Feed grinding material.

[imbarobin 0]

Hi

I have got a S5 for about a week.

However, when I print some large job, after the 1st layer, I have the error massege on the screen says" material is empty" whilst plenty of material is on the spool.

I pull out the filement and noticed there was significant grinding.

I did some research and have disassembled the feeder and cleaned it. Set the tension to the lowerest. But the same problem still not solved.

So far I am having problems with PLA and tough PLA, haven't tried other material yet. 

It seems the grinding happened after retraction. My retraction setting is "Retract at layer change and minimum retract travel 0.3mm"

 

Please help, this is a very expensive printer and seems I can't use it's full potential.

 

Many Thanks

Sheng

 

[UlrichC-DE 109]

Hello Sheng,

on top of the feeder is a small set screw (green arrow).

You can adjust it. The hex screwdriver is included.

In the picture below you can see the feeder tension (red arrow).

On my printers this line (blue arrow) is in the middle of the box.

 

Try to read some instructions for your printer. Otherwise it is no fun for the first time.

 

Many successes

 

 

[Smithy 1,144]

Check also if your middle fan in the print head is working, it starts automatically when the print core is heating up.

[imbarobin 0]

Hi UlrichC-DE

I have tried different tension setting for the feeder, all the way from top, middle and bottom, and I have no luck with the material grinding. However, last night I have turned off the flow sensor, it seems to print fine now.

 

Many thanks

[UlrichC-DE 109]

On your picture the tension of the feeder was set to max high.
If the feeder has such a high tension, this usually causes a blockage of the print head.

 

Technically:
- The material builds up a higher tension in the bowden tube.
- During a retraction, the material relaxes in one go
- The filament is pulled too far out of the print head.
- When the filament is pulled hot out of the print head, it sticks to the cold area in the print head
- A plug is formed.

 

In most cases you can leave the feeder in the middle position.
All generic Ultimaker printer profiles and also Ultimaker materials do not require a different setting of the feeder.

 

The screw is often the first to be turned if the printer is not extruding enough. But actually, this is pretty much the last step in the printing process to eliminate problems.

 

First I would clean the print head.

 

A few points that make life easier in the beginning

- I would only print fine or normal (at least not fast) with 0.4 print head.

- If I change the material with a high temperature difference, I clean the print head first

- I check the fan in the front of the print head before each print (this is also a point like @Smithy suggested)

- I also look at the first layer when printing. From this you can deduce if the printing will work.

(At some point you get an eye for it. But only if you actually look at it).

[imbarobin 0]

Hi UlrichC-DE

It seems you are right.

It only happens on a large print, where there is lots of long distance movement of the print head.

It seems filament was pulled bit far and I can hear noise when it retracts. 

 

Quote

A few points that make life easier in the beginning

- I would only print fine or normal (at least not fast) with 0.4 print head.

- If I change the material with a high temperature difference, I clean the print head first

- I check the fan in the front of the print head before each print (this is also a point like @Smithy suggested)

- I also look at the first layer when printing. From this you can deduce if the printing will work.

(At some point you get an eye for it. But only if you actually look at it).

The layer height setting was between 0.2 to 1 mm with 0.4 print head.

I didn't change material, was using PLA (ultimaker) the whole time.

Fan was on.

First layer seems fine, the problem occurs duing the infil progress.

 

I will keep observing this.

Many thanks for the help.

[colette01 0]

On 9/20/2020 at 6:43 AM, imbarobin said:

Hi UlrichC-DE

It seems you are right.

It only happens on a large print, where there is lots of long distance movement of the print head.

It seems filament was pulled bit far and I can hear noise when it retracts. 

 

The layer height setting was between 0.2 to 1 mm with 0.4 print head.

I didn't change material, was using PLA (ultimaker) the whole time.

Fan was on.

First layer seems fine, the problem occurs duing the infil progress.

 

I will keep observing this.

Many thanks for the help.

Is your issue fixed? I'm having issues with PVA doing that exact thing. It prints great for a while then the sensor trips a ER65 on my S5 Pro Bundle. I've tried the print core and bowden tube cleaning. I've tried cleaning the feeder gear and applying more tension on the filament. All have failed to produce results.  I'm starting to think it's the retraction as well. This I will investigate settings and see what happens.  

[SensataPDS 2]

Hi Colette,  I am having similar issues with PVA support i print remotely so it is a BIG PAIN, you could try to limit the retraction in Cura or lower the retraction distance to around 4mm.

 

I would have expected Ultimaker to fix this in their profiles for these expensive materials... i have since ordered breakaway support in the hope it will operate more successfully, but i will continue to diagnose this and find a solution while i am using it.