Frequent Clogging

[shassel 2]

My Ultimaker 3 clogs frequently. I see a lot of discussion about how to clear clogs, but little on why it clogs so much. I mostly use PLA with default settings. The clogs are easy to clear, but we lose many prints and waste a lot of time.

Why does it clog so much? Is there something that can be done to lessen the likelihood of clogs?

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Is it the PLA clogging? That is not something I am familiar with. I do hot and cold pulls periodically to maintain my AA Core, but that is not that often.

The BB Core and PVA is a different story.

There are several threads here about the PVA issues, commercial items and even a nifty retconned food dehydrator.

[shassel 2]

Yes, PLA is clogging. We gave up entirely on PVA because it it's clogging and environmental needs. Might get back to it, but not until PLA can be reliable.

PLA seems to stop extruding and the gear grinds the filament. It is almost always a clog that is easily cleared. But why should it happen so much? Happens with different brands.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Yes, PLA is clogging.  We gave up entirely on PVA because it it's clogging and environmental needs.  Might get back to it, but not until PLA can be reliable.  

PLA seems to stop extruding and the gear grinds the filament.  It is almost always a clog that is easily cleared.  But why should it happen so much?  Happens with different brands.

One thing to look for is the smoothness of the filament coming through. I know that it is smooth in feel, but is it tightly coiled? If it is too tight of a coil, it wants to bind inside the bowden tube because it is not straight enough.

Is it fed through the filament guide? A lot of people seem to miss that.

Is the feeder tension tight enough? I really have to clamp down on a few brands and colors.

Have you tried to pull the filament through the bowden tube from the end at the nozzles to see if the filament is not pulling through? Just release the spring pressure on the feeder with one hand while the other hand pulls on the filament.

[tinkergnome 926]

In addition: re-check the filament diameter, is it really 2.85mm?

Another possible reason may be: you're printing too fast or too cold.

And if the printer works in a dusty environment, consider the use of a simple dust filter like this one.

Good luck!

[shassel 2]

We were using some crappy esun filament that was 3 mm. Now everything is 2.85, from ultimaker, matter hackers, and a local company who sent us some free samples. Same results.

I don't think we are in a particularly dusty environment.

I have wondered about print speeds, or rather, what if the gear speed doesn't match the print speed? This is just speculation on my part, I have no evidence that this is occurring, but what if the gear is turning faster than the filament extrudes? Might filament back up and the gear start to grind? Then, might ground distorted filament cause problems when it reaches the extruder?

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Your knurled wheel in the driver may be clogged with ground filament. That has to be cleaned periodically.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Guest