Upgrade Advice

[RobH2]

But didn't you change the extruder type? You didn't just unplug the extruder and then plug the same one back in. You now have a different kind of extruder plugged in, correct?

[chris850]

Yea I tried to attach them but they wouldnt upload. BUT! I feel like a complete dumbass! I talked to the manufactorer (china just now getting there) and they said the motor will not move until the extruder reaches at least 180c. I didnt know that was the case. I dont know if thats the case for all printers? But sure enough I heated the extruder to 200c and the damn motor is moving fine

[RobH2]

Don't feel like a dumbass. I should have thought of that. Yes, that's a common feature/setting. What that is is a protection feature that stops a "cold extrude". You don't want your extruder trying to shove cold filament down the tube. So there is a setting in your configuration files that allows you to set a minimum temp that the extruder must be at before the extruder motor will activate. You still need to locate what file is your configuration file. Ask the manufacturer. Say you had the need to set that "minimum extrude temperature" to something besides 180C. You need to know what file to do that in. Ask them.

Glad you have it. No need to buy a board now. Hey, and look how much you learned tonight. And that's the goal, right?

[chris850]

Exactly, knowledge is the main goal. And I got plenty of it lol. I'll ask them the file

[RobH2]

I learned something too. I know all about the "min extrude temp" and just didn't think about it. I lost sight of the fact we were dealing with an extruder stepper instead of and x, y or z stepper. Those are allowed to activate anytime. Next time someone posts that an "extruder" stepper has stopped working I'll ask, "is it heated up?"

Take care...

[chris850]

lol, thanks again bro, I really appreciate all your help

[RobH2]

My pleasure...

[chris850]

Well I fixed one problem only to find another. I took a video of what its doing maybe you could he me diagnose it. (if you cant tell from the video the motor is "start,stopping" when it should be a steady "go")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhmcTc4JO1Y

[RobH2]

What happens if you manually extrude 20mm of filament onto the bed? I don't have Repetier installed anymore but there should be a place to do a manual feed. Make sure the hotend is heated. Does the extruder run smoothly? You can hear a click each time the extruder motor moves. Does that noise happen when you manually extrude that 20mm?

[beerdart]

Look like your too close to the bed and it cant extrude and your motor does not have the torque to overcome the clog.