Hexagon vs E3D V6

[BLKKROW]

For the last few months I have had a hard time with my hobbled bolt eating filament. I have attempted to resolve this with every tip online and everything that Colin has suggested.

Right now I am using the Hexagon 1.75mm hotend and I think the design of the hotend equates to a lot of pressure when the filament is being fed. This in turn means my hobbled bolt is eating the filament. I can support this claim as the printer is warming up it oozes a large amount of filament.

So now I am looking into the E3D V6 hotend and one of the claims they make is the nozzle is designed to relieve pressure.

I want to know if anyone has any experience switching from the Hexagon hotend to an E3D? What results have you seen, etc.

[dunginhawk]

so a couple things ive seen only lately.
If your nozzle is too close to the bed, it will eat the filament. it cant push the filament out so it back pressures... seen this a few times while working on bed leveling.
Also... the type of filament matters a lot.
for instance, clear PLA from MIcrocenter eats and jams like crazy. BUT hatchbox pla does not.
Now ive heard sometimes that clear PLA needs 225-230 temps, which i could test and should... but at least a couple things to check

[printbus]

For the last few months I have had a hard time with my hobbled bolt eating filament. I have attempted to resolve this with every tip online and everything that Colin has suggested. Right now I am using the Hexagon 1.75mm hotend and I think the design of the hotend equates to a lot of pressure when the filament is being fed. This in turn means my hobbled bolt is eating the filament. I can support this claim as the printer is warming up it oozes a large amount of filament. So now I am looking into the E3D V6 hotend and one of the claims they make is the nozzle is designed to relieve pressure. I want to know if anyone has any experience switching from the Hexagon hotend to an E3D? What results have you seen, etc.

I switched to the E3Dv6. I had pretty much resolved all my issues with filament being chewed by the hobbed bolt beforehand, so I can't report on a difference there. The E3Dv6 does ooze, and I'm not sure it is pressure in the chamber doing it - rather just that portion of filament getting hotter than usual as it sits in the hot end. In case I hadn't pointed you to it before, I maintain a dissertation of sorts on possible causes of the filament getting chewed here - FILAMENT HAS A NOTCH CUT INTO IT BY THE HOBBED BOLT. Maybe it suggests a few things Colin hasn't.

...for instance, clear PLA from MIcrocenter eats and jams like crazy.

Of course, MicroCenter carries multiple brands of PLA, but I've had two rolls of their house brand stuff (actually from TonerPlastics) with bumps in it that couldn't pass into the slightly undersized hole in the hexagon heat sink. That was quite frustrating until I figured out what was causing my prints to fail. I happened to feel a bump when I was refeeding the filament into the hot end... After that I unrolled about 25 ft of filament to test before another print and found several bumps throughout that length.

[jimc]

Going back a ways there was a discussion about the two hot ends and some of the info from the hex owners was that the fulamant path was 1.8mm dia compared to 2mm like every other hot end out there. 1.8 is way too tight and will be prone to jams. I have 4 e3dv6 and run them nostop the past year and a half. I never have a jamming problem with them. The ptfe liner makes a big difference.

[BLKKROW]

I shall provide a list of things I have done to resolve the issue:

1. Filament - I have measured and tested the Makerfarm filament and am getting precise measurements of 1.75mm +/- .1. There are no bumps and the filament is not oval.

2. I modified Greg Wades extruder, instead of two washer before the large gear, I have one regular washer and one wave washer. I then used a nylon lock nut on the large gear to keep it in place. The combination of these keeps the gear in one spot and it doesn't wander.

3. I tried raising the voltage on the extruder motor.

4. I checked the extruder setup to make sure the hobbled bolt is center and the hole for the filament to the extruder is wide and clean with no major bumps or edges to snag the filament.

5. I have cleaned the nozzle using the cold pull technique. After which I cleared the hot end of filament and raised the temperature of the hot end to try to soften any plastic that may remain. I then pushed clean filament through by hand to attempt to remove any debris.

6. I have checked the spacing on the idler springs, the bearing on the idler spins freely. I am getting teeth marks in the filament when pushed past the hobbled bolt, so I should be getting proper tension on the filament.

7. I am using a dust filter to collect any dust or debris before it enters the hot end.

8. I replaced the stock fan on the extruder and replaced it with a more reliable Noctua fan. This fan runs 100% of the time while the printer is on.

9. I have the spools of filament on some ball bearings so it can dispense the filament with ease.

10. I level the bed using feeler Gauges to 0.1mm.

Anything I have not covered? These are what I remember doing at this time.

[dunginhawk]

is it only one type of filament? or does it happen with every spool?
try running it hotter... if its pla just try it at 225-230... it will not produce a great print perhaps, but it will give us some more info
thanks

[BLKKROW]

It happens with every spool of filament, I was running it at 220*c. I will try at 230*c but that seems rather high.

At this point I have narrowed it down to the hot end not flowing correctly.

I just took apart the hot end (Nozzle, Nozzle Block, and Heat Fins) and tried to clean it as much as possible and then reassembled it and tightened everything. Lets hope this helps. I will try a print tomorrow.

[usarmyaircav]

I have a roll of 1.75mm ABS from Makerfarm in Blue that I have to hand feed, otherwise it stops feeding, which I feel is bumps. My Hatchbox does not have this issue, and if I hand feed the makerfarm filament it works fine. Something about pulling off the spool, and I think getting to a slight bump. there is never a jam, it just stops feeding.

[dunginhawk]

Its funny how hatchbox is starting to catch on.. ive been printing with it for over a year and swear its the best stuff out there.. never an issue with it... and its priced very well. im a hatchbox fan for sure.

[BLKKROW]

So I attempted a print using PLA Yellow from Makerfarm with no success. I am going to try another roll of filament that I have had the "most" success with, it is also Makerfarm. If that doesn't work I have another roll that is a no name brand that I can try.