260/270 with PLA?? That’s way too hot! 200 should be the normal area.
I thought there was clog but there wasn’t. So I brought it up to 260/270 think that would get what ever there was in the hot end out.
I think the idea is to totally melt the PLA and force out anything that may be blocking the internal path i the hot-end, rather than try to print at that temperature.
At that temperature, I’d suspect you’re more likely to start burning the plastic and cause the blockage.
It might be getting close to the time where a different hot-end should be tested…
+Douglas Pearless @Greg_Nutt I print PLA at 220. And I wasn’t printing at 260/270 just trying to purge the print head. But do you think I should buy a new extruder or keep trying with the cubepro extruders
What hotends would you recommend that have a length of 75mm
Personally, I think 220 is still too hot for PLA (unless you’re printing at >150mm/s or it’s some special formula requiring higher heat). I like and use the E3D Titan extruder myself (geared extruder). Not familiar with the Cubepro one you’re referring to. I used E3D v6 hotend. You’re still able to manually push filament through?
@Greg_Nutt Thanks for the hot end recommendations. What temperature do you print PLA at with your E3D V6 hot end? Yes I can manually push the filament in the hot end with cubepro extruders.
The extruder is skipping as the hotend is partially blocked.
There are a couple of possible causes.
- Temp too high. Most PLA’s print fine with temps from 160-180. Too high a temperature will ‘cook’ the PLA and block the hotend.
- Temp too low. You stated that you are running 220C. Are you using the correct thermistor type in the config? An incorrect thermistor type can report incorrect temperature.
- Buildup of foreign matter in hotend. Run the filament through small block of sponge with a slit cut in it to wipe dust etc from the filament before it goes into the extruder. Use a small tool to clear the nozzle in the hotend or disassemble the hotend and thoroughly clean it.
- Poor filament quality. Some filaments are better than others. Use a known good quality filament.
Your hotend looks like an E3D or clone. I am currently using an E3D V6 and have had no issues with blockages printing PLA, ABS and PETG.
I print my PLA at a base temperature between 195 and 200. I go up to 210 to 215 if I’m printing faster (150mm/s to 200mm/s) but for the average 45 to 60mm/s I usually do about 200.
I’m not keen on clones. I only tried one once and had instant problems with it and went to a genuine E3D v6. Worked out of the box first try. (your mileage may vary of course). I have also used the Hexagon and have to say I was pretty happy with it too.
I’ll try again tomorrow with the specs you gave me. I bought my hot end from e3d. It’s not a clone from eBay.
E3D v6 would clogged if you have too long retraction. They recommend retraction less than 1mm.
@Greg_Nutt @Douglas_Pearless @Arthur_Wolf
So I got the printer to print. But when the first layer is done it retracts all the filament out of the extruder and then it starts the second layer and it can extrude the plastic because it retracted the filament. Any ideas why it does this.
Here’s my start g-code.
G21; metric value’s
G90; absolute positioning
M107; start with fan off
G28 X0 Y0 ; home XY
G28 Z0 ; home z
G1 Z15.0 F2000; move the platform down 15mm
G92 E0; zero the extruder
G1 E30 F90 ; extrude 30mm
G92 E0 ; zero extruder
All help is Most appreciated
That sounds like a problem with your gcode file
@ arthurwolf yeah I now it something to do with my gcode. but I’m trying to figure what part of the gcode is causing the problem.
It’s either not resetting the E axis when it’s done with the layer, or resetting it but producing gcode as if it didn’t. What slicing program are you using ?
@Arthur_Wolf slic3r
It should work, this is very strange
I sliced the file again and it works now. Thanks for your response.