Bowden tube pop unplugged the temperature regulator

[Daid 303]

Knowing about when he received his machine, I'm guessing a lose pulley on a motor.

[billdempsey 0]

Sorry for the delay replying. I realigned the long belt pulleys per calibration wiki. Then, I loosened and re-tightened the short belt pulleys. Then I tightened the pulleys on the motors. Although none seemed loose, obviously one of them was. I'm guessing the X motor or short belt pulley was the culprit. It's printing away as I type this and I'm actually getting some parts made now.

The ONLY issue I have now is screws/nuts vibrating loose, but I picked up a bunch of nylock nuts and I'm going to replace all the normal nuts with these.

As much as I wanted to use white filament, I'm going nowhere near that stuff again. It just doesn't melt well enough to be extruded without plugging. If it wasn't for lack of a melting odor, I'd swear it was ABS since it is still thick and heavy at 230C. This gray stuff is awesome. Melts like butter at 220C.

EDIT: I thought I'd add a picture of a parts assembly I printed today.

[billdempsey 0]

Everything is still working fine after a couple days of constant printing.

I have a few questions I'll post in a new thread, so this thread can die out.

[msurunner 2]

Hey Bill! Glad you got things up and running properly. I was going to suggest checking the pulley on the stepper. Those always seem to be the ones that bother me. You might put a marker dot on the pulley and stepper shaft to note slippage for future reference. Also, don't get too carried away with the belt tension. It CAN cause issues if not tight enough, but IMHO overtightening it can lead to just as many or more issues (particularly the shaft to pulley slippage on the steppers). Plus, once you stretch those belts out, there's no going back, so you have to keep stretching and stretching or order new belts. Also, I would suggest raising your print temps. I usually have to print at slightly higher temperatures than what everyone else seems to be able to. I don't know if it's altitude or humidity (both MT and NV are over a 1000 ft higher than the Netherlands) but I do know that PLA can be a bit finicky about that. My solution has been to increase the temp and increase the speed. Depending on your print settings, you may or may not be able to do that, but it's worth a shot. Finally, if it's printing well now, I wouldn't make this adjustment, BUT, if you do take things apart again, I would recommend sliding a bit more bowden tube through the bottom and NOT bringing the aluminum plate quite so close. It definitely does not need to be touching the bottom of the wooden box. I have about a mm or so of gap on the corners of mine. With that in mind, be careful about the amount of force used to tighten that aluminum block on there as well. If you are overtightening it, the bowden will compress, thus decreasing the inner diameter and you end up with plugging (especially if the filament gets compressed into an oval shape by the extruder or is over-dimensioned). Again, don't play with it if it's working, but if you do take it apart again, something to consider.

Looking at your prints, you are good on alignment and tension now. Tweak your settings and monitor for pulley slippage! Congrats on getting through the headache! Hopefully your time now is spent on items of fun not necessity!