Stuck filament

[pdxview 0]

I have a new Ultimaker 2. i've made a few prints that worked well. I went away for a week after printing for the first time last weekend. I left the default blue PLA that came with the printer in place. When I came back and tried to print no plastic extruded. When I tried to change material the wheels turned but the filament didn't move. i assume these are linked problems.

Help - what do i do?

 

[illuminarti 18]

Go through the change material routine, but when it's trying to extrude, just grab the filament below the extruder and pull it out.

You have probably just gouged a piece out of the filament: cut that off, and reinsert it. Check also that the knurled sleeve that pushes the filament is still screwed tightly onto the motor shaft; it's possible that it has come loose, so that the motor turns, but the sleeve stays in place, and doesn't turn to drive the filament. If it's loose, you'll need to tighten it back onto the motor shaft. This may require you to remove the extruder - which in turn requires you to remove the motor cover in that corner of the printer, since the motor will fall off when the extruder is unscrewed.

 

[pdxview 0]

Thank you. I was able to remove the filament and it was heavily gouged.

What I found was that after reinsertion i still get no material through the hot end.

I se there is blue (the color PLA I am using) deposits on the end of the bowdon tube. Do i have a jam? How do I clear it in the easiest manner?

THANKS!

 

[pdxview 0]

I tried the atomic cleaning but I can't get a syringe into the orifice. I don't have 3d vision (ha ha but true) so that is almost impossible for me. Are there any other approaches? Can I take apart the head? If so where do I find detailed directions.

Thanks!

[gr5 1,998]

Did you already remove the bowden tube? That's recommended for the atomic method. When doing the atomic method if you get the right temperature the filament should come out in the exact shape of the nozzle including a .4mm bit of filament where the nozzle hole was. If you don't get that cone-shaped tip then lower the temperature another 3C before pulling up.

You can definitely take apart the head. You don't need instructions other than beware that some threads might have solid PLA in them so heat the head to 180C while you take it apart. Also at some point you will want to slide out the heater and temp sensor but you have to remove that long skinny screw first - you'll see it after you take the white teflon piece out. Seriously - just start - you only have to remove 4 thumb screws, then 2 screws holding the fan in, then you can remove the white teflon piece and rotate the round nut using the holes in it (but you must be at 180C when rotating that nut) and finally the skinny screw removed to get the heater and temp sensor out. Not hard. Just start doing it.

 

[gr5 1,998]

There should be photos here:

ultimaker2 assembly manual - click "raw" to download the pdf:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Ultimaker2/blob/master/um2%20assembly%20manual%20V1.1%20_english.pdf

 

[pdxview 0]

I am making progress but have a new problem. Using the atomic method I got the nozzle free and I when I feed filament by hand it extrudes.

1. Just for information,what type of screw holds fan assembly on? Is that a torq or?

2. Now for the real problem. I installed a new Bowden tube I cut. Filament flows through it nicely. When it gets to the head it starts hiccuping. I assume tht it is getting hung up on the entrance to the white Teflon tube. How do I fix that or is the problem elsewhere?

Thanks!

[illuminarti 18]

Pretty much all of the screws on the machine are 2mm hex heads. The threaded rod that locates the nozzle and retains the heater in place is a 1.5mm hex.

What exactly do you mean by 'hiccuping' - what happens? Is normal to get some clicking of the extruder when you are loading filament; that's because it's moving the filament much faster than during normal printing.

You said you put in a new Bowden tube? Why? What spec is the replacement?

[pdxview 0]

I meant that after the filament has reached the nozzle (or close) it starts making noise and jerking. No material is extruded. I assume it isn't going into the white teflon part????

My old Bowden tube got a lot of melted PLA in the first 1-2 inches. I couldn't clean it out.

I bought 10' of PTFE tubing on Amazon 1/4" OD and 1/8" ID.

Any ideas?

 

[illuminarti 18]

have you made sure that the bowden tube is properly seated into the white teflon part? See here for instructions:

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4586-can-your-um2-printer-achieve-10mm3s-test-it-here/?p=40399

 

[pdxview 0]

Even when I tried that it didn't work. I managed to clean the original Bowdn tube and used that and now printing is fine again.

Thank you for your invaluable help. I despaired for a while but with help I resolved this issue.

[gr5 1,998]

Cut the tip of the PLA to a point and try feeding it again.

 

[pdxview 0]

All working now