Extruder gear cutting into filament

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Extruder gear cutting into filament

Postby endurance » Thu May 01, 2014 4:36 pm

Before going into my issue in detail I want to mention that I am using a QU-BD extruder...I know, I know...

At any rate I have to roll with it right now because I have nothing else. I have however upgraded it to use Barts modifications shown here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:38281/#files and I am also using a MakerBot extruder gear. When I do a small print things usually turn out OK however during longer prints I get an issue where the gear cuts into the filament and it stops extruding. I believe that the gear is just getting too hot and this helps it to cut into the filament. I am running the QU-BD heatsink and fan during a print (also tried without to better see whats going on). I know I could try throwing more fans at it but does anyone have any other ideas for helping to cool down the gear?
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Re: Extruder gear cutting into filament

Postby TLHarrell » Thu May 01, 2014 4:59 pm

Short term, super cheap solution:
Monitor the gear's temperature. When it's starting to get too hot, give it a few squirts from an inverted air duster can.

Long term:
Get rid of the QU-BD.
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Re: Extruder gear cutting into filament

Postby blah_59 » Thu May 01, 2014 6:23 pm

If the gear is getting hot from the motor, you most likely have the current too high going to the extruder motor. Check your trim pot on the electronics board to make sure you're giving the motor enough current to not skip steps but not much more than that, which will take it into the "too much" category.
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Re: Extruder gear cutting into filament

Postby orcinus » Fri May 02, 2014 12:16 pm

Are you sure it's the gear that's getting too hot?
If the filament gets stuck in the hotend, it'll look largely the same - the extrusion will stop and the gear will gouge a "D" in the filament.
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Re: Extruder gear cutting into filament

Postby blah_59 » Fri May 02, 2014 3:38 pm

Orcinus makes a great point, since you're using a QU-BD, there is a huge possibility that the filament is jamming in the hotend (due to heat creep most likely) and then the gear is chewing into the filament instead of feeding it. Are you having this problem with PLA by any chance?
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Re: Extruder gear cutting into filament

Postby endurance » Sun May 04, 2014 12:10 am

I am only assuming that the gear is getting too hot because it seems to do fine on smaller prints. I was just thinking that it takes a while for it to heat up. It could be getting clogged though but I just didnt think it was because the hot end temp seemed to always be pretty hot when it failed.

OK so yeah I know i need to dump this extruder...so the question is..What is currently the best extruder I can buy?
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Re: Extruder gear cutting into filament

Postby evil2002usna » Tue May 06, 2014 11:40 pm

Buy an all metal extruder. I bought the all metal one from micron off of Ebay. Then buy an all metal hot end or j-head.
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