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Flashing red light and no possible printing

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Ahmed, Nov 23, 2013.

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  1. Ahmed

    Ahmed New Member

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    Hi there,
    I received my PLA printer. So far I installed the softwares, I configured it and I am at the point where I try to heat the extruder for the first time in order to insert a filament.
    So I have put the temperature to 190° for the extruder and 0 for the bed.
    The temperature is rising well until 185 and a few. But then there is a red light in the USB port area that starts flashing with a ticking noise. This light is permanent and when I try to insert the filament, nothing happens, it's not coming out melted like in the tutorial video.
    Some help would be much appreciated.
    Cheers.
     
    #1 Ahmed, Nov 23, 2013
  2. Ahmed

    Ahmed New Member

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    Anyone could help ?
     
    #2 Ahmed, Nov 26, 2013
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    No clue on the red light (mine has a blinking light from the RepRap board that I can see all the time when it is powered on).

    Make sure you have the filament all the way in. With the default extruder, when you insert the filament it goes in easy for 1/2" or so and then may hit a lip inside and stop. Make sure it is getting past that lip and all the way down into the extruder. Twist it a bit when inserting and/or cut the tip of the filament at a bit of an angle to assist getting over the lip. (If the extruder is hot when you do this you can ,manually push it to make it extrude material.)
     
    #3 mark tomlinson, Nov 26, 2013
  4. Jerry RoBo 3D

    Jerry RoBo 3D Administrator
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    Dear Ahmed,

    The flashing red light is normal. This is no problem at all.

    Mark has a good suggestion. It sounds like you are not getting the filament all the way down into the hot end. You will have to wiggle it around a little to make sure you are putting the filament in the center of the hot end. You may be hitting the lip of the set screw which holds the PTFE tube of the hotend down. Make small adjustments from side to side until you feel the filament drop down further.
     
    #4 Jerry RoBo 3D, Nov 26, 2013
  5. Ahmed

    Ahmed New Member

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    Thank you so much Jerry and Mark. It was indeed a filament issue. I wriggled it and forced it a little bit and then, it went down further than I expected and I saw the plastic melt down on the board.
    I started my printing and it worked, the issue I had afterwards was that the plastic didn't stick to the board, so the print was messed up. I have a PLA model, I thought the plastic sheet wasn't mandatory. I am currently reading the forum about it, I think I will get some plastic sheet and try my print again.
    Thanks guys.
     
    #5 Ahmed, Nov 26, 2013
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