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Solved Can someone help explain why this is happening?

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by BronStoppable, Jun 23, 2020.

  1. BronStoppable

    BronStoppable Member

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    I have a robo r1 with some upgrades. But lately when I print these separation lines have been happening. Not everytime but randomly. This photo is with pla but it’s also happened with tpu.
    I print pla at around 215/60.. speed of 50. Extrusion on at 100%. Cleaned the nozzle as well.
     

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  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It looks like clogging. Micro-clogs can stop the flow of filament and leave gaps like that.
    (also you might want to post the photo somewhere that I can see if full-size -- the forum is rather limiting)

    I'd suggest seasoning the nozzle for the PLA and see what happens. The fact that is is affecting TPU doesn't really boost my confidence that seasoning will help, but it is quick and easy to do.

    Make sure that the small fan on the heat sink of the hotend is running all the time. Not the one that cools printed parts, the one that cools the hotend.
     
  3. BronStoppable

    BronStoppable Member

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    I’ve soaked the nozzle in acetone and used .4mm needles on it. I’ll google what seasoning it is.

    with the tpu it wasn’t AS bad but you can see what looked like little sewing stitches across it.

    both fans work and are set up when to kick in through simplify3d
     

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  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The hotend fan can not (and should not) be controllable via the slicer :) It needs to be wired directly to 12v and on all the time (at a minimum it needs to be on when the hotend is on and heating).
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    we have a thread here on seasoning:
    http://community.robo3d.com/index.p...hotend-jam-clogs-seasoning-and-an-oiler.3564/

    it is even a sticky thread so that it stays up near the top

    TPU (NinjaFlex or an equivalent) is an entirely different sort of thing to get working correctly.
    The settings are not at all close to PLA/ABS/Nylon/Whatever.

    If that is your goal crank the speed way down... 15mm/sec is probably a good start.
     
  6. BronStoppable

    BronStoppable Member

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    You are correct about the fan. The hot end one runs once it’s on i mean. I can get you to print. It just has been leaving lines lately.

    And I have a Oiler on the filament. Could too much oil be why it’s doing that?
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Too much oil? Usually that just leaves spots on the filament when it prints.
    Have you checked the nozzle to make sure it is not worn (and oversized)?
    I took my first 0.4 nozzle out to 0.55 before i noticed it was needing attention :)

    If not the nozzle or the hotend fan, then your next best is to calibrate the extruder. See if that sorts it out.

     
  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    and while you can use a pin gauge to get the exact nozzle size -- if you just have a spare visually comparing the sizes will tell you if it is worn enough to matter. Granted eve if it resizes to say 0.5 mm you can just adjust that setting in the slicer but they are not expensive...
     
  9. BronStoppable

    BronStoppable Member

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    So after fiddling with it, i found out The bulk of the problem seems to be that my extruder tension doesn’t say the same. I’m guessing it loses as I switch filaments. I assume that’s the main culprit for the under extruding.
    That being said I do want to adjust my e stepper and things like that. Is there a way to do it without octoprint since i don’t have a raspberry?
     
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If you want to calibrate the extruder you just need to edit the firmware.
    Look for the DEFAULT_AXIS_STEPS_PER_UNIT setting in configuration.h and you calculate the correct value for the extruder and change it in the course, compile it and upload it.

    You test for the correct value by marking the filament and extruding a fixed amount (100 mm is normal ) then measuring to see how much was actually extruded then do the math:

    New eSteps = (length you expected / length you got) * current step value
     
  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    There are ways to set the values in the flash EPROM on the Arduino, but while that will survive a reboot of the printer it is still possible that it can get wiped at some point. If you fix it in the firmware it is permanent.
     
  12. nibs210

    nibs210 New Member

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    A mechanical solution might work too. Amazon has cheap sets of nozzle rods that you can use to scrape out any gunk that might be causing this partial clog. there's also tons of cheap nozzles on amazon as well if it's easier to just swap them out and keep printing with a brand new one.
     

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