Feeder tension

[JohnG 0]

Hi

 

I have a brand new UM3 and after printing a couple of prints print head 1 stopped extruding pla silver that came with in the box. After reading all the trouble shooting tips I did some maintenance thinking the nozzle was blocked. It turned out the feeder was grinding the filament and both feeders (second is pva support structure). Now the solution looks to be adjusting the feeder tension, but I cannot find any documentation on how to do this. Are there any pictures or better videos on how to do this?

Thanks

JohnG

[DidierKlein 729]

Hi,

 

What happens exactly? If the filament is grinded then it must be blocked somewhere?

 

You might need to have a look at what is described here:

 

https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/23139-grinding-pva

 

To adjust the tension you should take your allen key and turn the screw there to position the pressure (it should be at the middle

 

Check out this picture that shows how to do it:

 

 

The second arrow shows the pressure level, it should be at the middle

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Please note that the middle position is a rule of thumb and some filaments do require a bit of additional tension due to manufacturing or material differences. For a very large part of my print experience, the middle works wonders. But it may need a bit of playing with if you go off brand, or buy cheaper filaments, etc.

[JohnG 0]

On 1/25/2018 at 5:27 PM, DidierKlein said:

Hi,

 

What happens exactly? If the filament is grinded then it must be blocked somewhere?

 

You might need to have a look at what is described here:

 

https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/23139-grinding-pva

 

To adjust the tension you should take your allen key and turn the screw there to position the pressure (it should be at the middle

 

Check out this picture that shows how to do it:

 

 

The second arrow shows the pressure level, it should be at the middle

Thanks for your help, it seems to be working now. The PLA and PVA  that came with the printer needs the tension changed from the middle to one notch up (one down from your pic).

[gr5 2,234]

@JohnG - this is harder to diagnose than you might think.  If the nozzle clogs it will grind.  If the filament grinds it will appear to clog.  It's hard to tell which is the cause.

 

For example if your print has tons of retractions (I did an eiffel tower with a half kilometer of retractios - a half kilometer!) and the same piece of filament goes back and forth through the feeder too many times that can cause the issue and the fix is to reduce retractions (cura lets you specify how many times through the feeder). But this is just one of many scenarios.  So your problem may come back again.