UM2 + Woodfill - Clogged Nozzle Help

[bawflinger 8]

I used Woodfill in my UM2 today for the first time and it printed fine on a small part but seems to have clogged my nozzle on the second. I extracted the wood fill and stuck in some standard UM gold to try and clear it. All I get is a few bubble of black liquid and it stops. Ive tried moving the UM filament up and down quite a bit but the blockage will not budge. Can anyone help? Am I facing a strip down? Never had to take this thing apart yet and not looking forward to it if I do.

 

[leon-knook 4]

I used woodfill also on my U2 today and it was a disaster. I tried several times after cleaning the nozzle. The filament has to many particles and is not suitable for a 0.4mm nozzle I think.

 

[gr5 2,024]

Try the atomic method of cleaning the tip first as that is easier:

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4118-blocked-nozzle/?p=33691

There is an easier version where you don't remove the bowden and just pull from the back of the machine. Same temperatures. But let the filament tip cool in the bowden for 10 seconds before pulling through the feeder or it might come apart. I actually do this on every filament change now (don't use the menu filament change). It's easier to pull the filament through the feeder than I would have expected - when the servo isn't powered it offers almost zero resistance.

 

[gr5 2,024]

If the cold pull methods above don't work then yes you need to remove the nozzle/heater block and burn out that woodfill followed by some cold pulls and maybe needle insertions.

 

[bawflinger 8]

Thanks! I tried the Atomic and it cleaned out a lot but still no joy. Gonna get it apart tomorrow and see what the score is. FYI, I did a first print at .25 and it seemed OK and I got a small part out, the fatal error is when I stupidly set it to .1and it didn't last past the first layer. Thanks for your help :-)

 

[printedsolid 3]

doh! I did the same thing when I first got my hands on woodfill. Ran an incredibly beautiful print at 100 microns. Almost doesn't look printed. I got through the whole thing somehow, but then clog clog clog after that.

A few months ago, esun launched an extruder cleanout filament. I got to try some out and it is amazing if you're printing with a lot of different filament types. It is especially useful if you're printing with woodfill or other filled materials. Just cut off about a 4" section and pop it into the bowden to push through at each new material type. I'm trying to get some to include with all woodfill shipments, but haven't been able to yet.

Toybuilderlabs sells it here in the US. Not sure if they ship internationally.

 

[DidierKlein 729]

Woodfill works fine with the UM2 i got a few clogs too but it will work.

Don't print to slow, and avoid the filament staying too long in the heated nozzle, i think that disabling retractions helps also.

When i had a severe clog with woodfill i did the atomic method more than 10 times to get it unclogged... it helps a lot having a small needle (smaller than 0.4mm) and try to push through the bottom of the nozzle head.

Good to know that esun's cleaning filament works good, i had some questions about it in the french section.

I also read that nylon is good to use for cleaning the nozzle with the atomic method

 

[Blizz 53]

I experienced the same issues and talked to the colorfabb guys in London. Turns out that the idea I had (printing slower) is actually what made it clog. The best way is to make sure that the material spends as little time in the nozzle as possible, as it burns really quickly. They advised 50mm/s and a higher flowrate (110 - 120%). Also they pointed at their http://learn.colorfabb.com/category/tutorials/3d-printing/, where you can find an article http://learn.colorfabb.com/how-to-print-with-woodfill/.

Very eager to try again

 

[leon-knook 4]

I tried it twice whit 2 filaments woodfill from ColorFabb en Plastic2print. I agree, the stuff burns very quick in the nozzle and needs to stay very short in there. But with this new info I will try it a try again.

 

[Hreodbeorht 1]

Had the same experience myself with WoodFILL. Started OK...then burn in like crazy. Took me literally a couple hours of atomic method. In the end it was a combination of atomic and hand feeding that broke the 'log' jam. Have not tried it again since (I'm still REAL new to all this). After about a week of good results with PLA I got up the courage to try a special filament again. It was BronzeFILL. I upped the flow rate to 108 percent per tips and tricks. Got a 95 percent good print and then the last 5 percent clogged so no top level in areas (insert sigh here). I keep hearing about drilling out my nozzle...hmm. Not to that level yet. Will try again with the much higher flow rates recommended above.