Is this noise normal

[womacki 0]

My filament motor often makes this skipping noise intermittently, especially when printing brim. Is it normal?

 

[Torgeir 212]

Hi womacki,

Welcome in here!

I've seen your first posting about this (when I looked at your profile), so I'll know you have an Ultimaker 2..

You also have tried to variate the nozzle temperature without any success, right?

Well, there is a few thing to check here, first go into maintenance menu, then select advanced setting, roll down the menu and find motion setting. At the very end you'll find a setting; Current E (the electrical current to feed the feeder motor with), check that this current is set to minimum 1200 mA (milli Ampere).

What you have is a stepper that is skipping, -as we say. This is happening if the energy (the torque) the stepper motor can do, is set to low and the filament inside the bowden tube is compressed and act as a spring and pushes back the stepper motor when it come to it's limit. So the skip back is not normal, -but it is a kind of protection and your feeder motor would not suffer..

Next question to ask is, how many printing hour does your printer have?

Ok. Let us know how this go before next step.

Thanks.

Torgeir.

[womacki 0]

Torgeir,

Thank you for the reply! I highly appreciate your help...

I checked my Current E - it was set to 1250 mA. I bumped it up to 1300 mA and believe the skipping frequency has reduced a bit, but is not eliminated. Would setting this higher be beneficial?

I do not know how many hours the machine has as I am not the original owner. The previous owner used it extensively.

Thank you for your time and help. It is comforting to know that should the skipping persist, it is not damaging the motor.

Sincerely,

womacki

Edited April 1, 2017 by Guest

[Torgeir 212]

Hi womacki,

Ok. 1250 mA is the default value so this is ok. When going higher than this the motor will be hotter..

The total running time can be found under the maintenance menu, then to advanced menu and roll down to the second last (i'll think) "running time"..

You probably have to high friction in the extruder, can be residue of other filament type stuck in the nozzle preventing proper feed.

Here is a method to clean the nozzle, but follow every steps carefully.

https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/19510-how-to-apply-atomic-method

Or maybe a faulty coupler, the white (Teflon) device isolating heat block from the cold side. This coupler tend to shrink on the hot side over time (less inner diameter) and this prevent easy feed of the filament.

Also note that the fan on the back of the extruder need to work/running properly, this fan prevent hot melted filament to "crawl" upward into the cold part of the extruder. If this happened, the filament will be very much restricted to move through here.

OK. You now should have something to check out.

Lets hear hows going.

Good luck.

Thanks.

Torgeir.

[womacki 0]

Hi womacki,

Ok. 1250 mA is the default value so this is ok. When going higher than this the motor will be hotter..

The total running time can be found under the maintenance menu, then to advanced menu and roll down to the second last (i'll think) "running time"..

You probably have to high friction in the extruder, can be residue of other filament type stuck in the nozzle preventing proper feed.

Here is a method to clean the nozzle, but follow every steps carefully.

https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/19510-how-to-apply-atomic-method

Or maybe a faulty coupler, the white (Teflon) device isolating heat block from the cold side. This coupler tend to shrink on the hot side over time (less inner diameter) and this prevent easy feed of the filament.

Also note that the fan on the back of the extruder need to work/running properly, this fan prevent hot melted filament to "crawl" upward into the cold part of the extruder. If this happened, the filament will be very much restricted to move through here.

OK. You now should have something to check out.

Lets hear hows going.

Good luck.

Thanks.

Torgeir.

 

Torgeir,

Thank you for the information! The machine states that it has been "on for 2741:32 printings 1440:23."

I cleaned the nozzle using the method you recommended. Things went well, apart from meeting high resistance when pulling the inserted filament back out after letting it cool to 90 degrees. Perhaps this resistance is due to a faulty coupler?

The fans run accept when printing brim... maybe this explains why the skipping occurs most regularly while printing brim?

Thank you again for all of your help!

womacki

[Torgeir 212]

Hi womacki,

Great.. The resistance when pulling out the filament at 90 deg. C. is normal, because the filament is switched from soft liquid toward solid. This will glue remaining filament residues collected up inside the nozzle. When removing the filament at 90 deg. C. this will be visible on the removed tip end as other colored filaments, or rest from previous used stuff built up inside the nozzle unit. Sometimes this method is needed to be repeated until the removed filament tip is clean and without dents.

The two side fans normally start up after the first layer is done, with or without a brim or skirt. Those fans are cooling the filament when extruded to the object in order to avoid soft plastic inaccurately placed. The third fan one on the back will start when the printer is turned on and stay on as long as the printer is switched on, and this should be true for your standard UM2. This fan is very important for the functionality of the hot end feeding.

Make sure you have spare couplers, they need to be changed from time to time..

Does your printer still skip?

You never told us the kind of filament you're using and print temperature..

OK. Good luck with your printer and printing.

Thanks.

Torgeir.

[womacki 0]

Torgeir,

Thank you for the reply. I've found the third fan - it begins running as soon as I turn my printer on and appear to run continuously.

I am printing with 2.85 mm PLA that is a couple of years old (although some of my reels had not been opened before). Each reel seems to print best with a slightly different temperature. I'm currently working with Ultimate blue at 217 degrees and my prints are coming out nicely. I've checked that the machine knows the correct diameter size.

My machine skips around as frequently as seen in the video while printing brim. On the remainder of the print, it skips every minute or so (and more frequently when laying down longer lines).

I will order some couplers and see about replacing it. Any other thoughts would be highly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

womacki

[womacki 0]

Torgeir,

Replacing the coupler fixed the problem! Thank you so much for the guidance!

womacki

[Torgeir 212]

Hi womacki,

My pleasure!

Great job you've done there.

Thanks for reporting back.

Torgeir.