Answered Print stops, fan only works when it feels like it, can't feed PLA

I'm having a lot of issues with my printer right now and I can't afford to miss any more days of printing because everyone wants their orders done for Valentine's day. I've been trying to fix this on my own and there seems to be no improvement.

First off, my PLA stopped coming out. When I went to take it out and clean it, there was a folded over and stripped chunk of PLA stuck inside I fished out with a bobbypin. I tried clearing out the path with a bobbypin like I usually do, and some PLA did come out the extruder, but it still won't feed no matter how hot the extruder is.

I tried using ABS and it feeds fine, but only if the extruder is at 250 degrees C. Using PLA after having the ABS feed through does not work.

I've had the problem for a while now that the fan sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Half of the time when it does work it's very loud and inconsistent.

My printer is also extremely loud when it prints now. Any time the extruder moves it could wake the whole house up. It sounds like it desperately needs to be greased or something. Is this something people do? I'm not sure how to go about doing that.

My final and biggest problem, is that now that the ABS feeds through I'm trying to set it up to print. I'm freaking out because whether it's ABS or PLA it doesn't matter I just need to get these orders out. It will print 2 layers, and then it stops. No errors pop up in MatterControl. It acts as though it is still printing, even the "percentage done" keeps increasing.

Does anyone know how to fix these things? Even if it's just a temporary fix, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

 

Is your nozzle leaking filament out the top? Is there gunk in the filament channel? Do you run an oiler?

If your hot end fan isn't working it very well could cause PLA to expand and jam up.

Grease the Z threaded rods with white lithium spray or something like super lube.

Try printing through SD: http://wiki.mattercontrol.com/Export_to_SD

 

I was seeing something like that with a clogged extruded nozzle. I think there was some gunk sticking in there, enough to impede the flow without actually stopping it all the way.

The main symptom was that even when it was extruding, it wouldn't come out in a straight stream down from the tip. Instead, it would just curl into a blob.

I got a super-tiny drill bit that fit the nozzle, then slid it in when it was heated and moved it around. Eventually, the clog came out and all was well again. After that, I made sure to season the tip, and I haven't had that trouble again.

 

Thank you for your responses guys! I took my printer to my parents house and took the whole thing apart. It was JAM PACKED with both ABS and PLA plastic. Probably because I was unaware I had to lubricate it and have never used anything of the sorts. We got the excess plastic out with a drill bit, and cleaned everything up. The fan is for sure broken and needs to be replaced. I used white lithium on the rods and now they work smooth as a baby. After we got everything cleaned I dipped some ABS in canola oil and fed it through which took what I think is the last of the junk out. Time to set up a print and hope for the best!

 

it's the smaller of the 2 fans that needs to be replaced. I did jam up again, I'm back at square one.

 

You can't run the printer without the smaller fan. Without it, the heat travels up the hot end and will cause jams. Until you replace it, your printer will be out of service.

 

Make sure the fan is actually bad. On my printer, the fan wire that plugged into the controller board on the bottom was being wiggled around every time I plugged in the USB cable, and was only attached by a single strand in the first place. It broke after a couple of weeks of use and caused the same problem you're seeing.

My fan shroud melted (the clip on piece) and allowed the fan to come into contact with the hot end, so it was partially melted and frozen.

My fan wouldn't turn by hand, but if yours moves, it might also be a broken wire. If so, it's a very easy fix.

 

My fan was also unable to turn by hand. But as I was looking around and screwing/ unscrewing things, I think I may have tugged on the fan wire, because it sparked and smoked and came right off.. The cable is basically melted.