little issues after finishing prints

[esteban-pacheco 33]

Hi forum! in the last past few weeks i've been experiencing some kind of little problems, this happen when im printing with PLA, with other materials is everything Ok.

My U2 is printing Wonderful, so when the print is finished and i want to print smth else after a few minutes, i notice that that the nozzle is clogged, so i have to clean it (take bowden tube out and so on...) so after 1 minute or two, all is ok again... and im able to print again... so this thing will happen again almost 80% of the time.

had someone experienced smth like this?

Many Thanks,

Esteban.

 

[tinydancer 0]

I have had similar issues. It seems to happen more with one particular color than any other which happens to be a roll of colorfabb black, but it has happened a couple of times with a roll of white I have. It could be that I just got a bad batch of it, as I've only had the one roll so far. I seem to never have any issues with other colors.

Definitely annoying though.

 

[gromit 0]

I have had the same problem I changed form black to green, it may be because the filament was cheep (ebay) or there's something in the filament to make it green. I tried increasing the nozzle temp a little, did not work, Went back to black no problem

.

Gromit

 

 

[DidierKlein 729]

Hi all,

Some colors are tougher to print than others, white seems to be one of the hard to print colors.

@gromit: The black and green filaments are from the same supplier? You might want to check the diameter of the filament, some cheaper suppliers don't have a consistent diameter and it can cause trouble. Mainly if the filament is 3mm and not 2.85mm as recommended for the UM2.

3mm will work but over 3mm you'll start having a lot of friction in the bowden leading to underextrusion and clogs.

 

[gromit 0]

Yes your right some of my filament reels are 3mm, expensive mistake

gromit

 

[esteban-pacheco 33]

Thanks for the replies, it is great to know that im not the only one experimenting this.. and is really annoying... the pieces come out really nice... and after taking the piece out of the printer (i wait until the machines says so) and right away i want to print something else... bam! Clog!.... im only using Colorfabb colours... so nobody has any idea how to avoid this?... i tried just after finishing the print... when the head goes back home... i navigate the menu and then y say move material.... but sometimes, im not near the machine... to do so...

 

[esteban-pacheco 33]

just Asking: what is better when the clogging happens, to take the bowden tube out and cleaning it... or UNLOAD THE MATERIAL... and reinsert again.... i've read that if you take the bowden tube too often with the time it will get damaged

 

[ultiarjan 1,223]

If it gets damaged is usualy at the point where the metal teeth from the white clip grab it. If you just cut of 5 mm from the end you're good to go again. But to be honest i never had the issue the hole past year....

[esteban-pacheco 33]

Hey Ulti Arjan! what issue, the clogging with the material? or Damaged Bowden Tube?

 

[ultiarjan 1,223]

A damaged bowden ..... but I also hardly ever have clogging issues, just do an atomic now and then ... unless you print stuf like woodfill you should not have clogging issues often ..

 

[izzy 33]

Like everything in life you get what you pay for.

After purchasing a good quality printer don't purchase cheap bargin price filament from a non trusted source.

Before I purchased my UM2 I went to a few shows etc and spoke to lots of users, and the general advice was use good quality filament. I purchase a few of the sample packs from Coloufabb, the PLA, XT, and the Specials, and had good results for all of them including the WoodFill after I got the settings right even with the 0.1 mm layer height.

Come on boys and girls the reason you got a ultimaker in the first place was because you wanted a good printer.

If you purchase from a good supplier you've got good backup, as well as a friendly voice for advice by email and phone. And cheap imported filament may have cheap filler material or poor tolerances, you wouldn't drink poor quality beer so don't use poor quality filament.

Izzy

[DidierKlein 729]

Can't agree more with what Izzy says.

Good quality filament will reduce the problems you'll have for sure.

About the bowden tube, i remove it frequently, it's a bit damaged (from the outside) but doesn't create any issues.

When the nozzle clogs, do a couple of atomic cold pulls to clean and you're good to go.

When you finish a print and the next one won't start, maybe you have a problem with the Teflon coupler, at the end the filament is retracted and it can be "stuck" in the teflon. Maybe you can check it out?

 

[ultiarjan 1,223]

I mostly agree, but good quality doesn't mean per se the most expensive ...

I'm using the Makerpoint home brand PLA, it's much like the colorfabb, but about 10 euro cheaper per roll ... and just as good IMHO. Also you can have variance per color, with the same brand. I prinded a bunch of YODA's in many colors, and somehow the colorfabb magenta looks worse than some other colorfabb colors, at same settings ...

I think at minimum a supplier should provide tolerance specs on dimensions if you consider buying...