PLA FIlament Jamming but not with Prusament
I recently bought a pre-built kit for the Mini+ last week and has been going relatively well.
I have been using generic brand PLA for over a week with good success using the default slicer options. However, yesterday the extruder refuses to push through the filament except during the purging stage. Nothing on the printer including the settings were changed. After this extruder gear clicks and slowly grinds the filament. I haven't yet tried raising the temperature.
The filament was placed today in a food drier to remove any potential excess moisture, however the same problem continues.
Swapping straight to sample Prusament, the mini prints fine without an issue so it doesn't seem related to a blocked nozzle.
I cannot understand if there's actually an issue with the printer or if this is down to the filament. Is this the under-extrusion problem other people experienced.
Can anyone advise on what I should check?
Thanks for your help,
Luke
RE: PLA FIlament Jamming but not with Prusament
I’ve dealt with similar issues, seems Prusament PLA works at lower temperatures than others. You will likely find cranking up hot end temp 10 to 20 solves it. But what changed? Follow the instructions and make sure nozzle is tight against heatbreak. Has to be done at temperature. At one point, this was the cause of the same issue for me.
https://help.prusa3d.com/en/article/changing-replacing-the-nozzle-mini_134235
Make sure the three hex screws in heat sink are tight against heatbreak. Do a cold pull or two just to make sure things are clean.
RE: PLA FIlament Jamming but not with Prusament
Later on I saw this issue again and it was a bad hot end thermistor...
RE: PLA FIlament Jamming but not with Prusament
It does read like a filament problem.
Do you hear fizzing and popping sounds as the troublesome filament extrudes? It takes more drying than you might expect.
Also, are you able to check the diameter of the generic filament? Some are not as consistent as others and the Mini does seem to be sensitive to the quality of it's feed stock.
Cheerio,
RE: PLA FIlament Jamming but not with Prusament
I’ve dealt with similar issues, seems Prusament PLA works at lower temperatures than others.
Prusament is usually printed hotter than many filaments.
If a printer works wih one filament but not another there is not a great deal wrong. The simplest, and in the long run probably the cheapest tactic is to work with the filament it does accept until you have acquired enough experience to handle the basic troubleshooting on the spot. A filament that has a lower spec may well be printable once you have honed your setup to the optimum.
Cheerio,
RE: PLA FIlament Jamming but not with Prusament
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and suggestions and rapido response!! Makes me glad that I bought a Prusa!
I tried a higher temperature (230 degC) but it would not extrude through and still exhibiting clicking.
I managed to get through to the Prusa support earlier. They told me the characteristic shape of the filament (the one that didn't work) was likely related to the under-extruding problem (see photo).
Following the steps on https://help.prusa3d.com/en/guide/how-to-replace-a-hotend-ptfe-tube-mini-mini_119449 - with the replacement ptfe tube and pushing up the hot-end seems to have resolved. The replacement PTFE tube was slightly longer (0.3mm) but could have been natural shrinkage in the original. There appeared to be a little residual filament in the hot-end, which was removed after cleaning following the instructions.
The first layer adhesion and surface quality seems far better than when I received the pre-built printer. I will see how long it is stable for - hopefully it is fixed for good.
