Can't print PLA - tried everything!

[braneless]

I have a "UP start plus v1.1" bought in March from UP3DUSA. It does not have the filament feeder that older models seem to have, the extruder stepper does all feeding. ABS printing works great! But I want to use PLA and have not succeeded. Natural PLA bought from Protoparadigm and seems to be high quality.

What happens is the filament stops feeding, no matter what I do. Sometimes it happens right away (filament feeds a few mm and stops) sometimes after a dozen layers or so. Filament looks chewed up a bit when withdrawing. it can always extrude with the "extrude" button, just not when printing.

I have tried everything I can think of, 0.2-0.4, fine to fast, PLA or ABS settings... all fail, some fail more quickly than others. Nozzle is not clogged (works perfectly with ABS, every time.) Platform is level, nozzle is not too close to platform.

I read a post about the stepper getting hot, and how someone mounted a second fan to the back of the stepper to keep it cool. Had a small fan and mounted it up there, it still stopped feeding. Sometimes it went click-click-click from the stepper before it stopped feeding.

Found that post about the pen thing for the filament feeder. Printed it, pen thing was tight in there but it would not feed PLA. Not even a little bit.

I was ripping my hair out and about to give up until I saw this, two distributors say it's "new"
http://www.up3dusa.com/store#!__store/v ... leryv220=0
http://store.3dprintingsystems.com/inde ... duct_id=90

Is this indeed "new" why was it released, and could this solve my PLA feed issue? Also, what else is needed for this, a new power supply, control board, and/or what?

[DrewPetitclerc]

You do not need an extra feeder, what you have is a classic problem I solved a while ago and you can read about it on my posts on this forum.
The extruder motor is getting hot and the heat is transmitted to the drive gear and pre-melting the filament, also there is heat rising up from the heater block adding to the problem.
I solved this by adding active cooling right at the feeder gear/chamber with compressed air remotely, you should try not to add more mass to the extruder as this will create even more problems, again refer to my posts.
If you have not yet addressed the issue of the non self adjusting of the pressure bearing that pinches the filament to the feeder gear teeth you will also have issues when the filament diameter changes due to tolerance and manufacturing issues.

I addressed all these and more on my post.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=753

I'm also broadcasting my printer on,

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/my-up-3d-printer

Regards
Drew

[braneless]

Thanks Drew,

I am not really set up to make anything out of metal, hoping for a solution with just printable parts and/or MacGyver-esque methods. Unless you are selling your pinch bearing thingies.

Compressed air is a good idea though, I wonder if anyone has designed a new cover that is the same as the stock one, except with a compressed air tube.

Only hitch is, my printer's pressure bearing is in a plastic part, not metal as you show. It's not a printed plastic part, oddly. Don't know if this means my setup wouldn't work with anything out there.

[DrewPetitclerc]

Yes I can get the machined metal parts plus hardware from my toolmaker and he is offering them at great price, again look at my posts and you will find the info.
The modified plastic mount with the integrated path for air cooling is also in my posts and the files can be downloaded from my site on Thingiverse.
I know there is a lot I have put out there but take your time and I'm sure you will find most of the answers you need.

[pleppik]

Try this extruder feeder part:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:18010

It uses the metal clip from a pen for the spring, and it has a port for an air hose for cooling.

I've used it for a while, though I haven't tried PLA with air cooling yet. If you do try it, let us know how the cooling works.

[braneless]

Drew - if I read it correctly, it's $150 per part? or $150 for 10 parts? Can you clarify? If the former, I don't want to bother you with an email, as I probably wouldn't pay that much... sorry.

pleppik - I did print the pen mod, and I couldn't get it to feed. The extruder gear would grab the filament OK but filament would not extrude. I couldn't tell if it was an alignment issue or the gear not grabbing hard enough. I may try again later.