This topic contains 19 replies, has 9 voices, and was last updated by 
BHudson 1 month, 2 weeks ago.
-
Posts
-
@williamha I understand your pain.
I have two printers, a Kickstarter one and a one and a blue commercial one. I have had three head problems requiring “return to base” servicing in the last five weeks.
They get a reasonable amount of use as I do work for others through 3-D hubs. Mainly ABS, and always on Normal setting.
I’m thinking of buying a spare head to keep production going. Still under warranty so will be interested to see what a repair costs after that.
Trying to spread the word about 3D printing to small and medium sized businesses in the West Midlands.
@williamha Yes I have had very similar problems to what you describe and I too only use PLA to eliminate too many variables. My current status is that to resolve my print head problem I will need to do a manual purge, which is what I think you have described for removing the print head while it’s hot.
You can read my latest experience in Off Day? in a separate topic under this Chatter. I don’t believe that my print head is faulty even though I am experiencing the same condition as you are. I have now concluded that it has something to do with when I eject the filament. I seem to be subject to what I consider is a basic error that it’s not easy to always prevent occurring, which is that some extraneous filament is left behind on occasions. The filament ejects okay, but that doesn’t tell me if it’s clear in the print head.
If I can clear my current print head, that’s all to the good, but I intend to purchase a spare one as a back up. I have not had a problem with the EEPROM, nor have I sent the print head back for repair at any time. Although my Robox was serviced at the beginning of this year and worked fine. Ultimately it benefits me to be able to resolve issues by myself, as it increases my knowledge of the working of the Robox printer and generally, 3D printing - but it’s not ideal. I still think that it’s a good 3D printer.
eeprom errors point to a communication issue between the head and the printer and should prompt a support ticket to be opened as a repair will need to be made.
I operate two Betas and one Production Robox.
See my 3D Hub site at https://www.3dhubs.com/phoenix/hubs/benI have similar problems when changing materials. I think i often have some string of old material i bowden wich prevents new to load. My solution wich have worked is to do purge with old material then eject and load new and purge again.
@williamha In order to keep my Robox active, I have now bought a spare print head as a back-up while I deal with the blocked nozzles. But I resupplied myself with more PLA filament, then decided to ask technical support directly, on how to avoid blockages. I should have done this the other way around.
Firstly I was told to purge after two moderately sized prints and every time after each big print. That’s fair enough and the next point is that PLA is more susceptible to blocking the nozzle due to its lower working temperature. Apparently it is debris or left over segments which can accumulate over time that overheat, melt in situ and cause a blockage.
One of the reasons I went over to PLA from ABS, was because I was getting a lot of adhesion and finishing problems early on. Probably the improvements in things like sanding the bed and software upgrades, now eliminate a lot of these occurrences.
However I’m told by Technical support that ColoFabb nGen is a superior filament that has a wider temperature tolerance and generally achieves a higher finish. So I’m not sure if I should get yet more filament, but just ColoFabb nGen, or wait until the current print head is cleared and have two operational print heads..
I chucked my PLA after the n’th time of the nozzle or extruder seizing up. It’s just more trouble than it’s worth.
I’ve been printing in nGen recently, and after I’ve finished with this reel, I think I’ll go back to ABS. I find nGen a little messier, and I don’t like the hard shiny finish as much as the ABS finish. nGen is certainly better than PLA, and the dimensional stability is a big plus point over ABS (which shrinks), but ABS just feels nicer, in my opinion.
Tom Gidden -- Bristol, UK
@gid What do you mean by messier? I believe that my print bed was a little warped when I bought my Robox as it left unprinted spaces on the first layer when printing. This was more pronounced when using ABS as opposed to PLA. I found that PLA flowed better and so that was one reason that I started using it regularly. The gaps did not appear and since my print has been sanded by CEL, there are no gaps - although I think that software upgrades have also helped. I have to say that, unless I have no sense of smell, I do not notice any odour with ABS. Although I think that my printing room is well ventilated.
@williamha I have also had excellent runs between blocked nozzle occasions. It’s almost as if the printer knows it has to print several parts to complete a full model, but then decides that my ration is used up. I did have problems in the past with filament ejects, but I put that down to using the eject filament button in AutoMaker on the computer screen. Having re-read the AutoMaker manual and discovering that all I had to do was press the button on the printer itself in the middle of the smart reel, I have not had any problems ejecting the filament since.
I have no preference for any particular filament, I’d just like there to be no blocked nozzles, or even perhaps some warning. I feel that the 3D printer has a commercial opportunity in printing models for sale and am thus interested in the 3D Hubs. But with the uncertainty of when a blocked nozzle will occur, I am unable to proceed in this direction.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
