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Solved MakerGeeks PLA clogging

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by 90AWDeclipse, Mar 23, 2015.

  1. 90AWDeclipse

    90AWDeclipse New Member

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    Hello, this is my first post and I'm new to 3d printing. I purchased my Robo 3d around the second week of February this year, and it's worked flawlessly till now. I recently purchased some filament from makergeeks.com. Soulful blue, white hot, dark as night black, safety orange, and royal purple. All PLA filaments. I have been trying to print the white hot and souful blue colors for the past couple days, and I cannot get any good prints. The printer keeps having a very inconsistent clog. I hear it skipping and see the filament just barely coming out of the nozzle. If I pull the filament out and cut off the mangled piece it will run for a bit then clog again.

    Things I have tried to resolve the issue.

    Temps ranging from 190-220 (honestly makes no difference other than under 200 its really hard to extrude by hand)
    I took apart the extruder cleaned everything, torched the nozzle, and made sure there were no debris.
    Extruder fan is working.
    Slowed down the speed from 60mm/s to 50mm/s on all print movements

    The thing that really blows my mind is that I'm currently printing with the robo red PLA, and at 210 its printing perfect. No clogging at all, and it's feels like it extrudes so much easier by hand. If anyone has used this filament or can give me some suggestions on what to try next I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks

    -Alex
     
    #1 90AWDeclipse, Mar 23, 2015
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    #2 mark tomlinson, Mar 23, 2015
  3. 90AWDeclipse

    90AWDeclipse New Member

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    Alright I'll be printing that right after this print, and I'll give it a try. I didn't see anyone talk about coconut oil. Can I use it?
     
    #3 90AWDeclipse, Mar 23, 2015
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Any high smoke point vegetable oil is fine.
     
    #4 mark tomlinson, Mar 23, 2015
  5. 90AWDeclipse

    90AWDeclipse New Member

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    Well I'm running my first print after being seasoned and with the oiler. Wish me luck :)
     
    #5 90AWDeclipse, Mar 23, 2015
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  6. 90AWDeclipse

    90AWDeclipse New Member

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    Yes! Print came out pretty good. No clogging but I am getting more stringy things and also some brownish looking bubbles through out the print. Its a darker color so it should be fine. I'll try to lower the heat a little bit, but I think this fixed my core problem. Thanks
     
    #6 90AWDeclipse, Mar 23, 2015
  7. Stephen Capistron

    Stephen Capistron Active Member

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    Something else to watch out for with all filaments except PET(G) is that they are hygroscopic so keep the filament stored in an airtight container with some desiccant.
     
    #7 Stephen Capistron, Mar 23, 2015
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  8. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The stringing is generally (with PLA and/or ABS--not all filament types) a symptom of the extrude temperature being a little hot so fiddle with test prints and bump it down until you find the sweet spot. Then to keep it there use the storage style @Stephen Capistron mentioned. Otherwise it will move a bit as the filament absorbs water and the water absorption will cause slightly unsightly blemishes on the finish.
     
    #8 mark tomlinson, Mar 23, 2015
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  9. 90AWDeclipse

    90AWDeclipse New Member

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    Alright thanks for all the help guys. It's printing well besides the brown bubbles. I actually think its oil. I guess I put a little to much in the oiler, and its seeping out my extruder after it builds up. As for a container. I have a large Rubbermaid tote with a bucket of rice inside, and when I get new filament I take the little packets and throw them in the rice to help.

    On another topic. In matter control is there a way to print one item at a time? For example I have a box and a lid, but I want the box to be printed fully before it starts on the lid.
     
    #9 90AWDeclipse, Mar 23, 2015
  10. Stephen Capistron

    Stephen Capistron Active Member

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    Not that i'm aware of. If you set up Cura it has this feature.
     
    #10 Stephen Capistron, Mar 23, 2015
  11. 90AWDeclipse

    90AWDeclipse New Member

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    Do you prefer Cura over Matter control? Are there other advantages to switching?
     
    #11 90AWDeclipse, Mar 23, 2015
  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Simplify offers you Continuous printing (layer-by-layer) or sequential printing (object-by-object)

    Choose this when you slice it.
     
    #12 mark tomlinson, Mar 23, 2015
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  13. 90AWDeclipse

    90AWDeclipse New Member

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    Alright I'll give it a try on my next print. Even though it's going to be one object lol.
     
    #13 90AWDeclipse, Mar 24, 2015
  14. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I have found it can make a non-trivial difference. Sometimes object-by-object is better since otherwise by the time it gets back to the start to do another layer that layer is well and truly cool (so a larger temp delta).
     
    #14 mark tomlinson, Mar 24, 2015
  15. 90AWDeclipse

    90AWDeclipse New Member

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    I thought it might help with abs prints, because I was getting slight separation of layers right inline with the top of the other object.
     
    #15 90AWDeclipse, Mar 24, 2015
  16. Stephen Capistron

    Stephen Capistron Active Member

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    You can always specify a minimum layer time to allow more time for the previous layer to cool.
     
    #16 Stephen Capistron, Mar 24, 2015
  17. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yea, but minimum layer time usually applies to the entire layer (including all objects). If doing object-by-object that helps, but layer-by-layer?
     
    #17 mark tomlinson, Mar 24, 2015

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