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  1. #1

    Question ABS Extrusion Issues: Bowden vs. Moisture?

    I recently switched over to Matterhackers Build Series ABS from IC3D ABS. The first half of the roll was amazing and gave me some beautiful prints. In the past week though, I have had issues with it not wanting to extrude consistently. It will start a print and about 25-40 layers in, it will stop extruding and you can hear the filament advance cog skipping. A slight bit of pressure to the filament and it starts extruding again for a few lines and then it starts again.

    I am running is in an enclosed Flying Bear P905 printer with the print head at 228 and the bed at 110. None of the settings have not changed since it was printing fine. When it's not jamming, it still prints amazingly well. The heating element is good and there is no power loss there or loss of heat. I have removed the filament, completed a cold pull cleaning. I have also checked the grub screw on the filament advance cog and cleaned it.

    I am leaning towards the Bowden tube being the culprit. I have noticed that the issue only presents when the print head is in certain positions, possibly causing a bind. Also, it is the factory Bowden tube from a low-end unit and it is not in its natural position, as the enclosure that was placed on the printers solid on top and only about 70-80mm above the printer's frame. However, it did rain a couple days last week. It has been dry for the past few days however. The roll of filament is only 2-3 weeks old and has been stored in a clean, temperature controlled room. Does outside moisture affect new ABS that rapidly? Could that cause a jam or would that make it sputter?

    I am still relatively new and have been printing on a friend's printer. Any recommendations on a possible solution would be greatly appreciated.

  2. #2
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    Jul 2014
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    actually it's probably down to the curvature of the filament.
    The second half of the roll will be more tightly wound than the first half, so the filament will have a natural 'bend' or curve to it that gets stronger and tighter as you get towards the core of the reel.

    Trying to push this through a bowden tube will result in increased friction the further down the reel you go.

    So not only does it take more power for the motor to pull it from the reel, it also takes more for it to push it through the tube.
    The two combined might overcome the steppers motors torque.

    Depending on your firmware you might be able to allocate more power to the extruder stepper motor - I know you can do this in marlin.

    As far as moisture goes, I find that only the outer couple of layers of a reel that's been left standing is ever effected. So it's unlikely to be that.

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