Clog or Dud?

After receiving my printer (ABS version) and finally figuring out which sample of filament was which (no labels), I went through the whole quick start guide to be ready to print. I was going to start with an ABS print (not sure why now) but after trying several different things, I couldn't get the ABS to stick. I've since learned other possible solutions to this problem like ABS juice, hairspray, etc. I eventually gave up on the initial ABS print and decided to try printing PLA instead. My first attempt didn't work at all, barely would extrude at all. I thought maybe the temperature was too low, and decided to try printing with PLA using my ABS temp settings (210C) and it was awesome, I sat and watched the first layer go down, then the second layer, but while printing the second layer, it just stopped extruding. The gears were spinning, but nothing was coming out. I later read that you can crystallize PLA if you heat it too much.

I spent the next day removing the hot end and completely cleaning it with a combination of heat, toothpicks, thin wire (through the nozzle) and acetone (I tried ABS again after the PLA "clog"). My hot end was as clean as it was when I received it. I put it all back together and am able to manually extrude plastic, but the hobbed bolt only chews into the plastic and leaves grooves without extruding anything with any reliability. I haven't been able to print anything except the first two layers of my first print.

I think that I might have somehow overheated the PFTE liner (is that the white tube that leads into the brass nozzle?) since it looks almost as if the end melted, but I don't know what it looked like before. I'm leaning towards buying the E3D hot end but was hoping to have some success prior to dropping another $80. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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I am not expert by a long way and i have only printed out 2 cubes and not that good quality either yet. From my little experience and what i have learned from Jeff Janes 210 is too hot for PLA, mine is set to 190 for PLA. I also heat up the filament manually to the temperature first, make sure there is no filament hanging around the nozzle then i print.

You said it was chewing into the plastic, i had that also, for some reason my temperature dropped and the wheels were still trying to push the filament in, hence the grinding and the marks on the filament when i checked them, had to clean the teeth also with a needle so they would grip again. Getting that filament out was a nightmare, i eventually turned the temp up to 230 then pushed the filament through manually. One time i tried to pull it out but it snapped off, i put another clean bit of filament in there and pushed and pulled it, after about 15 minutes it came out the bottom.

 

I have cleaned out the hobbed bolt using a soft bristled brush and I didn't see any more filament in it, but I'll try using a needle to see if that helps at all. Thanks

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I think the issue I'm having is related to the coil size of the PLA I received. It appears to be the innermost portion of a tightly wound spool and i think that the extruder is having a difficult time pulling it in without me hand guiding it first. I've got a new spool on the way and we'll see how it works when it gets here.

Thanks for the help so far guys, I haven't posted much, but you've all been more help than you know.

 

I've tried it once so far and it pulled out some stuff, but the stuff it pulled out was around the nylon, not embedded in it and it flaked off when i picked at it. I'm definitely going to try several more times and see what I get. I'll keep you posted. Thanks.

 

I was finally able to get my Robo3D to print using a new roll of PLA that I bought (Zen Toolworks natural). I did have a few issues with it at first, but I figured out that they were being caused by the filament extruder not being able to pull the filament directly from the spool without slack.

How do you guys store your filament? I know PLA absorbs moisture and was just curious, thanks.

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