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Hi all,
I had my first jam yesterday on my FF dreamer and after stripping down the head (surprisingly easy I must say) I found I have the old style extruder gear
does anyone know where i can get the new version and if it will be directly compatible?
Looks like a MK7 or MK8 extruder gear is available on ebay - just looking for confirmation of what fits and works well.
Thanks!
Whats wrong with the old style? Is it broken?
No, its not broken - but the new style is better - new is always better!
I have two printers, one is a newer Dreamer that ive had for a longer period - about 3 kg of filament old and no jams at all, the other (the printer in question, which I recently purchased) is an older revision - about 500g through and a lot of clicking and a jam already
They're both setup similarly running similar filament and the only difference I can see is the extruder gear... When its not jamming or chewing filament it prints flawlessly and if I can prevent future jams by simply changing the gear it'll save money and time in the long run!
Which one are you looking at as being newer? Clicking isn't because of extruder gear.
My "newer" is the MK7/8 look alike with the U shaped knurled channel - the older is the plain knurled cylinder.
I realize clicking isnt exclusively because of the extruder gear, but my other printer is set up identically and it seems to feed filament more positively - with less skipping in normal operation. The "older" gear seems to pick up more flament and become slicker with operation...
Although this is only going from my limited experience... I'm a firm believer in prevention is the best cure.
An extruder gear never clicks, it is always the stepper. When the stepper clicks it means it is overloaded. Usually because of a filament clog, Nozzle trammed too close to the bed, or the hot end temp isn't hot enough to keep up with melting what the stepper is trying to feed it. The "newer" style isn't like a hobbed gear, it is a cast metal gear. A hobbed gear is machined to be like that. Generally the older style is better. Yes it does pick up some filament shavings, but the teeth are so sharp and hard it doesn't loose grip on the filament very easily. More spring tension helps also. Check out a filament feeder plastic I have on thingiverse under "jfkansas" it has better spring tension.
Thats awesome, I will check it out and print out a few,
Thanks a lot!