[Trinus] Printer started getting a problem, what could be wrong?

[Roberts_Clif]

The video show the extruder is not extruding the filament the clicking noise is do to missing steps.
This could be because you need to calibrate the extruder or most likely the nozzle needs to be hotter to extrude the filament.

I have two 3D Printers one works at 192C the other works at 202C they are the same 3DP printers.
Try to increase the nozzle temp too 198C see if that works better.

[veclock]

The video show the extruder is not extruding the filament the clicking noise is do to missing steps.
This could be because you need to calibrate the extruder or most likely the nozzle needs to be hotter to extrude the filament.

I have two 3D Printers one works at 192C the other works at 202C they are the same 3DP printers.
Try to increase the nozzle temp too 198C see if that works better.

I tried 190-240 degrees, and 20-120% speed. Before I've printed at 190 degrees at 120% with no problems. The only combination I found working now was >235 degrees and <40% speed. Colder or faster will give me these missing steps.
I also found that pushing down the filament reduced the amount of missing steps.

This is after I cleaned the nozzle with a needle going all the way through.
I also moved the print bed down a bit without any results.

Could you please explain further what you mean by calibrate the extruder? Thanks!

[Roberts_Clif]

How to Calibrate the Extruder

It could also be the PTFE lining in the Throat is deformed cause the filament not to be extruded. and the Stepper is clicking because the filament will not extrude.
I have replaced several throats because the lining deformed pushing into the nozzle, as shown in the photo.

Throat on left, Nozzle on right they are sitting inside my spare lead-screw nuts.
Nozzle & Throat.jpg

The PTFE lining pushed into the nozzle partially plugging it, and the PFTE lining was compress against the throat making the bottom of the PTFE lining 2.25mm.
Pressing the excess PTFE into the Nozzle making a insulating barrier that would not allow the filament to melt correctly.

Other times the lining just deformed causing the filament to get stuck inside the throat. Picture shows the worse case I have experienced.

[veclock]

Hi again, thanks for your answer!

What exactly is the PTFE lining? I disassembled the extruder. Looks like the tube leading town to the hotend is a bit bent. But that shouldn't create too much resistance for the filament to flow down?
Also, I can't change the nozzle, not sure why. As you can see in the two images to the right, there are filament leaking (?) between the parts, perhaps that's why the nozzle is stuck. I wonder if it's clogged inside. I can push the needle through without a problem. And it prints fine, with enough filament coming through. It's just that it skips steps all the time.

Image: https://i.imgur.com/JsWgAYL.png

Update: managed to remove the nozzle after heating it up. I looked inside the pipe and the nozzle. No clog. It was dirty on the outside.

[Roberts_Clif]

Hi again, thanks for your answer!

What exactly is the PTFE lining?

As you can see in the two images to the right, there are filament leaking, I wonder if it's clogged inside.

Here is a PTFE Throat inside is a lining. this lining gets deformed.

What is happening is the filament is getting into a gap between the nozzle, throat and the heat block and staying too long and crystallizing, thereby clogging the filament path.

[veclock]

Here is a PTFE Throat inside is a lining. this lining gets deformed.

What is happening is the filament is getting into a gap between the nozzle, throat and the heat block and staying too long and crystallizing, thereby clogging the filament path.

I don't seem to have a part like that. If it can be seen in my latest image, can you point out which one it is?

I printed at 240 degrees at 50% speed now for a few hours, it went ok. Until the filament didn't extrude any more and tangled up inside the print head. Had to drag out 50 cm filament from it afterwards. This is the second time that happens...
Then afterwards I manually push through some filament and it comes out perfectly. Such a mystery.................

[Roberts_Clif]

This is the Tube I think is bad in your printer.
https://www.3dhubs.com/talk/thread/c...r-hot-end-tube

CTC 3D Printer Repair - Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpR1ePfkMRQ

I use a Filament cleaner / dust remover / jam prevention
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:914607

[Alibert]

I have had similar problems in 3 of my printers over the past months after long periods of heavy use. This was the extruder under-extruding (missing steps as I found out) on one printer, and the X or Y stepper missing steps (print suddenly shift several cm in x or y direction) on the the other two.

In all three cases it was the stepper motot cable that needed replacing. Apparently these cables are not up to continuous bending at stress points (cable ties used to fixate them) as the extruder head moves around.....

Replacing the cables with brand new ones resolved the issues in all 3 printers. I now do not use tight cable tie fixing for the cables but allow them to move more freely, preventing development (I hope) of weak spots in the cables.

[veclock]

Thanks again for the answers! I really appreciate it!

Some new info from my tests:

From the beginning it works good, starts to skip steps with certain settings (too cold and/or too fast). But even with settings that prevents the skipping, after a while it starts skip again. After a while it is clogged, and starts to gather filament inside of the print head.
So turns out it has trouble pushing it through the nozzle and eventually it's impossible.

This is the Tube I think is bad in your printer.
https://www.3dhubs.com/talk/thread/c...r-hot-end-tube

CTC 3D Printer Repair - Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpR1ePfkMRQ

I use a Filament cleaner / dust remover / jam prevention
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:914607

You mean the hotend tube, right? In my printer that is made from steel:
https://eu.kodama3d.com/collections/...nt=36730352004

As you can see in this image (left image) it's a bit bent: https://i.imgur.com/JsWgAYL.png

First I thought that a small bend like that shouldn't be able to cause such problems. It can slide through fine even with a bend right?
But then I started thinking. Could it be that the filament touches the pipe because of the bend, and melts because the pipe is hot? Then it builds up over time.

If this is the case then I wonder why it doesn't skip steps with colder & slower settings. (After 2 hours it will begin skipping even with those settings)

I have had similar problems in 3 of my printers over the past months after long periods of heavy use. This was the extruder under-extruding (missing steps as I found out) on one printer, and the X or Y stepper missing steps (print suddenly shift several cm in x or y direction) on the the other two.

In all three cases it was the stepper motot cable that needed replacing. Apparently these cables are not up to continuous bending at stress points (cable ties used to fixate them) as the extruder head moves around.....

Replacing the cables with brand new ones resolved the issues in all 3 printers. I now do not use tight cable tie fixing for the cables but allow them to move more freely, preventing development (I hope) of weak spots in the cables.

Interesting! Did you experience clogging as a result of this? And eventually totally clogged, resulting in filament gathering and coiling up inside the print head instead of extruding.

[Alibert]

If this is the case then I wonder why it doesn't skip steps with colder & slower settings. (After 2 hours it will begin skipping even with those settings)

Originally Posted by Alibert
I have had similar problems in 3 of my printers over the past months after long periods of heavy use. This was the extruder under-extruding (missing steps as I found out) on one printer, and the X or Y stepper missing steps (print suddenly shift several cm in x or y direction) on the the other two.

In all three cases it was the stepper motot cable that needed replacing. Apparently these cables are not up to continuous bending at stress points (cable ties used to fixate them) as the extruder head moves around.....

Replacing the cables with brand new ones resolved the issues in all 3 printers. I now do not use tight cable tie fixing for the cables but allow them to move more freely, preventing development (I hope) of weak spots in the cables.



Interesting! Did you experience clogging as a result of this? And eventually totally clogged, resulting in filament gathering and coiling up inside the print head instead of extruding.

No, I experienced skipped steps in the extruder (not enough plastic pushed out creating holes, bad fills, sometimes no plastic pushed out at all) and skipped steps in the X or Y directions (layers randomly shifting horizontally at random heights into the build).

In the extruder case, it would also happen that for some time the stepper skipped and no plastic was pushed out, and later on it would push out plastic again but into thin air as the underlyiing layer was partially missing giving all kinds of blobs and mess collecting around the nozzle.