Material Station aborts feeding TPU on Extruder 2 - Ultimaker S5

[flyinggorilla 8]

Hi, i use first generation of S5/Material-Station combo. Not sure how much Material station has been improved meanwhile.

 

I am printing a combo of ASA + TPU, and therefore loaded AA4 nozzle into Extruder 1 and 2.

 

I have the odd situation that TPU is loading and printing correctly through Material Station on Extruder 1.

But it does not work on Extruder 2 with TPU in Material Station setup for Extruder 2.

 

When trying to print exactly same TPU, with same profile (also tried generic UM TPU profile) loaded into Material Station 2 for Extruder 2, Ultimaker aborts  feeding material right when it is half way in the bowden tube between feeder and nozzle. It aborts with an error that "broken filament is stuck" what doesnt make any sense and asks to start the wizard. I tried also material bay B2 and E2, with no difference.

 

Any idea? Is the Material Station only able to deal with flexible materials in path of Extruder 1?

Thats my current workaround to print the main part on Extruder 2 and the flex parts on Extruder 1.

 

Thanks,

FG

 

p.s. Cura 5.2.1 and UMS5 7.1.3

Edited October 24, 2022 by flyinggorilla

[MariMakes 201]

Hey @flyinggorilla,

 

That's quite odd behavior and it doesn't sound familiar. 

Flexible materials should be available in both extruders!
I've heard some stories where the material bay had influence on the ease of loading materials. 
Did you try changing the bay where the material is loaded? 
Perhaps, if something is stuck in your bay you can follow these steps to clear the tubes out
https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012325219

I'll ask around if there are other tips to help with troubleshooting 💪

[flyinggorilla 8]

27 minutes ago, MariMakes said:

Did you try changing the bay where the material is loaded? 
 

thanks, yes i did. no difference, exactly the same behavior. I had tried material bay B2 and E2, with no difference.

 

Note that placing ASA filament instead of TPU (so pretending it was TPU) did feed correctly, so it must have to do with the flex of the filament relative to feeder progress detection sensor items or path differences it goes.

 

thanks for checking on other tips.

Edited October 24, 2022 by flyinggorilla

[MariMakes 201]

Hey @flyinggorilla,

 

Some of the suggestions I've been getting are.

 

1.  Make super sure that your filament is pointy before you load it in. Make sure you cut it off with the pliers before loading it. 
2. You've probably done this already but you can check this support page with tips https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016971619
3. Clean the feeders and check the tension as instructed here: https://support.ultimaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360011652139-Clean-the-S-line-feeders

[flyinggorilla 8]

I have upgraded my S5 with the new fine knurl feeders. Same problem as before.

 

* TPU Filament in Material station feeder (F), for extruder (2)

* TPU filament is pulled up HALF-WAY INTO THE BOWDEN, so it goes already beyond the feeder, only 25cm away from the extruder. 

And exactly same material/spool prints properly on feeder I tested with (A), (D) and (F) with extruder (1). So there is some issue with Material Station and/or Material stations decoupler. And no idea how to fix this.

[Carbon 28]

Is there any restrictions if you feed the TPU through extruder 2 bowden tube manually ? Are there any "kinks" in the tube?

 

In the past we've had a piece of PVA stuck in the tube, just after the extruder, that no one noticed. Causing the feeder to stop 25 - 30mm before extruder. It looks like there is some form of restriction happening.

 

Have you re-calibrated the decoupler?

[flyinggorilla 8]

 

On 1/4/2023 at 1:23 PM, Carbon said:

Have you re-calibrated the decoupler?

 

I just re-calibrated. TPU is now successfully feeding all the way to the extruder (2).  
 

Thanks a lot for that hint!

 

Additionally I had to tighten the feeder (move the indicator 1-2mm below middle point), so TPU would properly feed and unload again.

 

FG

 

p.s. somehow re-calibration decoupler (2) failed 5 times in a row. then I succeeded with re-calibrating decoupler (1) immediately. thereafter, my first attempt to re-calibrate decoupler (2) worked immediately. seems there is a requirement of calibrating decoupler (1) first.

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by flyinggorilla