E3D-v6 Won't Even Extrude More Than Once! HELP!

Discussion in 'E3D-v6 and Lite6' started by vanthios, Jul 21, 2017.

  1. vanthios

    vanthios Member

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    I've been trying to fix up an old Makerfarm Prusa i3v that I abandoned a few years ago for a similar issue with constant jamming. I've used my Original Prusa i3 MK2S to print off a new extruder block as well as some other pieces. The extruder block works flawlessly.

    The problem I'm having seems to be from the E3D-v6 hotend. When I assembled it for the first time, following the assembly instructions to the tee, I applied even thermal compound across the heat break's top part. I pushed the PTFE tubing as far as it would possible go. I even unscrewed the heatsink from the heatbreak to ensure visually that the tubing was seated in the heatbreak. I performed the final heatup to tighten the nozzle.

    When I hooked it up and used Pronterface to test some extrusion, the first strings came out fantastic. Five seconds later, upon requesting another 10mm extrusion, the filament can't move and the drive gear is now digging into the plastic. I couldn't get it to extrude manually even with substantial force. I disassembled the hotened and found plastic built up in the base of the heatbreak's upper component, as if it pushed the tubing out, hardened, and blocked it. I managed to get it all out by heating a paper clip, stabbing it into the plastic, letting it cool, and pulling it out. With the heatbreak cleared I performed all of E3D's assembly instructions as stated above, ran an extrusion test and get perfect little strings the first time. Five seconds pass, request another extrusion, and the unit is again blocked.

    Any ideas? It's quite frustrating.
     
  2. Spoon Unit

    Spoon Unit Well-Known Member

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    One thing you didn't mention here is the fan for the heatsink. Do you have that working too?
     
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  3. Old_Tafr

    Old_Tafr Well-Known Member

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    I'm not sure if this answers your question in part or in full, but I had problems with the V6 on my BigBox working and then somehow blocking and the hobbed wheel grinding the filament. It tending to work for a print, then next time the filament didn't move.

    There should be a post where I listed the procedure I went through to build the hot-end, heat sink etc.

    From memory I found these things...

    The ptfe tubing is supplied cut from a coil so it has a serious bend in it, this I think causes it to be still bent when assembled so combined with the following it causes the filament to twist sideways and maybe jam as it is pushed into the side of the hole.

    If you just cut the ptfe tubing to the exact length and maybe with side cutters the end that receives the filament from above or deposits it into the below into the heatbreak and block has a sort of chamfer a sort of point (especially a problem where the filament enters it from above. I first cut the filament with a very sharp craft knife and using minimal force downwards i.e. mainly back and forth, as otherwise the ptfe is slightly crushed.

    As you can imagine the worse case is cut with side cutters and with sloping sides pointed upwards and slightly crushed.

    So we have four things.. A. Not cut straight, B. Not countersunk, C. crushed. D. Curved

    For A. As above cut straight with a very sharp craft knife not side cutters or a fine saw. Top critical, at the bottom still good practice.​

    For B. Countersink the hole at the top with a large drill bit, 6 or 7 mm, take care not to leave slight burrs on the inside, use a magnifying glass to check. Probably best not to countersink the exit hole as this could cause the filament to run into the side of the hole and jam. ​

    For C. I used a fine drill bit a few thou less than the ID of the tube turned by hand pushed into the tube, it met some resistance, but turning it by hand it took a fine cut of the ptfe. (make sure it runs all the way through) I had initially tried pushing filament through which was not impossible but met some resistance, after using the fine drill bit it just slid through ​

    For D. Just try bending it straight and maybe leave it for days held straight (or slightly over bent the other way) so that when released it is perfectly straight. (best to do this first before steps A, B and C. ) ​


    It may well be that any one or two of the above isn't sufficient to cause a problem, so some people depending on how they prepare the parts may never have a failure, conversely if you have all four problems it may well happen or worse be intermittent.

    I think this was all, must look for the original post. Good luck !
     
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  4. vanthios

    vanthios Member

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    Thanks for your reply! I was able to connect the fan for the heatsink. When I first tried extruding I did not enable the fan (M106). Looking back I'm not quite sure what I was thinking. On my MK2S I have a part fan and heatsink fan -- when printing in ABS I leave the part fan off. For some reason I thought if I couldn't get proper extrusion for PLA on the new E3D-v6 on my i3v then it would not be capable of printing ABS (very much not the case as it's the PART fan that needs to be disabled for ABS, not the HEATSINK fan)... Yikes. I'll clear the heatbreak again using the paperclip method later today or tomorrow and try extruding with the heatsink fan enabled. Thanks again.
     
  5. vanthios

    vanthios Member

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    Thank you very much for the thorough and detailed reply. I appreciate the time you've taken to provide me with help. I'll definitely give some of the options you've outlined a try. I've cut the included PTFE tubing into two pieces and trimmed both pieces to be seated in the E3D-v6 and flush with the drive gear, so I don't really have a fresh piece with a little extra length to work with. Do you know of any E3D-v6 compatible PTFE tubing on Amazon that's up to the same quality as those that ship with the unit? Would a much longer tube (like one used for Bowden systems) naturally have less bend than the shorter pieces that E3D cuts and ships with their units?

    Thanks again for your involved reply; hopefully the information you've given me can help me resolve the issue.
     
  6. Old_Tafr

    Old_Tafr Well-Known Member

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    Not really following the fan bit but I don't think things will ever work properly if the heat sink fan isn't on all the time.

    Regarding ptfe tubing, for some reason I have enough, maybe as I ordered another V6 and didn't use it. I'm fairly certain that there is some info on the E3D site and here about what size is needed............ which would help me in future too !
     
  7. Old_Tafr

    Old_Tafr Well-Known Member

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    Another theory, which does not explain why the first print works and the next fails, but reading my earlier post reminded me that another problem I had was the filament getting tangled on the reel. Occasionally I heard a twang as it pulled free, other times it stuck completely ruining the print as the hobbed wheel just ground a hole in the filament.

    This is why I bought a 16" lazy Susan bearing so I can now rotate the printer even when it's printing, it also makes changing reels etc. much easier. With a wooden plate under the printer it is even possible to use an 18" bearing.
     
  8. vanthios

    vanthios Member

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    Thank you for the replies, Tafr. I've sent an e-mail to the E3D support team asking if the PTFE tubing they have listed for Bowden units is the same tubing used on the inside of their Direct units (I'm sure it is). I also asked about the dimensions and if third party tubing of the same dimensions is suggested or expected to work. I live in the United States and would rather purchase something through Amazon that would get here in two days with free shipping than pay five to ten dollars for shipping from the UK and wait a week or more.

    The lazy susan idea is interesting. I'm sure that my issues aren't stemming from the filament spool as I'm using a spool that I've printed three-quarters of on my MK2S without any issues. It's on bearings as well. The lazy susan would be an excellent touch for a printer inside an enclosure where only the front door opens. I was considering building an enclosure and I might just use a lazy susan to allow front and back access to the printer. Thank you!
     
  9. elmoret

    elmoret Administrator

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    We (Filastruder) are E3D distributors.

    The heatsink fan must be on full, ideally wired to the power supply directly. How are things with the fan full on?

    I do not suspect the natural bend of the PTFE to be an issue.
     

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