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Printer Issue

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by AlienBeans, Feb 14, 2019.

  1. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Mostly from observation. All of the people who used to be partners there are largely gone. Braydon is the last one standing. Even our forum admin deity (Harry) has departed. They were having a lot of trouble marketing the R2/C2 -- there are a lot of threads here and elsewhere about those struggles (when you can't even get a working one delivered to a reviewer like Joel Telling -- you gots problems). It was too bad since conceptually both of those are nice machines, but the problems with getting working machines to buyers just got too bad. My C2 came damaged (I got it fixed, but...) many others did as well.

    AFAIK they are pretty much focused on the E3 at this point (which is an educational target machine). The few that remain to focus at least :) I hope they succeed. They were in this mid-2013 and the previous products were not bad.
     
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If seasoning is not helping then I'd suggest replacing the nozzle. If they doesn't cure it then the entire hotend. Any E3D compatible nozzle will work fine. Since getting parts from Robo is a real crap-shoot (you should TRY though) you can buy a Hexagon generically from RepRap or Amazon. Then wire it in. That is the part that gets a bit nasty since you have to splice into their connectors (which is not too bad) or buy the type of connectors they used and install those on the new hotend. If you would rather go the last route we can help you since between myself and @WheresWaldo and a few others I think we have identified all of the connectors involved.
     
  3. AlienBeans

    AlienBeans Active Member

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    The last time they responded to my email, I got a response from a guy named Dan. I believe he has responded to my support emails before but now I get nothing from anybody.
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Probably all gone.

    If you are interested, start with a new nozzle (those are cheap) then graduate to a new hotend (those are not so cheap).
    I am betting it is an issue in the hotend-- you could verify that it is assembled correctly (see pic) since that is an easy check.

    HotendHeatbreak.jpg
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If it is assembled correctly and seasoning doesn't help then likely something is wrong with the heatbreak or the fans.

    Which is why I suggested a replacement since the heatbreak is not something that you can just buy. Unlike an E3D where every little part is available for purchase, the Hexagon is not that way.

    If you are interested in swapping to an E3D you will need to be able to print first and there is a thread by another member on how to modify the carriage to make that work. Unlike the R1 series, the C2/R2 don't allow you to directly swap in an E3D.
     
    #25 mark tomlinson, May 10, 2019
    Last edited: May 10, 2019
  6. AlienBeans

    AlienBeans Active Member

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    So, I got an email from robo today. Sent from Dan (again). Guess what. NO RESPONSE, just a copy of my previous message to them (which was demonstrating a LOT of frustration. He closed the case. I check the robo site and my case was closed 19 days ago. How long before this community/forum goes away? They have to expect people to be upset when they don't get a response in over 2 weeks, so I can't imagine he closed my case because of that. It was closed long before that email apparently. I guess if I want this fixed so I can use my R2 I'm on my own (with this forum for help as long as its up, which I doubt will be much longer). We might should go ahead and find a place to gather so we can continue to assist each other and share ideas/prints (assuming your printers work).
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Worst case (which could be the case) we can always use slack :)
    Or something else.
     
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    In the mean-time we can try to help :) Here. If you can do the legwork
    There is a slightly larger challenge swapping in generic boards for the R2/C2 than there was for the R1 series, but not hugely worse.
     
  9. AlienBeans

    AlienBeans Active Member

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    Well, my other printers are humming along so I thought I would look at this paper weight and see what I can do. Did a fresh load of filament and I noticed that the gear is pulling the filament in like its supposed to, but even though the proper color starts coming out of the nozzle, the gear is still rotating (using load wizard) but the filament literally just stops moving. So, why does it load perfectly fine for the first few inches and then suddenly stop feeding? I removed the extruder tensioner and tighted the hobbed gear even though it didn't budge and wasn't the least bit "loose". Tried again, same feed results. Reaches a certain point and just stops moving the filament through.
     
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  11. AlienBeans

    AlienBeans Active Member

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    PLA and yes I've read that thread. I have a oiler on the filament sensor in the back and feed the filament through that then the ptfe tube to the extruder. I've come to the conclusion based on this that I discovered today that the hotend I don't think is the problem but what's stopping the filament from continuing to load if it loads initially?
     
  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The hotend :) It moves from the cog on the stepper motor shaft directly down into the hotend. Does not pass go and does not collect 200 bucks :) Straight shot from there to the melty parts. You might try hotter... it may help, but more likely it is a clog that requires disassembling the hotend (which is not fun) if you are up to it, I can find the hexagon assembly video -- that details how it goes together.
     
  13. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It could even be a weak heater core, but assuming the temperature maintains on the extruder that is likely not the case.
     
  14. AlienBeans

    AlienBeans Active Member

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    I'm game. Printer isn't doing me any good like it is. I'm also a computer tech, so hopefully the disassembly of this thing won't be too daunting of a task. :)
     
  15. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Nah, it is not as hard as the PC :}



    The hotend is easy to tear apart and reassemble and if that doesn't sort it you can get a new one from Amazon
     
  16. Omar Basha

    Omar Basha New Member

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    Just my 5 cents here, I was having similiar clogging etc and being in South Africa had no easy way of getting a hex hot end which I think is a weakness on this printer reading and watching others complain. I went through the same process of trying to clear clogs etc, local 3d print shop helped once, guys used a blow torch on the heatbreak and screwdriver to clear it. If you going to try and clear I suggest you strip the hot end out and attack the heatbreak like that. After all this headache work I decided to swop over to a e3d v6. Couldn't find an original close by so went the clone route for now. Couldn't print a new shroud or a spacer to lower the shroud, so I got that done by buying longer bolts and used some washers as spacers. I got a new 40w 24v heater core and a thermistor, spliced it into the wire for the originals and it seemed to work until I had insane oozing. Narrowed it down to me incorrectly assembling the nozzle/heater block. So I removed refitted and in the proccess damaged the thermistor connector. Just got a new one and will try fitting in this week. Will update you on my progress hopefully, we might find a easy way of making the printer more consistent. Also the guys here on the forum have provided some invaluable info for me to do this.

    Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
     
  17. tkoco

    tkoco - -.- --- -.-. ---
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    The trick to preventing the insane oozing: Assemble the nozzle and hot end. Heat the hot end to the highest setting of the temperature range. Tighten the nozzle against the heat-break, but no gorilla tightening, just snug it. Do a cool-down cycle. The Aluminum heater block will shrink faster than the nozzle or heat-break. In turn, it applies extra force to the "nozzle & heat-break connection" which in turn prevents oozing. As long as you don't print at that temperature, the connection will remain sealed.
     
  18. AlienBeans

    AlienBeans Active Member

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    Well, It's been a week or so since I posted here. I finally (yesterday) got a chance to look at this again. I removed the hot end, unplugged the cables and removed the nozzle. Nozzle had a partial (but more than half) clog. I used a heat gun and some wire and was able to clear it out. Nozzle looks as clean as the day the printer arrived too. Put it all back together a few minutes ago and it appears to be humming along. Doing a small pill box to test adhesion and layers. If that's successful I may load a longer print and see how it does. Mark, you've been great helping me through this. It's too bad the robo people don't care enough about their customers to help.
     
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  19. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    There are no "robo people" left if you mean employees (other than a very few) so there is no real effort going into support for the printers. The one or two that I know are still involved do care, but when surrounded by alligators it can be hard to focus on draining the swamp. Not an excuse -- just a fact :)

    Parts can be had at the new 3rd party website they worked out a deal with ... Robo is only focusing on the E3 at this point (or so it would seem) and that may or may not last. Glad you got it sorted, happy to help.
     
  20. Omar Basha

    Omar Basha New Member

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    Thanks for the advice worked well. Now I'm just trying to get the best of cura with petg, got a good print of a mount for a gps for my rc heli. I heated upto 280 and am printing the petg etc at max 260. Ots working with now l oozing. I do have some leaking from the nozzle at times, but I'm guessing that's just the nature of petg.

    Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
     

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