Hi everyone, I’m having constant clogging issues with my printer that sprung up out of nowhere. I’m running out of things to test.

The printer had been running several prints a day for several days when I decided to change nozzles for one print. Ever since then (~2 weeks ago) i have not completed a single print, due to clogging. I have tried:

Replacing the PTFE tubing in my hotend.

Replacing the nozzle. (I’ve used a handful of nozzles, all with the same results)

Trying different filament.

Replacing the hot end with an all metal hot end, trying three different heat breaks from two manufacturers.

Removing the printer from its enclosure to ensure proper cooling.

Adjusting extrusion tensioner.

All the other basic obvious stuff like making sure there’s no blockages anywhere (whole hot end and nozzles have been soaked in acetone, torched, brushed etc).

The printer will seem to work fine for a little while before either slowly failing to extrude until it completely jams, or it completely jams all at once. I don’t think it’s heat creep, because I tried setting the nozzle to printing temp, letting it sit for half an hour or so and running filament through it and it had no issue, whereas prints usually start to fail within the first 10 minutes. It also doesn’t have anything to do with my print settings because I’m able to get it to clog sometimes by just running the extrude command.

I’m completely at a loss here. I don’t know what else to try. Does anyone have anywhere else for me to look?

  • invisiblepony@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    7 months ago

    I recently moved to an all metal hotend on my S1 plus and had an issue with clogging. Turned out that there was a little gap between the heartbreak and the nozzle which was causing clogging. After a good tightening, it worked well.

    Make sure there is no gap between your Bowden/break/nozzle. Check if any filament is seeping between them.

    Any recent software changes?

    • papalonian@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      0·
      7 months ago

      I’ve tested and verified that there isn’t a gap between the two by following this process:

      1. Tighten the heat break all the way.

      2. Tighten the nozzle all the way.

      3. Loosen the heat break partially.

      4. Verify that the nozzle is now able to be tightened further.

      If the nozzle goes in further after loosening the heat break, this confirms there is no gap; however, if either nozzle or heat break isn’t perfectly flat, it could theoretically leave a tiny space. I don’t know if this is a common issue, but I’ve tried with multiple heat breaks and nozzles, so I don’t think this is it.

      Stupid question, but there isn’t any kind of “gasket” that is meant to go between the nozzle and heat break is there? I can’t shake the feeling this spot is the cause of my concerns.

      • SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        7 months ago

        Maybe recut the Bowden tube to make sure it’s not at an angle?

        And then loosen the nozzle, push the tube all the way in and use the retaining clip, then tighten the nozzle into the heartbreak while it’s hot.

      • invisiblepony@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        7 months ago

        It sounds like you’ve done it perfectly. I’d suggest trying a different heatblock, but I doubt that would make a difference. Make sure they are all aligned in your extruder with no obstruction when you look through end to end.

        I’ve had to do some heating and cleaning of my heatblock and heatbreak when replacing parts to remove bits of plastic. (Gentle wire brush and a burner lighter).

        The only other thing that comes to mind is your thermistor or heatblock cartridge being damaged and reporting the wrong temperature. Temps too high or too low can lead to clogging.

        If I were you and I had tried all these things, I would get a new extruder and see if that fixes the issue.