Ultimaker 3E feeder problem

[Jls667 0]

My printer is not printing at all. All of a sudden today the filament stopped coming out. I am able to load filament properly in either printcore 1 or 2, but nothing comes out during printing. I don’t even think the feeder is feeding filament during printing. Any ideas?

[Smithy 1,144]

Would be helpful if you can describe what you have already done or checked.

 

Is the feeder working?

is the middle fan in the Print head working?

Print core clogged?

Print core replaced?

do you have it on both print cores 1&2

[Jls667 0]

The feeder is working when I load filament.

I am not sure about the middle fan. Is that the fan on the printcore door?

Since I can load filament, I don’t think there is a clog.

I have the problem on both printcores. I tried my .4 and .8 in both positions.

[Smithy 1,144]

From your description I would say it is the fan. Check the middle fan, it is the one in the door which start automatically when the print core is heating up and hotter than 40C or 50C. Maybe it is blocked by some filament strings or so.

[JohnInOttawa 104]

When you unload the filament, does it show any divots or signs of grinding?

[Jls667 0]

I found that the wires going to the sensor for active leveling were broken. I resoldered them. Then I still had a problem with active leveling until I uncompressed all three springs on the build plate. After that, I did a manual leveling. Then I was able to do active leveling. Now printing seems to work again.

[Smithy 1,144]

Great that you were Abel to solve the problem. 

The bed springs should be not too soft and not too hard. If I remember correctly the distance between the two aluminum plates should be 14mm, not exact, round about.....

[Jls667 0]

Thank you. I will check that measurement later. 

[Jls667 0]

14mm seemed too tight for the springs.

[Jls667 0]

There is definately a problem with the middle fan. Automatic leveling works when I unplug the fan. From my search, I see it is called an axiel fan 2133. I am still confused why a working fan can mess up the leveling sensor. I assume it would be best to replace the fan. Unfortunately the fan seems to be discontinued. Any suggestions or comments?

[Smithy 1,144]

The fan is still available as spart part, just ask your reseller.

 

And when leveling works without the fan, then you probably have a damaged fan cable. The fan creates a lot of interferences when a wire is damaged which causes problems with the capacity sensor used for the leveling process.

[Jls667 0]

How hard would it be to splice in new wires? Do you think shrink tubing on the wires might solve the problem?

[Torgeir 248]

I would use multi tread silicone insulated wire, more expensive -but will never break! (If it's done right.)

However, check that it is this "wire intermittent issue", if not, -this can be EMC noise from the internal inverter inside the fan.

If this is internal noise from the fan, it will need to be changed.

Using shrink tube only makes the wire stiffer and make it break soon again.

 

Thanks

Torgeir

Edited November 4, 2020 by Torgeir
Better text.

[Jls667 0]

The fan is working, so the problem is probably the fan. Where can I mail order a new fan?

[Smithy 1,144]

Every UM reseller should have it. 

@fbrc8-erin can help you, but I don't know how it is handled with the different states and if you are close enough that it makes sense to order it there.

[Smithy 1,144]

You can take a look here:

https://ultimaker.com/resellers/us

 

[fbrc8-erin 289]

@Jls667 I have the fan available here. It's in stock and available to ship today.

In regards to how the fan relates to the active leveling...the active leveling works on a capacitive sensor. If your fan cable is pinched or damaged, it can create electromagnetic interference while the fan is running, and that interference can disrupt your active leveling readings and cause active leveling to fail. 

 

I've got a video here on how to install it: