a fix it is.

-Steve
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