Solved Petg jams after a few hours in r1+

When trying to print inland PETG white in an r1+, it jams and corkscrews below the feed bolt after a few hours. I have no zero issues printing with the uncolored version from the same brand. I'm printing from my raspberry pi 2 running octoprint, with slicing taking place in matter control with the following settings:

Extrude temp: 250°
Bed temp: 90°
Speed: 50mm/s
Infill: hex at 30%
Solid layers (top): 5
Solid layers (bottom): 5
Layer height: 0.2mm
Max fan speed: 65%
Extrusion multiplier: 98%

I've tried to be gentle and slow (except for the violent hex infill) with this material but it still clogs after an hour or two. Up until then, the print looks great.

 

I found I had to print PETG at 260 to get good flow.

Also measure the filament at a number of points with calipers just to be sure that it's up to spec. The hexagon hot end has tighter tolerances and more susceptible to jamming from slightly out of spec filament.

May also be worth adding in a tube to your feed slot to reduce the area for it to bend in

 

What material should this tube be? Where would I get this tube? I can't just print it, can I?

 

Not really no.

The best material to use for a tube is PTFE. But that's hard to come by in a size that fits in the existing hole. They do make 3mm OD and 2mm ID PTFE tube but probably hard to find.

The second best option would be a 4mm OD and 2mm ID PTFE Tube. The problem being is that you would need to remove the hobbed bolt in order to drill out the feed hole to ~4.2mm to fit the PTFE in place. Though once it's in you'll get the benefits of the tube for all materials, especially the more flexible ones.

I used a brass tube that I bought from ace, as outlined here: http://community.robo3d.com/index.php?threads/ninjaflex-filament.1589/#post-12135

He has a picture a bit below.

It's pretty nice because you don't need to drill anything out, but I find I have some difficulty feeding in filaments with it.

 

Tada! Jacking up the temperature did it, but it's now stringy compared to the natural PETG. I am also getting sloppy overhangs and bridges, as shown in the images below.

A long standing problem that bed leveling doesn't seem to have solved was curling away from the bed.

 

If anyone needs it, you can get the tubing for 1.75 mm from Amazon. It is about $8 for a coil.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017BC896G?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00

 

Just phoning back in with an update. The best thing I did with this printer was to narrow that channel to the hotend with PTFE tubing. It wasn't difficult at all and makes petg a decent everyday material. It rarely jams now.

So why was the original hole so wide?

 

Here is the 2mm ID x 3mm OD tubing.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KJDJ0EA

 

I agree a PTFE tube solves the feed problem, and it is well worth the trouble of removing the hobbed bolt to drill out the hole and install it.

As far as your curling problem check out the FLEKS3D build plate system.

http://www.fleks3d.com

It solved all of my problems with prints warping. No more glue stick or hairspray.