Extruder stopped getting G-code? Please help!

So I have been printing perfectly fine now with my FolgerTech Prusa I3 with aluminum frame, for a couple months. This past Sunday it printed a part perfectly fine, and then I started another print on Monday, and the extruder didn't work.

I noticed a knocking noise, like it was trying to work, and then that stopped. Every time I started a print, it would extrude about 10mm or less, and then stop. I swapped drivers and no change.

So far I have been printing from SD card. I connected the printer to my computer and through the manual mode, I can extrude perfectly fine. No knocking or anything. So I know the driver is good, and I know the motor is good. But when I send a file to print (from SD card or computer) the extruder does nothing.

Is it possible that the RAMPS is bad and does not send the G-code, but does send the manual command? Has anyone else had this problem?

Please help.
Thanks,

So I reloaded the RAMPS firmware, and no change. So I know the motor, wires, driver, and firmware are good. I think I need a new RAMPS. Does anyone else agree with this?
thanks,

I always keep a spare RAMPS (actually, a spare of everything) to check...

When you send gcode it just works. It could be that acceleration is too high (usually this affects retractions more than actual printing). Check retraction acceleration and speed. See if a lower setting makes it continue printing. Why it would suddenly stop I can't say. Maybe something changed in the way filament is transported, maybe it's blocked, entangled, under an angle, the extruder idler too tight etc. Or maybe the motor current has changed?

Nothing has changed from the last print that worked since now. I didn't change or adjust anything between Sunday's print to Monday's failure. It's not stuck or jammed or clogged. It just does nothing when I try to print, but works perfect when I command it to extrude using manual mode in Repetier host. I did try turning up the pot on the driver, but that didn't help.

Might be wrong here but is it possible you sliced with relative coordinates instead of absolute or that the extruder was not reset before the print?

I'm not sure what you mean by either question. I have never specified nor noticed anything in Repetier host to select between relative or absolute coordinates. I just looked for it in Repetier host (briefly) and didn't see anything about that. Also, I have never reset the extruder before. What is meant by reset extruder? I have made several prints in the last couple of months I have had the printer and have never reset the extruder. Could you explain these better for me?

And also, I tried to print something (an older file) that was still on the SD card to see if maybe it was something I accidentally changed in the slicer, and it didn't work either.
Thanks,

I just had a thought of something I want to try, but need help. I want to move the extruder driver and connector over to the second extruder port (to the left of where it is now) and try it there. What I need help with, is I don't know what to do to make it use the other port. I assume it would be as simple as changing a line in the configuration.h file, but don't know what that would be. Any help?
thanks

I don't know how changing the extruder port would help, as you have proved the functionality with repetier already.
The problem you have, can only be related to your hardware settings, like speed and acceleration etc. ( already mentioned )
Another thing to check are the jumpers under the driver. Do they provide contact?
When extruding with repetier, is the length of filament the same as you'd expect? ( extrude without nozzle and measure length )

It's not enough to reflash the firmware, you also have to send "M502 & M500" to store the new ( old ) settings in EEprom.

Anyway, you'd have to change pin numbers in "pins_RAMPS_13.h"

lines 44-50

#define E0_STEP_PIN        36  //  was 26
#define E0_DIR_PIN         34  //  was 28
#define E0_ENABLE_PIN      30  //  was 24

#define E1_STEP_PIN        26//  was 36
#define E1_DIR_PIN         28  //  was 34
#define E1_ENABLE_PIN      24  //  was 30

-Olaf

Can you try entero g a few gcodes manually in repetier? Heat up the nozzle to 200 degrees and extrude manually:
G92 E0
G1 E10 F1000
G1 E20 F1000
G1 E70 F1000

Now try with the heated bed on. Any change in behavior?

You may want to check the voltage of the boards 5V and 12V during printing and see if they are not off by much. Check power wiring. Also check the temperature during printing, it should not be off by more than 2 degrees.

As for changing pins of the extruder, swap pin assignments between E0 and E1. Look in pins.h. It's a bit of a jungle in there as many boards have been supported and are selected with ifdefs. Check your board number and lookup the pin assignments in the correct section. Don't forget to swap the thermistor.

Hello,
Thanks to all with the advice. I did do as imqqmi suggested by entering the gcodes manually in Repetier. This worked fine, with and whithout the bed heated. I do have a question though. What is "G92"?
I under stand the others. I entered it before the other commands. But I noticed that when the bed was heated and I didn't enter the G92 E0 command, then the extruder actually went the wrong way. it retracted. So I reentered the G92 E0, and it worked normal.

Also , olaf, I have changed configuration.h files a few time before and have never had to send "M502 & M500". I had to enable the LCD and change the X axis movement, and that all worked ok. I'm not even sure exactly how to enter these. Do I reload the configuration.h files, then open Repetier host and enter them there? Or is it done through the configuration file? And why didn't I have to do it before?

both of you (immqqmi and olaf) mentioned speed and acceleration. The extruder speed is set to 30mmps (which was the default I have never adjusted that). I can't find anything about extruder acceleration. I found an area mentioning acceleration during various print phases, which I thought were x,y,z accelerations. And they are all at '0', which is the default value. I wouldn't have a clue as to what to change the acceleration to and which one to change.

My thought about changing the feed driver port is this: Obviously the x,y,z ports work and the extruder 1 port does not. I wanted to see if the extruder 2 port works. It does not make any sense to my why sending the gcode manually works, but sending a file to print does not, unless it's possible for a specific type of failure in the RAMPS board to do this. I though by swapping ports could verify it. Maybe. Have not tried it yet though.

Thanks again, and any more thoughts would be great.

G92 resets any axis current position to 0, note that no motion is done with this command, just the position is now assumed 0.

By default the printer uses absolute positioning for xyz and e. That means to extrude, the E needs to be in a known position. Since E isn't homed, you need to set the current position, where ever it may be, as 0. Now when you extrude with
G1 E10
You extrude from 0 to 10mm, the current position is now 10mm. If you want to extrude another 10mm you don't do this:
G1 E10
That would do nothing, the extruder is already at that position.
But
G1 E20
Since current position+10mm = 20mm.

As for acceleration, if you have the eeprom enabled in the firmware you can adjust acceleration very easily from the LCD panel. Go to the menu control/motion. Set Amax for x, y and z. Try 1500mm/s² for the extruder. Anything higher than 2500 might give problems with retractions, which is the first this it does before printing.

Well, I have to apologize for wasting all of your time. I found the problem. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but somehow the tip clearance got screwed up. The tip was pressing hard against the glass at home position. So the glass was acting like a blockage. When I was manually extruding, I raised the z axis up a bit. That explains why it worked then. Again, sorry for wasting your time, but thanks anyway for all your help. I did learn a lot about a few things you guys told me about, so thanks again. It's weird though, I do often check the bed level. I wonder if the Z axis stop slipped. I think the next thing I print will be a better z axis stop holder and adjustable stop.

Anyway, all is good now, thanks again.

Thanks for following up and letting us know what the problem was!

I have issues with my Z end stop also. Nothing physically moves but I can get a nice print followed by the head grinding into the bed if I dont check again before I print.

Glad to hear you've found out what the problem was!