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Solved plastic stops extruding in the middle of a print.

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by robert albrecht, Mar 12, 2019.

  1. robert albrecht

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    Something weird has started happening when I print. Everything will be fine all of a sudden it will stop extruding filament. Hot end temp is still good, according to my temp readings. No error message on my smart screen. It keep chugging along like nothing is wrong. except for the fact that it's not extruding plastic. If I shut down remove the filament give it a clean cut and re-install everything seems to be fine. I go to do a print and then after a few hours same problem... Any ideas??

    Could it be retracting to much and not grabbing it?
     
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If the motor for the extruder has stopped turning the extruder gears and it is not extruding then you need to look through the terminal for an error. That is marlin shutting it down for some reason (which the error will let you know about). It may also be that the stepper motor or stepper driver is just failing, but that seems odd (they usually don't fail that way, but it is possible)

    If the motor is still turning the extruder gears but nothing is extruding that is a jam/clog and there is a whole thread on that :)

    http://community.robo3d.com/index.p...hotend-jam-clogs-seasoning-and-an-oiler.3564/
     
  3. robert albrecht

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    Yea gears still turning. So an oiler is suggested even with PETG? I will print one today..

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    No an oiler is useless with PETG, but you have a clog :)
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    make sure you are not over extruding (PETG likes to clog).
    Maybe try a few degrees hotter extrusion and also make sure your cooling fan for the extruder itself (the little one attached to the extruder) is running full-tilt all the time.
     
  6. robert albrecht

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    So with the clogging I always thought you had to disassemble the entire hot end to clear a clog. But just the fact that cleaning of the tip (giggity) and removing and re-setting the filament is clearing it??

    Thanks.. I normally print at 235 give 240 a shot?? The fan for the heat sink is always running.. and the cooling fan for the part is turned off. I read that with PETG you want the fan really low or pretty much off..(Not the heat sink fan but the part fan)
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    You don't want a lot of cooling with PETG, some sure, but not much.
    Every spool of every type can be a little different. Always try to experiment to find the best range for each one. If 235 is failing, then yes -- 240 would be the next rung on the ladder. FWIW: for me PETG had a very fine line between too hot and too cold.
     
  8. robert albrecht

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    Thanks again.. will give it a try this afternoon..

    It's hard to believe that a few degrees can make that much of a difference.
     
    #8 robert albrecht, Mar 13, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2019
  9. robert albrecht

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    I don't know what was going on. I pushed the heat up to 240. started the print again. With about 2.5 hours in with 30 min left to go. Again the extruder motor is still going. But nothing being put down. I still had the extra hot end I ordered so I just replaced it. So far so good....
     
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yea, it is possible that the fan cooling the hotend is failing and that will give you heat creep (basically the heat gets too hot above the heat break) and if that happens you will stop extruding regardless of filament type.
     
  11. robert albrecht

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    The fan was still running. But what was weird it would be clogged.. Just removed the filament made a fresh cut and re-set it into the machine and it would be fine.. really bizarre...
     

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