Feeder eating/destroying filament

[flashp0int 0]

Getting a weird issue with the feeder.

Sometime instead of moving steadily forward, the filament is worn by the feeder and as a result the head does not get enough material.

 

[dieselpower 0]

It's a known issue at the moment. The top thread in the modification & hacks section is all about improvements

Somehow I can't post the link to it :(

 

[woofy 12]

@Diesalpower

If you click the post number in the top right of the post, it give you a link to paste in for any post in a thread.

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4393-ultimaker2-feeder-system-improvements-and-ideas/?p=36833

 

[flashp0int 0]

After dismantling the feeder twice and testing multiple settings, I managed to get it work smoothly for two hours,.. fingers crossed !

Thanks

 

[gr5 2,172]

This is very common on the UM Original but rare on the UM2 which lowered the current so the extruder stepper skips (hopefully) before grinding filament. But if you have a UM2 you might need a spring adjustment (usually you want it looser). If UM Original you might want to tighten the spring on the feeder.

For either machine you might want to raise the temperature, make layers thinner, or slow down the print speed (only one of these is necessary - not all 3).

Which machine do you have?

 

[flashp0int 0]

This is an UM2, the spring seems very hard indeed.

Because of this, I cannot plan any prints longer than a couple of hours.

I either get the the extruder grind the filament, or because of skipped steps, the head does not have enough material.

Any recommendations (spring type ?) on this would be most welcome, it is getting painful :(

 

[flashp0int 0]

Thanks Woofsplace and Dieselpower,

The topic you mentioned seems really spot on, looks like I need to do a feeder print and buy a few scews

 

[woofy 12]

Take your extrude apart and have a look at the spring. Try rotating the spring so that it sits flattest against the arm. I found during the many times I've taken mine apart that it is possible to place the spring so that just an edge is on the arm and this increases the pressure to the point where it chews up filament quickly.

There are also alternative extruders you can try. Have a look in the thread I linked to above.

 

[flashp0int 0]

OK, I upgraded to iRoberti 's design

Since, I printed for 5-6 hours with no issues. Filament loading seems to be tough on the filament when hiting the nozzle in the head. So loading has to be done with extra caution.

But so far, much better ! Thanks iRoberti !

 

[IRobertI 520]

Thanks for reporting back The thing about loading filament; about 80% of the reason I designed it this way was actually to bypass the automatic filament loading completely... Just open the arm and yank the filament out, stuff new filament in and close the arm again, done.

 

[profepaco 0]

Thanks for reporting back The thing about loading filament; about 80% of the reason I designed it this way was actually to bypass the automatic filament loading completely... Just open the arm and yank the filament out, stuff new filament in and close the arm again, done.

 

Just to be sure... in both cases, the head has to be hot enough?

 

[IRobertI 520]

Yes

 

[cloakfiend 995]

I get this all the time, it really sucks. Its the only bad thing about the ultimaker printer. If they solve this, then it would be perfect. My prints go for 40 hours plus so you can see how it might annoy me. Lol. And the phantom nozzle jams. Ok one minute and jammed the next, then extruder is grinding so much you have to rip it out. I just force it in now with pliers, and twist on move material till it gets past that point. Ill see if its jammed in the head (as it sticks out a touch due to the grinding) in the morning, as today it took me 2 hrs to get it going, well annoyed. Shame as i think the filament might run out on me and the model would have been awesome, o well, fingers crossed. I wish there was a little mark on the filament to let you know how much was left as unrolling and rolling it back is a no go.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

For the fillament , just use a digital kitchen scale to weigh how much you have left, for this to work you need to know the weight of an empty spool, for each type/brands you use;

My results;

Ultimaker, black spool, 245 gram (although I believe UM has had different types / suppliers)

Colorfab, transparant spool, 254 gram

Makerpoint, black spool, 259 gram.

For the grinding, are you using the factory feeder? if so print yourself a better feeder first thing!