Qidi Tech 1 - Replicator 1 clone

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Originally Posted by dspdrew

My printer has been printing great for months, but now every time it cools off, the feeder slips and doesn't feed any filament through until I pull the filament out and reload it again. Now it appears to be doing this even in the middle of a print. It just makes a clicking sound and never feeds anything through. What is the deal?

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I'm a bit of a newbie so the experts will likely correct me, along with using the correct terminology :D But to me it sounds like the gears in the extruder are worn or misaligned, or clogged up.

I'd strip down the print assembly and do some maintenance on it to start with, see if there's any clogs or obvious wear and replace any parts where needed, like I say, my guess would be the gears (cog wheels?)

Now im looking forward to the correct answer, I like to absorb new knowledge :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dspdrew

My printer has been printing great for months, but now every time it cools off, the feeder slips and doesn't feed any filament through until I pull the filament out and reload it again. Now it appears to be doing this even in the middle of a print. It just makes a clicking sound and never feeds anything through. What is the deal?

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When was the last time you cleaned all related parts?

This issue could be caused by several things.
Nozzle to dirty and restricting flow of material.
PTFE tube dirty or mis-shaped and restricting flow of material.
Feed gear mis-aligned or gloged with material.

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Originally Posted by Syd_Khaos

When was the last time you cleaned all related parts?

This issue could be caused by several things.
Nozzle to dirty and restricting flow of material.
PTFE tube dirty or mis-shaped and restricting flow of material.
Feed gear mis-aligned or gloged with material.

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You know a lot of people forget about the PTFE tube because on a MK10 that sucker runs all the way to the bottom unlike a MK8 style. Even after the few prints I did there was colored PLA inside the bottom section of that tube which is the section in the nozzle.

One of the main reasons I despise a MK10 setup is because of that tube and how it runs all the way, the other is how bloody expensive a plain ole brass nozzle is for it compared to a MK8. 1 dollar, or less, MK8 is 7 to 20 dollars in a MK10 and there seems to be a much greater gamut of orifice sizes in a MK8 as well versus .4 on a MK10.

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Originally Posted by DarkAlchemist

You know a lot of people forget about the PTFE tube because on a MK10 that sucker runs all the way to the bottom unlike a MK8 style. Even after the few prints I did there was colored PLA inside the bottom section of that tube which is the section in the nozzle.

One of the main reasons I despise a MK10 setup is because of that tube and how it runs all the way, the other is how bloody expensive a plain ole brass nozzle is for it compared to a MK8. 1 dollar, or less, MK8 is 7 to 20 dollars in a MK10 and there seems to be a much greater gamut of orifice sizes in a MK8 as well versus .4 on a MK10.

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Can get Mk10 brass nozzles for $2.80-$3.50 per.....and I have seen them from .03 to 0.7 nozzle sizes.

And its really not hard to clean out the PTFE tube. Get a 1.5mm drill bit, heat it up red hot and run it through the tube fast.....clean as a whistle.
And they seem to last ALOT longer than the nozzles do. I am on my 3rd PTFE tube since I got the machine....have blown out twice as many nozzles as that.

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Originally Posted by Syd_Khaos

Can get Mk10 brass nozzles for $2.80-$3.50 per.....and I have seen them from .03 to 0.7 nozzle sizes.

And its really not hard to clean out the PTFE tube. Get a 1.5mm drill bit, heat it up red hot and run it through the tube fast.....clean as a whistle.
And they seem to last ALOT longer than the nozzles do. I am on my 3rd PTFE tube since I got the machine....have blown out twice as many nozzles as that.

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Well, PTFE tubes are dirt cheap so that was never an issue. Hell, so cheap you could easily replace it after each print but seriously I would just change it out after each oil change, lol.

Where have you found those MK10 nozzle sizes for that low of a price and how was their quality? I literally just purchased an entire e3d v6 and volcano (Chinese knock off) with 5 nozzles, the fan, the shroud, the v6 nozzle, two 40w heating cartridges and 1 3950 thermistor for 10 dollars AND the quality floored me. I was expecting garbage (like my last one I purchased last year) and I have to give it a 9/10 and that is saying something. Of course it uses MK8 nozzles which I actually like because they are so cheap. 0.2mm to 1.2mm is what I purchased in varying sizes too.

I need some help please.

I've had my Qidi for a few days and everything was going great. It's got about 20 hours of total time on it.

Today when I went to start a print, when the printer tried to home, it would just grind against the end-stop. I was able to verify that it's the X-stop by sending individual movement commands using Astroprint.

I ohmed out the X-cable and found the red wire was no-connect so I replaced the wire with the spare from the package. The new wire checks out fine.

The bad news is that this did not fix the problem. The LED comes on on the X end-stop when the carriage gets there, but it doesn't stop and keeps grinding. I guess the red wire is probably not used in this case and that was a red herring.

What else could it be? Which wires should be closing when the limit switch is hit? Does this sound like a motherboard problem?

What is the best way to contact Qidi tech support?

I could just ask Amazon for a replacement, but mechanically, my printer is excellent and I'd like to keep it.

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Originally Posted by Noircogi

I need some help please.

I've had my Qidi for a few days and everything was going great. It's got about 20 hours of total time on it.

Today when I went to start a print, when the printer tried to home, it would just grind against the end-stop. I was able to verify that it's the X-stop by sending individual movement commands using Astroprint.

I ohmed out the X-cable and found the red wire was no-connect so I replaced the wire with the spare from the package. The new wire checks out fine.

The bad news is that this did not fix the problem. The LED comes on on the X end-stop when the carriage gets there, but it doesn't stop and keeps grinding. I guess the red wire is probably not used in this case and that was a red herring.

What else could it be? Which wires should be closing when the limit switch is hit? Does this sound like a motherboard problem?

What is the best way to contact Qidi tech support?

I could just ask Amazon for a replacement, but mechanically, my printer is excellent and I'd like to keep it.

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I had this problem just before I bricked my motherboard. It may be a problem with the stepper motor driver. You may have a spare. If not, you can get a replacement on ebay from china for $3.

I got it working! The X-axis end-stop cable was not making good contact on the motherboard end.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Syd_Khaos

When was the last time you cleaned all related parts?

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I haven't. Maybe it's time.

Edit: All cleaned up. We'll see how it goes. The PTFE tube seemed awfully tight right near the nozzle. I bored it out evenly, and flipped it upside down putting the newer end toward the nozzle.

Edit: Working great now.

The machine shakes slightly when it prints and I'd always advise to check / re-plug all suspect motherboard connections when an electrical issue arises as the shaking could cause some wires to loosen.

Nice work and welcome Noircogi!