Problems about 1) extrusion and 2) printer didn't stop when I told it

Cetus Cetus 1st Gen MK1-MK3
1

Acidemaleique 2017-2-15 13:03 edit

Hello here,


As said in the title, I have 2 problems.


The first one is an extrusion problem.

During last week, I printed multiple things with the 3 types of nozzles (0.2, 0.4, 0.6 mm).

Some of them worked correctly, but with the 3 nozzles, I had problems : during the printing, at different times (it could be after 30 minutes, or after 40 hours for the last), my Cetus began to make some "toc", slowly (one "toc" every 10 seconds) or quickly (as if someone knocked at the door). What's more, even if the Cetus continued to do his job, the filament didn't go down, or verry little.

I tried to extrude in the maintenance mode (to check if the nozzles were clogged), the "toc" was again here, but the filament went down well.

After that, I resumed the printing, and it was the same as before the maintenance mode : nothing or very little.

So, do you have any idea of what isn't going well ?



The second one is a problem with the software : last time I wanted to stop the printing, I pushed the "stop" button, but the printer didn't stop. Whereas, the software considered the printing was stopped (the interface of the software was like if the printer stopped, and it didn't suggest me resuming the print). After something like 10 minutes, the printer freezed, and it'is impossible to resume the printing. So, my 40 hours printing isn't finished ...

So, is it possible to resume / begin a new print from a X layer, to finish this print ?


2

Hi 


   The sound you descirbe does sound like a clogged nozzle, when you goto extrude fillament does it ball up around the nozzle or does it drop in a nice straight line. There have been some reported issues of feed motors failing, but I believe in those cases the printer completly failed to extrude fillament at all. Sometimes I get the noise you describe when printing the raft but this soon goes away. When you experience this have a look at the feed gear to see if it is slipping on the filament. Have you tried a different fillament?



3

Hello,


If you intend to resume a print, you have to use "pause" instead of "stop". Stopping a 40-hour print is highly risky.

4

@JasonWu : thanks for the answer and for the tip :).


@juicybacon. It seems you're right : this sound goes away with 0.4 and 0.6 nozzles.

But with the 0.2, nothing (so no printing possible), or the filament balls up as you said.

I only experienced Cetus filament for the moment.

I tried a completely new 0.2 nozzle, and it worked perfectly. So it seems I have a clogged nozzle.


Does somebody have tips to unclog nozzles please ?

5

Hi


   With the 0.4 and 0.6 nozzle you can set the printer to withdraw the filament and then use the very thin wire pin supplied with the printer to clear out the nozzle, make sure that the nozzle has got to a god temperature. 


   For the 0.2 nozzle it's a little trickier you can purchase 0.2 nozzle cleaners from Amazon and use them in the same fashion, or you could look at doing a chemical clean, because it's pla acetone should not be used, I am still reading up on other chemicals that can be used so I can't recommend any at the moment until I have tried and know that it works and is safe to do so. 


   If I find a good way to clean them out I will let you know, however in the meantime I would use the nozzle cleaners from Amazon. 


6

Hi, I had a "clicking" sound when I switched from 0.4mm nozzle to 0.2mm nozzle.

Playing with the distance between nozzle and bed I soon learned it wasn't that at all.


Playing around with the extrude temp did the trick for me. Because I used a third party filament combined with the smaller extruding hole of 0.2mm I had to change the extruding temp.


So in short, when it comes to 3d printers (not just Cetus) any given problem could have multiple causes and is not necessarily solved by adjusting just one thing, just to bare in mind that's all.


Cheers, Matt

7

@juicybacon : thanks for the answer, I ordered a 0.2 nozzle cleaner.


@scubamatt41 : thanks too, but how do you set extrude temperature, and what temperature did you choose ?

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9

Good Luck

10

Basically, you don't have to up the temperature much more if you use PLA.

 

If you have third party PLA check the temp range on the package.

 

1 Check the insert tube for clogs

2 Check the bite wheel of the extruder motor if it's clogged

3 Did tell the software you are using 2mm nozzle? If not software can only be set to 4mm or 6mm

in both cases, more filament will be pushed down hence potentially clogging the 2mm nozzle


Good Luck, Matt


11

Basically, you don't have to up the temperature much more if you use PLA.

 

If you have third party PLA check the temp range on the package.

 

1 Check the insert tube for clogs

 

2 Check the bite wheel of the extruder motor if it's clogged

 

3 Did tell the software you are using 0.2mm nozzle? If not software can only be set to

0.4mm or 0.6mm in both cases, more filament will be pushed down hence potentially clogging the 2mm nozzle

 

Just upping the temp and push filament down is not going to work. Clogged is clogged and it's best to clean the bore of the nozzle or use different nozzle (size)

 

Good Luck, Matt