Extruder motor skipping - never feeds filament into the bowden tube

[3DPhreaks 1]

Hello - I just got my U2Extended today. Very excited.

I went through the set up wizard and watched several videos. My problem is that filament won't feed. When I push it up into the feeder motor, the motor skips. I've tried to applied a reasonable amount of force, but that only causes the motor to skip more.

I've read through the articles and tried to lower the tension setting. No help. All settings results in the same problem. I even tried to "sharpen" the filament so the end is very flat (and gradually gets back to the original thickness). Still no luck - at a certain thickness, the motor just skips.

Can someone please help?

Thanks,

DHC

[gr5 2,097]

Strange. Could it be the filament is too thick? Like 3.05mm? Instead of the typical 2.85mm?

So are you using the "change filament" procedure? Is the motor turning slowly as you feed it in? It should be. And push hard upwards - like 5 pounds force - enough to almost lift the printer up in the air.

[swordriff 119]

Filament not feeding UM2XT.

Could be that the Bowden tube on the feeder end is not all the way down into the receptable. This can make the filament crash into the end of the Tube and not entering it.

Reinsert the Tube by removing the horseshoe, press down the circular clip holder, and wiggle the tube until it falls into place, If I am right ca 5mm more than it is now, maybe?

Cut a piece of filament 10cm. Make it pointy at the entry end, and square flat in the back end. Straighten it as best as you can.

Try feeding that manually, wiggeling it to make it enter the hole inside.

If that works, then drag it out again and feed from spool. Here also help it by holding it vertical into the feeder.

Use in Advanced "Move Material" for all this.

[JohnFox 25]

Make sure the filament is reasonably straight at the end. If it has a bend it may not feed into the Bowden tube correctly. ( although sharpening the end should have done the trick)

 

Filament not feeding UM2XT.

Could be that the Bowden tube on the feeder end is not all the way down into the receptable. This can make the filament crash into the end of the Tube and not entering it.

Reinsert the Tube by removing the horseshoe, press down the circular clip holder, and wiggle the tube until it falls into place, If I am right ca 5mm more than it is now, maybe?

Cut a piece of filament 10cm. Make it pointy at the entry end, and square flat in the back end. Straighten it as best as you can.

Try feeding that manually, wiggeling it to make it enter the hole inside.

If that works, then drag it out again and feed from spool. Here also help it by holding it vertical into the feeder.

Use in Advanced "Move Material" for all this.

[3DPhreaks 1]

I think I found the problem .. after a lot of reading and looking at the mechanism, I fixed it by shifting the housing to the tension block for the feeder.

All the literature and people saying "just use force" was wrong (in my opinion).  It really felt like if I used more force, I would have broke it.  There simple wasn't enough space for the standard filament (using only what came in the box straight from Ultimaker).  That, and the tension spring (which I checked) was WAY WAY too strong.  There was no way a motor was going to shift the tension block back.

This was my fix - and since then its been feeding fine.

 

Edited June 3, 2015 by gr5
fixed link

[3DPhreaks 1]

And I totally did the pointy filament thing. But once it got to a certain thickness (again stock stuff from the box), the motor would seize.

Thanks for the reply guys! Really appreciate it. My fix worked and maybe it can help someone else in the community if they are out of other options.

[3DPhreaks 1]

Filament not feeding UM2XT.

Could be that the Bowden tube on the feeder end is not all the way down into the receptable. This can make the filament crash into the end of the Tube and not entering it.

Reinsert the Tube by removing the horseshoe, press down the circular clip holder, and wiggle the tube until it falls into place, If I am right ca 5mm more than it is now, maybe?

Cut a piece of filament 10cm. Make it pointy at the entry end, and square flat in the back end. Straighten it as best as you can.

Try feeding that manually, wiggeling it to make it enter the hole inside.

If that works, then drag it out again and feed from spool. Here also help it by holding it vertical into the feeder.

Use in Advanced "Move Material" for all this.

Thanks for responding - the worse feeling is if you post something and no on can help. So definitely THANK YOU. In my case the filament never made it past the motor axle (never past the tension block).

[3DPhreaks 1]

Make sure the filament is reasonably straight at the end. If it has a bend it may not feed into the Bowden tube correctly. ( although sharpening the end should have done the trick)

I tried this and it still didn't work - but THANK YOU for replying. I do really appreciated it:

 

 

Filament not feeding UM2XT.

Could be that the Bowden tube on the feeder end is not all the way down into the receptable. This can make the filament crash into the end of the Tube and not entering it.

Reinsert the Tube by removing the horseshoe, press down the circular clip holder, and wiggle the tube until it falls into place, If I am right ca 5mm more than it is now, maybe?

Cut a piece of filament 10cm. Make it pointy at the entry end, and square flat in the back end. Straighten it as best as you can.

Try feeding that manually, wiggeling it to make it enter the hole inside.

If that works, then drag it out again and feed from spool. Here also help it by holding it vertical into the feeder.

Use in Advanced "Move Material" for all this.

 

[gr5 2,097]

3dphreaks - this is a good find - I will remember to let other people know. I don't know how UM printed the test piece and tested your printer though :(

Could you please mark your own answer - the one with the nice youtube link in it as the "correct answer"? thanks!

[3DPhreaks 1]

3dphreaks - this is a good find - I will remember to let other people know.  I don't know how UM printed the test piece and tested your printer though :(

Could you please mark your own answer - the one with the nice youtube link in it as the "correct answer"?  thanks!

Thanks gr5 - but the system doesn't allow me to select "Best Answer" for my own posts. Unless there's something I'm missing (sorry, new here). All other posts have that option but mine do not.

3DP

[3DPhreaks 1]

I don't know how UM printed the test piece and tested your printer though

I was really thinking the same exact thing. I can only imagine it shifted in transport. But it certainly didn't seem like it could have (the screws were tight tight). A little disturbing.

[gr5 2,097]

Here - you can mark this one as best answer then even though you are the one who figured it out, lol:

 

I think I found the problem .. after a lot of reading and looking at the mechanism, I fixed it by shifting the housing to the tension block for the feeder.

All the literature and people saying "just use force" was wrong (in my opinion).  It really felt like if I used more force, I would have broke it.  There simple wasn't enough space for the standard filament (using only what came in the box straight from Ultimaker).  That, and the tension spring (which I checked) was WAY WAY too strong.  There was no way a motor was going to shift the tension block back.

This was my fix - and since then its been feeding fine.