Ultimaker 2 extended extruder problem

[thebillydeardoff 0]

Hello everybody. I am a student at University of Nebraska Kearney. I am the guy who fixes the 3d printers here.

I never have worked with an ultimaker until this one. It started off great but over time started having little problems that have now escalated to most the prints will not finish with out imperfections. I think it is the extruder, because the tension on the filament is pretty strong. I try to adjust the white tap that relieves pressure but it can't budge. The spring feels like it is stiff and won't compress or loosen. Is this normal for all extruders that come with the ultimaker or am I looking in the wrong place?

This is a video of what i am talking about.

[IRobertI 521]

You're not  going to be able to compress it just by pushing, it's too strong for that. To increase pressure you turn the screw counter-clockwise which might be a bit counterintuitive. Generally the white indicator should be at the top, where the pressure is lowest.

But I doubt this is the issue. It's more likely you have a blockage in the nozzle. I would start by doing a few "Atomics" which is a method we use to clean out the nozzle. You can read about it here:

http://support.3dverkstan.se/article/10-the

You want the plug to come out clean, or close to it. White is a good colour to use for obvious reasons.

If the printer has been running for a long time (a few hundred hours) it could also be time to replace the PTFE coupler which is the white piece in the middle of the print head. With time it deforms and causes friction.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Guest

[fbrc8-erin 311]

The other thing that gets a lot of wear and tear is the bowden tube itself. If you remove both ends from the printer and slide a piece of fresh filament through by hand, you should be able to move it fairly well. If you encounter any resistance points...there may be damage in your tube. Also, check out the photo here of the bowden tube: https://fbrc8.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205658894-Maintenance-How-Do-I-Maintain-My-Printer-

If the feeder end of your bowden tube is starting to look chewed up, you may want to go ahead and trim the end. Use an exact-o knife or similar to trim the last few millimeters and then widen it out to 45 degrees.