MK8 extruder clicking

My MK8 extruder makes a fairly loud clicking sound at times. The clicks are fairly slow, maybe one per second although they're not regular or constant. When I touch the filament just above the extruder I can feel the clicks in the filament. I haven't been able to correlate the clicks with anything the printer is actually doing other than that it mostly occurs during rapid back and forth movements such as during filling in of a base layer for example. It doesn't always occur during this type of movement though.

Is this to do with the driver voltage adjustment or is it simply to do with the way the drive mechanism works? I have adjusted my drivers to the spec provided by Folger Tech.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2015 12:56AM by Vanbot.

OK could this be caused by the hot end not melting filament fast enough to keep up with the drive gear? That is, my drive gear speed is set a little fast? It only does it occasionally so if it was extruder feed set too fast wouldn't it click all the time?

Anyone else with a Folger i3 have this issue? I'm using all of their settings, including feed speed.

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Vanbot
OK could this be caused by the hot end not melting filament fast enough to keep up with the drive gear? That is, my drive gear speed is set a little fast? It only does it occasionally so if it was extruder feed set too fast wouldn't it click all the time?

Anyone else with a Folger i3 have this issue? I'm using all of their settings, including feed speed.

I have this problem too. I can feel the clicking when I touch the filament. For a while it didn't seem to matter on my prints, but I had one fail recently and my hotend clogged so here is my far from expert opinion:

I believe it's happening because the bed is too close to the nozzle, which might be do to warped acrylic the heated bed sits on, a not totally level glass bed, leveling a cool bed and then printing on it heated and not taking into account the glass expansion, etc.. The extruder is pushing filament down to close to the bed and some of it stays in the nozzle, then the extruder is trying to push the same amount of filament out constantly, while some is still getting caught up in the nozzle.

Not sure if that correct or applies to you, but I believe this is my problem and now I have a seriously clogged nozzle

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widespreaddeadhead

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Vanbot
OK could this be caused by the hot end not melting filament fast enough to keep up with the drive gear? That is, my drive gear speed is set a little fast? It only does it occasionally so if it was extruder feed set too fast wouldn't it click all the time?

Anyone else with a Folger i3 have this issue? I'm using all of their settings, including feed speed.

I have this problem too. I can feel the clicking when I touch the filament. For a while it didn't seem to matter on my prints, but I had one fail recently and my hotend clogged so here is my far from expert opinion:

I believe it's happening because the bed is too close to the nozzle, which might be do to warped acrylic the heated bed sits on, a not totally level glass bed, leveling a cool bed and then printing on it heated and not taking into account the glass expansion, etc.. The extruder is pushing filament down to close to the bed and some of it stays in the nozzle, then the extruder is trying to push the same amount of filament out constantly, while some is still getting caught up in the nozzle.

Not sure if that correct or applies to you, but I believe this is my problem and now I have a seriously clogged nozzle

I've wondered about this at times too but I'm pretty conscientious about leveling my bed before I print.

That said, when I hold a straight edge across my heated bed it is not really even close to flat. It seems to dip in the middle by about 1 mm when I check it front to back. But since I check my bed level closer to the corners that would mean that the nozzle would be at a good distance closer to the corners and too far from the bed closer to the middle.

The hotend they supply isn't very reliable. I've heard and known this for a bit but was hoping to not have to drop some $$$ on a better hotend, even though no more jams would make it worth it.

first, get an E3D style hot end, if you are using a direct drive extruder, get at the very least a geared extruder. Clicking can be caused by a few things and you named most but one important one is your current to the extruder, when I had a direct drive like you get in a printer kit I had to do this, there are all kinds of threads on this forum about changing pololu curent so search and read up, if that does not help it might be what you said in your previous posts or that you need to upgrade. We ALL upgrade eventually ;-) you just have to choose when, for me it was when I realized what I had was not optimal.

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Vanbot
I've wondered about this at times too but I'm pretty conscientious about leveling my bed before I print.

That said, when I hold a straight edge across my heated bed it is not really even close to flat. It seems to dip in the middle by about 1 mm when I check it front to back. But since I check my bed level closer to the corners that would mean that the nozzle would be at a good distance closer to the corners and too far from the bed closer to the middle.

Your supposed to do the corners then check the middle and repeat, so I think it's just warping in the acrylic. I want to get an aluminum bed platform for mine, but I feel at that point I might as well use the Folger i3 to build an aluminum body i3 or equivalent.

you might try using a glass bed topper, I use one on both my printers, it is far more level than most hot beds

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lunarkingdom
you might try using a glass bed topper, I use one on both my printers, it is far more level than most hot beds

I print on glass. Do you have any good tips for cleaning the nozzle? Acetone work well?

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widespreaddeadhead
The hotend they supply isn't very reliable. I've heard and known this for a bit but was hoping to not have to drop some $$$ on a better hotend, even though no more jams would make it worth it.

I assumed someone out there would have designed a geared version of this Folger extruder. The Folger kit supplies tiny 2.6 kg/cm steppers so gearing it down for more torque seems like it would be a good way to continue using those motors but with better extrusion results.

I have found this design (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:239085/#instructions) which is for a geared version but it uses a grooved drive gear while the drive gear I got from Folger is flat. It also seems like it might be a bowden-based design which I don't want to get into if I don't have to.

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widespreaddeadhead

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lunarkingdom
you might try using a glass bed topper, I use one on both my printers, it is far more level than most hot beds

I print on glass. Do you have any good tips for cleaning the nozzle? Acetone work well?

I buy them in bulk on ebay for like 3 dollars each, have not cleaned one yet but I must say the only reason I change them is to change nozzle size, I have not clogged one yet, it was always the tiny short hotend tube got hot and caused a blockage, get an E3D with a fan and you wont have that problem any more like this one:

[www.ebay.com]

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Vanbot

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widespreaddeadhead
The hotend they supply isn't very reliable. I've heard and known this for a bit but was hoping to not have to drop some $$$ on a better hotend, even though no more jams would make it worth it.

I assumed someone out there would have designed a geared version of this Folger extruder. The Folger kit supplies tiny 2.6 kg/cm steppers so gearing it down for more torque seems like it would be a good way to continue using those motors but with better extrusion results.

I have found this design (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:239085/#instructions) which is for a geared version but it uses a grooved drive gear while the drive gear I got from Folger is flat. It also seems like it might be a bowden-based design which I don't want to get into if I don't have to.

You will always have jams without an E3D style of hotend, it keeps the hot end hot and the cool side cool, what I did was get a bulldog xl extruder (geared) and moved up to 3.0 filiment so the gear head has more to bite into and an E3D style hotend, it helps to go bigger on the nozzle size I really like using a 0.6mm nozzle plus you can print faster with less of a restricted nozzle.

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You will always have jams without an E3D style of hotend

Sorry but this is complete BS.

I do have an e3d V5 hotend and it's prone to jams with PLA (haven't tried the new v6), I also have an older MK7 extruder/hotend in my CTC printer that I have used for the last 2 years without any problems.

The secret of a good functional Mk7 or Mk8 extruder/hotends is to keep your PTFE liner and nozzle clean and lubricated and never go beyond 240 with it.

Don't leave filament in it after you finish a print, once a month take the extruder and nozzle out and run a 2mm drill bit through the liner (if dark colored or signs of shrinkage at the edges) replace the liner, clean and torch your nozzle and run the appropriate drill bit size through the orifice.

On the extruder side, clean the gear at least once a week if you print constantly and keep your idler bearing tight. If your idler it's a grooved one, replace it for a flat style.

Dip the tip of the filament you are inserting in the extruder with olive or canola oil and let it run for at least 100 mm before you start printing.

This is the extruder that Folger supplies. Is it even a true MK8? Don't MK8 extruders have a spring loaded idler?

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Vanbot
This is the extruder that Folger supplies. Is it even a true MK8? Don't MK8 extruders have a spring loaded idler?

No that is not a Mk 8 AFAIK however first thing I spotted is that there is no flat on the motor shaft to tighten the gear onto IS it therefore slipping?

My I3 came with that same gear low powered motor etc and didn't work for me swapped it for a Wade's Geared extruder and all that Clicking etc went away and I could then print thing's

HTH Doug

Do yourself a favor and replace that extruder for one that have an adjustable idler. Those stepextruders are a nightmare, and the reason for your clicks and fails.

What are some extruder setups I should consider?

Anyone know the name or style of this extruder? Do other manufacturers use it? Or is it basically just known as an "underpowered, direct drive extruder"? Lol

There are a lot of variations of this upgrade available:

[www.thingiverse.com]

They all seem to use a grooved drive gear and flat bearing rather than the flat drive gear and grooved bearing that Folger supplies but I wonder if it would be possible to adapt the design to work with the Folger set up. If there's any hope of making this into a useful extruder I'd like to do that just for the sake of not chucking it out.

Steve has a really nice setup with a Hexagon hotend and Wade's extruder. The hexagons seem to be affordable and of good quality so chances are I'll go that route. I reckon that with such a small extruder stepper, a geared version is the way to go.

[www.aliexpress.com]