Hey guys I am just letting you know that I have been having a few problems with my Prusa I3. For some reason my Mk8 extruder for my 3D printer keeps clicking and being in capable of letting any filament onto the print bed. I have ruled out that the problem is that the extruder is not getting enough torque for some mysterious reason. I can think of a few possible ways to solve this. First of all my power supply only supplies 180 watts. It could supply 240 to my ramps motherboard. The reason I think that is an issue is because my heated bed can supposedly go higher than 70 degrees Celsius but it can’t for reasons most likely related to power. I could also use a different amperage motor driver for the extruder but I don’t think that will solve anything because I think this is a power problem. Is there something I am missing? The reason I am asking is because I have spent more than $80 dollars on my printer after it was bought and I am a little bit uneasy about buying more parts. I just want to confirm that buying a new power supply will solve the problem. Thank you.
UPDATE
Problem solved. I just released some tension on the filament in the extruder and it actually printed something. Thanks for all your help.
Manually pushing the filament through the extruder. Get the hot end up to temp. Release the tension to the extruder drive wheel and use 2 fingers to push filament out. You may need more heat or have a blockage.
@Keith_Applegarth Actually I have tried pushing the filament into the extruder manually. It works better with me doing that but sadly I can’t do that throughout an entire print for the printer. Thank you though.
Only 2 fingers? If so, you may need to adjust the current to the stepper.
@Keith_Applegarth I was using two fingers. I was using my pointer finger and my thumb. I have tried adjusting the current to the steppers. They can only put out so much current until they can’t put out enough current anymore. Thanks though.
It is probably the driver or stepper then.
@Keith_Applegarth Okay do I just buy a new stepper driver with greater amperage? It could be a problem with the power supply because the power supply can’t even power the bed all the way.
Are you using 3mm and a direct drive extruder?
@Markus_Granberg I am using the 1.75mm direct drive extruder. Thanks!!!
Had same problem. Wedged a strong spring to lift the release lever as internal extruder spring was too weak and not adjustable. Resolved issue for me.
@Roger_Unwin I actually have done the exact same thing but that didn’t make much of a difference. I did that a few months ago to replace the extruder spring on my extruder. Thank you though!!!
Clicking usually means lost steps. This can be a few things causing it:
Stepper motor current not correct. Notice I say not correct, not too low. Too low will certainly cause the issue, but too high and it will overheat and do the same, or the stepper drivers will overheat. I had to put a heatsink and fan on my stepper drivers.
Idler spring tension too high. If the spring tension is too high, it will provide too much resistance to the motor and cause it to miss steps.
Hotend clogged. This is easy to test, loosen the idler, heat up the hotend, and push the filament through. It should be quite easy to push. If not, it’s clogged.
Other jams can be caused by heat creep. This happens when the cold zone of the hotend gets too hot, causing the filament to swell or stick in the cold end. Too long retractions can do this too.
Underpowered motor. On really cheap printers the motor might be too weak to give reliable results.
Bad power supply. With a heated bed, hotend, and motors all might be above the wattage of your power supply, or the supply is just bad. An easy way to test is print without the heated bed turned on. If it does better, then get a new power supply.
I had a similar problem that turned out to be a loose grub screw holding the knurled bit (can’t remember the term) to the extruder spindle… tightened with locktite and problem resolved… maybe worth looking at before spending money… good luck!
@Stephanie_A How can I fix that? My extruder is clicking actually. How do I determine the correct amperage for my motor and give the correct spring tension? I also did catch you said that it could be a problem with the power supply or just an under powered motor but I just want to check those two things first so I don’t go ahead buying something I may not need. Thanks!!!
@David_Selwood Thanks but I have no idea what you are referring to. Do you have a picture?
This picture shows an exposed extruder motor with the knurled wheel thing showing and you can just see make the grub screw out.
extruder motor clicking - Google Search
@David_Selwood Okay thank you. I am pretty sure that grub screw is on tight but I’ll double check. Thanks!!!
Correct amperage is difficult to set on some controllers. Some people calculate it and take voltage measurement with a multimeter, some just guess. Some boards support changing it digitally. There are plenty of tutorials online. It helps to know the operating current of your motors.
The first things to check is if the hotend is clogged. Next is idler tension.
I also forgot to mention hotend temp. If the temp is off then it will be too difficult to extrude. Different hotends require different temps and can be off by as much as 10 degrees.
Also some materials stick inside some hotends more. PLA is the biggest culprit of this. The way I usually fix this is to get a sponge and put a few drops of oil in it. Cut a slot in the sponge for the filament to pass through. Put it before your extruder. Be careful about too much oil. It takes less than you think.