Extruder making clicking noises only while printing

As title stated yet when I try to extrude manually no clicking is heard. Also, only occurs when extruder is at certain parts of the bed when at low speed

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2017 02:43AM by theblindsaint.

is the bed level to the gantry? sounds like restricting the fila flow, and the filament being knurled to death! on the hobbed bolt/gear of the extruder.

you calibrated the E steps in firmware?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2017 03:01AM by jinx.

The bed is level, and any further away and the filament will be coming out as a strand and not a flat paste. I've tried adjusting the esteps in the firmware but either it's not working or I'm adjusting the wrong thing. I'm running on replicatorg (firmware ancient i know) and it lacks alot of the functionality of modern firmware. I went directly into the xml file to adjust the extruer steps but they seem to have no affect at all.

the highlighted line is what I assume tobe the extruder steps which I've almost doubled to no effect

This problem has nothing to do with the steps per mm, this should be calculated then set. small adjustments can be made in the slicing software.

You dont mention what type of extruder you have, so it makes it hard to give suggestions. But from what you have described I would recommend reducing the tension on the idler wheel. My thinking behind this is at higher speeds you are getting enough torque to feed the fillament, but at the lower speeds it cant overcome the tension and start grinding the filament or stalling the motor.

You could also try increasing the current to the extruder motor

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2017 10:09PM by scottybfg.

How do I check what type of extruder I have? What does the idler wheel look like? And where can I adjust the motor current?
Noob here sorry for the long string of questions

[imgur.com]
[imgur.com]

This is how my prints are looking like if that helps

[imgur.com]
[imgur.com]

This is how my prints are looking like if that helps

There are 2 types of extruder, you have a direct feed - sits on top of the hotend, then you have a bowden that sits off the x carriage and feeds the filament via a tube. On your extruder there should be a (or a few depending on the design) spring that is tighted by a screw, this is what apply tension to the idler. The idler pushes the filament into the drive gear that allows it to be fed through.

Looking at your prints I would say this is not your problem. What I would recommend now is starting with a higher z height or adjusting your z home position. see how the filament is extruded very flat and there is lots of overlap, this tells me that its too low. when homed the nozzle should just allow for a piece of paper to pass between it and the bed with some slight resistance.

The pitchers also show that the bed is not level to the X gantry, this is hard to do and some people spend a lot of money getting a nice flat bed. Because your Z height is so low the small changes the the bed height are affecting the print, fixing the z height should fix your problem.

There is a spring, but it is simply held in place, no screws to adjust it. Also, I have a direct feed extruder. What exactly do you mean by x gantry?

While I agree that it is not the sole issue I still believe that the clicking is an issue as every time it happens the extrusion becomes uneven.

A pitcher of the extruder at this point would be helpful.

The X gantry is the rail that the extruder moves across.

I would try printing at a higher first layer height and see what happens just increase it by 0.05mm or 0.1mm. This can be changed in the slicing software so it wont affect your setup and can be changed back after the test.

The x gantry is indeed not level but Im not sure how to asjust it

Here is how my printer looks: [imgur.com]

Extruder close up: [imgur.com] [imgur.com]

The X gantry only needs to be level with the bed, the best way to do this is to adjust the bed height so that there is some slight friction between a sheet of paper and the nozzle / bed at each corner. Good video on how to do this (link: [www.youtube.com])

second, it looks like your printer is a makerbot replicator clone, the original replicator had issues with the extruder and I cant imagine the clone being any better. It already looks like someone has tried to fix / modify the extruder with that badly printed black plate. All i can suggest is give the extruder assembly a good clean and make sure there is no dust or bits of filament left behind, then when you re assemble the extruder try and not compress that spring as much, Im not familiar with that design so i cant say much more.

But if the filament is slipping shouldn't I want the spring to be even tighter? Are the extruder issues hardware or software related? Would it be fixed when I move to marlin or do I have to make hardware changes. Also, the extruder is severely under extruding (only extruding less than 5 cm when I commanded 10), yet when I went to adjust the extruder motor steps nothing is changed here is the value i changed [imgur.com])

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2017 04:42AM by theblindsaint.

It all depends if the filament is slipping or if the stepper is not turning and making a clicking noise. From the information given, I would say you have too much tension, not helped by the fact that the nozzle is too close to the bed, and the stepper does not have enough torque to force the filament through. Getting the right tension takes some time and trial, seeing what affect more / less tension has.

Your stepper current might also be too low, changing this all depends on what control board you have, but I would say you will most likely have individual stepper drivers with a turnpot that allows you to change the current.

As for the extruder issues they were hardware related, a quick google will give you all the information you need. (Again, im only guessing you have a clone based off the images provided, and your kit might have a different extruder)

The under extrusion is an issue, I have not worked with that firmware, but if a value is not updating its a safe bet that the EPROM is storing the old value, to fix this when you connect to your printer send an M502 followed by M500 to save the new settings.

My drivers are a4986, not a4988 and I can't seem to find that option to adjust the vref.
Im in a very curious case where while doing the step calibration and manually extruding by sending a g1 e100 the Steps setting don't affect the extrusion, yet they affect the actual print so I don't know how to calibrate my extruder anymore...
Could you explain more how having the spring looser will help? I was thinking it would cause the gears to bite less into the filament no?

That is an odd extrusion issue, there is no difference between the printer printing and not printing, its the same code that gets sent through, the only way it could be affected is if one was using relative e distances and the other using absolute. How do you know its affecting the print?

Yes have the spring less tension would cause the gear to bite into the fillament less, too lose and the fillament wont feed, too much and the stepper has to work harder to feed the fillament. You need to find that sweet spot.

Have you tried levelling the bed and increasing your first layer height, this will get you better prints, then you can fine tune with the e steps and extruder tension

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2017 10:28PM by scottybfg.

I know it affect the print because when I adjust the extruder steps according to the extrusion test that shows underextrusion, there is sever over extrusion. I'll try messing with the tension for now as I have no reliable way of knowing how my extruder steps are calibrated...

So never owning a makerbot style printer I'm new to all this but after doing some reading I found this,

"With X3G-consuming printers, the steps
per mm is done during the X3G generation, and all the movements in the X3G are
expressed in terms of steps rather than mm"

So I'm guessing you're using the ReplicatorG software to send g-code and controlling the printer, this is where the steps /mm need to be changed. Have a google of Makerbot E steps calibration you you should find something useful.

Also In your slicer change the firmware flavour to makerbot, the default is usually sprinter / marlin

Is there a maker space or any 3D printing clubs near you? you might benefit from somebody having a look at the machine and showing you how to set it up. Anyone who has worked with older makerbot style printers should be a big help.