Underextrusion? Need help with this one...

[tinydancer 0]

I uploaded a little video of what I'm seeing here. I'm getting what looks like underextrusion issues on the e-Nable Gauntlet. What is strange is I'm hearing this strange noise that sounds like it's coming from the feeder or a motor in the back. You should hear it at around the 4 second,16 second and 33 second marks.

I've never had an issue like this so I'm not sure what the deal is.

Layer Height: 0.1mm

Shell thickness: 2.0 mm

Top/bottom: 2.0mm

Infil: 20%

Speed: 60mm/s

Colorfabb PLA/PHA

205 degrees

Video:

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[peetersm 124]

i think you should make the video "unlisted" or "public" I can not see it, i just get a "this video is private" message.

 

[tinydancer 0]

Sorry aboot that, you should be able to see it now.

 

 

[DidierKlein 729]

The sound you here is the feeder skipping it's normal it prevents grinding. It happens when the feeder is unable to push the filament as requested.

But it also indicates that you have underextrusion.

It can be either a partially clogged nozzle.

Temperature too low or speed to high.

Among other things.

I also read a lot of people have more trouble printing white PLA for some odd reason, i have experienced the same kind of phenomenon with Ultimaker white, it kept clogging my nozzle and under-extruding at some point.

 

[tinydancer 0]

Yeah that sound is strange though as it's never been that loud. And I did the atomic method 5 times before that print and have always printed at that temp with no problems.

I'm starting to wonder if the PTFE coupling is knackered as I've put 400 hours on my printer in less than 2 months.

 

[qmaker 29]

TinyDancer,

I am printing the enable raptorhand right now in White color fabb as well.

All_parts_at_100___left___single_build_plate

I am not getting great results yet, and am going to change my print settings to something very similar to what you have. I would love to see what your model looks like as a comparison. I am not sure if my quality is a function of the Gcode, the model, or printing issues.

I printed at .2 and a 50mm/s print speed. I too have had underextrusion issues and changed to ColorFabb because I suspect that my last filament had too much variation in the diameter throughout the roll. In some cases it seemed really tight pushing it through just the bowden tube.

Also, I wonder if my tube has distorted or shrunk as it seems tight closest to the print head.

I have also considered changing the extruder to robertI's version. Good luck and let us know if you get it worked out.

 

[tinydancer 0]

The problem is my printer was working fine just days ago. Here's the hand I printed off last week. I printed the fingers at 0.06mm at 30mm/s, the palm and gauntlet at 0.1mm at 60mm/s and 50mm/s respectively and small parts at 0.06 at 25mm/s

 

[tinydancer 0]

Well I'm at a loss what to try next. I've tried multiple Colorfabb colors, have done the atomic method a bunch of times before loading the filament. It starts coming out fine, begins laying down the bottom layer and then just outright stops laying down filament or not enough of it. I'm guessing it's either getting friction in the bowden tube or something with the PTFE coupler.

 

[DidierKlein 729]

Maybe check your Teflon indeed...

Follow the steps described here (just stop when the Teflon is taken out):

 

Then take some filaments and try passing through to see if you can spot any friction, you might need to drill it out if it does or clean it a bit with a knife (the outside of the part directed to the head). I had some burned PLA stuck to that part shrinking the outer diameter a bit.

 

[pm_dude 27]

Tiny Dancer. Did you try printing at higher temp?

I recently got bad prints when using PLA/PHA to a point where I could no longer print it without underextrusion even at low speed. At 30mm/s and up to 235C I was still getting under extrusion. When using the change filament procedure the feeder was clicking backward because it could not even push the filament properly. When going back to regular PLA I was not having that issue at all. The atomic pull was coming clean almost every time.

I changed the nozzle and I'm now back on track with printing perfect PLA/PHA at 200C with no under extrusion. The color itself is even different (way cleaner) now.

The PLA/PHA seems to be more sticky than when using just PLA. When the nozzle is getting worn out or just too dirty it seems to make PHA stick more to it.

 

[tinydancer 0]

@pm_dude - Sorry I missed your post, I decided to just go ahead and order some parts as I've been printing a lot and figured at least the PTFE couple

So I got my replacement parts and started dry fitting the head together to make sure everything was good before I remove the old one. Unfortunately I can only get the hot end isolater to screw down by hand as far as you see it in the picture. Even the old one will only screw down as far as the new one. Is this normal and I just need to continue tightening it down? I'm afraid of stripping the threads and I really need to get this baby back in service.

 

[pm_dude 27]

You should be able to get that to fit all the way down.

If you need use the hex drive to help you turn it.

 

Mine goes down without any use of force even when cold but I know some have to heat it up to something like 120C to get it to loosen.

 

I hope you wont have issues to loose the set screw on your current nozzle. Make sure you are very delicate on the heater and sensor wires. The heater connections are inside the wire about a inch away from the heater itself.

 

 

[tinydancer 0]

I'm replacing the whole kit and kaboodle as I got the replacement hot end pack. Going to tackle it tomorrow so I'll let you know how it goes. As always, thanks for the help!

 

[pm_dude 27]

I'm replacing the whole kit and kaboodle as I got the replacement hot end pack.

 

Yes that is what I noticed. You will need to loose the set screw on the old nozzle to free the heater and sensor. That's why I said I hope you wont have issues with it.

Good luck

 

[tinydancer 0]

The problem I'm having right now is removing the wires from the block, they won't budge at all. Tried heating up the nozzle to 120c but that didn't work either. Any suggestions? I know what you mean about them being delicate.

Edit: Tried heating to 220c and various temperatures in between. Not very impressed with the design as you don't really have any way of clamping onto anything without possibly bending it and breaking the wire. And the only alternative is to pull on it, which seems like a good way of pulling the wire right out of the sensor ends. Beyond frustrated at this point.

 

[pm_dude 27]

You need to unscrew the set screw. Its important not to pull hard on the wires

[pm_dude 27]

Mine was stuck. I had to flatten it with vise grips to get it to turn and that's how I broke the header

[tinydancer 0]

I did take the set screw out, I'm guessing someone must have reefed on it when it was assembled. After a lot of screwing around and heating and cooling I managed to get the heater plug out, but I still can't get the sensor one out. If it just had the metal clamp on the end like the heater then I could at least grab it with pliers like I did the heater, but the wire is flush with the block.

I even tried to get a paper clip in the set screw hole to try and push it from the other side but no go. I guess I'll just keep trying.

 

[tinydancer 0]

I've submitted a ticket at this point as I have no idea what else to try short of taking a dremel tool to the block.

 

[illuminarti 18]

It may not be possible to get the temp sensor out of the block; sometimes the crimping of the strain relief is loose enough that the metal binds in the hole opening. And there is a very good chance that you'll pull the wires out trying to remove them - in which case the only thing to do is to replace the sensor as well.

Regarding the isolator nut and nozzle; I'd recommend caution when trying to assemble it; you don't want to damage the threads on either part, and the isolator nut especially is quite weak mechanically, as it has thin walls. I suggest that you take a look at the nozzle threads, and see if you see any damage. Sometimes the lead in of the thread at the top of the cylinder can be a bit poorly formed; you may be able to chase the thread cleaner with a small file or, if you have one, an M6 thread die.

When you put it back together, it should look like this:

 

I'll reply to the ticket you opened, and make sure you get the parts you need ASAP.

 

[pm_dude 27]

Simon, is their any reason for leaving a gap between the isolator nut and the nozzle?

[tinydancer 0]

It may not be possible to get the temp sensor out of the block; sometimes the crimping of the strain relief is loose enough that the metal binds in the hole opening. And there is a very good chance that you'll pull the wires out trying to remove them - in which case the only thing to do is to replace the sensor as well.

Regarding the isolator nut and nozzle; I'd recommend caution when trying to assemble it; you don't want to damage the threads on either part, and the isolator nut especially is quite weak mechanically, as it has thin walls. I suggest that you take a look at the nozzle threads, and see if you see any damage. Sometimes the lead in of the thread at the top of the cylinder can be a bit poorly formed; you may be able to chase the thread cleaner with a small file or, if you have one, an M6 thread die.

When you put it back together, it should look like this:

 

 

I'll reply to the ticket you opened, and make sure you get the parts you need ASAP.

 

I replied to your email Simon, thanks again for handling this so quickly.

Appreciate the reference picture, that definitely helps. I did slightly file the leading thread and then it turned smoothly by hand all the way down.

 

[mark-hale 1]

out of interest, how critical are those measurements, on re assembly the coupler has approx 4mm on mine. So far not a problem and I have also noticed that the bowden tube remains well seated in the coupler as opposed to previously there was often a small gap.

 

[baymaker 1]

Simon, is their any reason for leaving a gap between the isolator nut and the nozzle?

 

This thread is pretty old, but I feel like I may not be the only one who had that issue, and didn't find this info clearly explained elsewhere (but only parts of it on different threads).

I very strongly believe (still under investigation but the first results are pretty encouraging) that this gap is actually crucial (which is why you should follow the assembly guide when replacing the teflon coupler and first place the teflon ALL THE WAY DOWN into the nut, then screw the nut into the nozzle until you get 1mm spacing between the teflon and the nut).

From what I've seen so far, I think that without this gap, the spring is applying a too high pressure on the teflon, making it deteriorate insanely faster, which then will most likely create printing issue, which may lead you to unmount half the printer replace all the components you can and slowly make you loose your sanity.

Happy printing !