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Solved Underextrusion?

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by Eric R., Jun 12, 2016.

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  1. Eric R.

    Eric R. Member

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    Here's a picture of a print at a lower temp, by the way - 195 degrees. Same problems, sadly...
    [​IMG]
     
  2. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    No picture buddy
     
  3. Eric R.

    Eric R. Member

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    Oops - sorry. Try this...

    [​IMG]
     
  4. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Wooo! Thats ugly lol. Was the hobbled bolt dirty? Calibrate your extruder after you clean it out. Hows the spring tension? Possibly add a washer or 2 to increase pressure if its slipping on ya.
     
  5. Eric R.

    Eric R. Member

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    Yes - ugly, ugly, ugly. I took it apart and had a look - the hobbled bolt was clean as it could be, but I brushed it all off and installed some washers to give it as much spring pressure as possible. It's weird, since it seems like it comes out better when I manually extrude it than when a print is happening. When I'm printing, I've taken to making marks on the filament with a Sharpie, and sometimes it doesn't feed through at all. When I'll send it through manually, it always comes out better, but even then, it seems to feed out well, then kind of slack off, then feed well again.

    So the end result is another equally ugly cube. Man. I'm happy to throw a little money at this. If you were to replace something in my situation, what might it be? Hopefully not the whole printer...
     
  6. Eric R.

    Eric R. Member

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    I also bypassed the weight of the spool by clipping off just the amount of filament needed and letting it loosely hang over the edge of the machine. I was wondering if the machine was having a problem overcoming inertia with my big, new spool of PLA. But this seems to rule out the mass of the spool as a problem.
     
  7. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    It could be the stepper driver for the extruder. You could try swapping the driver for x and the extruder and see if your issue goes to the x axis. If so tune or replace
     
  8. Eric R.

    Eric R. Member

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    Hey, hey - I think I have it! I was looking into the whole stepper driver thing, but it looked like the motor was turning perfectly well. The more I looked, the filament seemed to be slipping. I took it apart and played with it by hand, and I noticed there wasn't a way for the little wheel to press the filament up against the hobbed bolt. the hinged plastic piece that holds the wheel extended out too far and bumped against the body of the extruder. It wouldn't matter how many washers I put on - just a little extra plastic beyond the little hole where you insert the filament was keeping the wheel from pushing the filament up against the bolt. So less than a minute on the disc grinder, and this was the result...
    [​IMG]

    HUGE improvement! I know it might not be perfect, but there are lots of settings I have yet to play with. Notably I'd like to get the top and the bottom solid.
    Anyway, I can't tell you how much I appreciate everyone's help. I set out to get under the hood from the beginning, and boy did I. I feel like I know my printer way better than if I'd bought a new one. I'll be back with more questions, no doubt, but I'll let this thread die a peaceful death now. Thanks again.
     
    Geof and mark tomlinson like this.
  9. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Atta boy!!!!! Great job sticking with it !!!
     
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