Hello all! I have recently been given access to a RepRapPro Mendel fitted with Melzi electronics. The stock extruder was replaced with an E3D V6 bowden extruder. I cannot get it the machine to extrude well at all, and I am personally at a loss for causes of the problems. I've never seen the machine in a working state so I'm finding it hard to figure out the root cause. Here's the sequence of events if I try and print an object: - Print begins, and the printer attempts to print the object. The actual movement of all axes seems to work fine however the printer does not extrude enough material, and the nozzle drags around most of the PLA it has extruded. - Eventually the extruder drive will start to skip, unable to extrude or retract any more filament. If I then take apart the extruder head, a small amount of plastic has solidified in the microscopic gap between the PTFE tubing and the top of the heatbreak, preventing the filament from being able to move and hence the extruder skips. No matter how well I try and fit the tubing this seems to happen, and I have replaced it multiple times. I have also noticed that if left at temperature after attempting to print, the machine will very slowly ooze PLA. I have also attempted to change the voltage to the extruder, but it seems the slipping is related to the jam rather than not enough torque. Hardware: - Extruder - E3D V6 1.75mm bowden 0.4mm nozzle - Rest of printer as stock Software: - RepRapPro's own version of Marlin, which can be found here: https://github.com/reprappro/Marlin The thermistor in the extruder head has been replaced as the original broke. I have read a lot about thermistor look up tables but the breed of marlin I am using does not seem to incorporate this functionality, instead relying just on a b value which has been changed in the firmware. - RepRapPro's version of pronterface, found here: https://github.com/reprappro/Software If anyone could offer any advice I would appreciate it greatly. I can give further details on configuration as requested. Thank you.
I've just realised I've posted this in completely the wrong forum. Could any mods please relocate to E3D V6 forums please?
I'm also getting bad layer adhesion and what others have referred to as "morse code", where there are random voids of extrusion. Some have suggested it might be an obstruction somewhere in the nozzle, but when I assembled it everything seemed clear. I retried my old nozzle and that still worked fine, so I ruled out it being an issue from the printer or filament. I'm getting a temperature gun tomorrow to try to see if the temperature reading is accurate.
You're the third person on this forum that has recently had the same issues with a new E3D extruder. From my desk It's hard to pinpoint the exact cause of the problem, but to my humble opinion it could be either the nozzle or the thermistor that is causing the problem. The temperature gun is a good idea for a starters... Did you contact E3D about this ?
Brandonprints - Mine don't get that far haha, but yeah finish quality is similar when it does print. Rob & Brandon - The temperature gun seems like a good idea, I will try and locate one from somewhere and have a go. I haven't actualyl contacted E3D directly, no. I also conveniently have a spare 0.7mm nozzle for another project so will try that out and see how it differs!
