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Unresolved Unable to print... filament gets stuck

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Ave, Jul 20, 2020.

  1. Ave

    Ave New Member

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    Hello, I was printing fine and suddenly no more filament was coming out. I looked for a clogged nozzle, but that was not the case. Found instructions on how to remove the hot end and saw the filament was stuck on the hexagon, or more exactly just out of it.

    I managed to remove it, put everything back together, feeder some filament manually (PLA) and it started working again. Then after a few minutes it happened again. So I repeated the process.

    This time, after manually feeding the filament, I sent the print job, but no filaments was coming out at all.

    Yes, I thought it might be a defective filament, so got a new one out of the box (PLA), but it did exactly the same thing. I changed it again for ABS this time, but same result. Manual feeding works fine, but then it does not print anything.

    Attached is a sample on how the filament gets... its stars making some sort of coil right at the hexagon entrance.

    Please help!

    Thank you!
     

    Attached Files:

  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    If that is happening to PLA and ABS then most likely the fan that cools the hotend heatsink is not moving enough air... (or not working at all).

    This will be the small 30mm fan attached directly to the side of the hotend. Not the parts fan (which blows air on the part being printed)
     
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  4. Ave

    Ave New Member

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    Thanks Mark! I checked the fan and it is functional, I even stopped It for a second and it started again right after.
    There is something I noticed when I removed the hot end, the hexagon has a red substance where it makes contact to the rest of the printer and a little of it fell down during the removal. Could that be related? Thanks!
     
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Not really. It is like a heat resistant sealer, but the fit is tight enough that it doesn't really matter.
     
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  6. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    The fan can work but be weak, when the machine jams put a finger in the cold end (where the fan blows) and if it’s hot it will cause problems. Replacing the fan would be my first thought
    DONT TOUCH THE HEATER BLOCK OR NOZZLE....it hurts :)
     
  7. Ave

    Ave New Member

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    Thank you guys, I tried your suggestions without any luck. I replaced the hot end and that fixed the issue.

    I have no clue on how the hot end would be defective, but at least I have a printer again.

    Thanks again!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  8. Ave

    Ave New Member

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    UPDATE:

    After changing the hot end, as mentioned, I got the best 2 prints I got out of this printer. I turned it off overnight and sent a 3rd one this morning. To my surprise, the issue is back.

    I guess Robo is not for me... just a piece of garbage that I will try to sell for the parts.

    Sorry to disappoint anyone with the same issue, this post is not your resolution.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Have you tried seasoning?
    The alternative is a different hotend (not the Hexagon) although the Hexagon is not a bad extruder.

    Clogging like that is either heat creep or the nozzle. The fan would fix heat creep and seasoning will help the nozzle.
    Easy to do and worth a try.
     
  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I don't have a hexagon installed on any of my R1 series any more, I moved all of them to E3D years ago.
    I do use the Hexagon on the C2 (two on them on that one -- dual extrusion) and they are fine there.
     

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