Just got my (second) printer, trying to load the filament for the first time and it wont load. It makes weird clicking noises and I can see the small gear thats visible in the hotend is trying to turn but wont.
Just wandering if any of you have encountered a similar issue and if so how to fix it.
Here is a short video of the problem, the noise you hear is the clicking - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CugPaOaDAIA
(if you watch the last 5 seconds you will see the small gear in focus, sorry about the beginning.)
Second. If you can manage, disassemble the front plate of the extruder to look inside the hole the goes to the hotend.
You can have some piece of filament stuck there.
Some people have it and drill to get rid of. Another guy put a hot needle or wire on the stuck filament wait to cool it and pul out the stuck piece of plastic.
Just got my M200, and I have exactly the same issue as this.
Anyone got a fix?
Does it click if there is no filament loaded or does the gear turn? Don't cut filament end at angle to install. Should be a straight cut. If it still just clicks, contact support.
take out your filament and heat the hot end up and take out the tip and barn it out with a torch. and before you put it back with the printer off try and manually push the filament thru to see if it is clear,
You need to determine if the problem is due to a clog in the filament path or simply because the filament is not hitting the hole. I used to have the latter problem a lot in my first M200 - cutting the filament at an angle as Angelo says often helps, but the orientation of the angle will depend on the curvature and orientation of the filament. I think I eventually took a drill bit and beveled the entry hole a little to help the filament self-locate. It used to drive me crazy because there's no way to cancel the load operation and I'd have to switch the printer off and then wait for the long heating cycle with every try - eventually I realized you can just yank the filament out while the stepper is turning - it won't damage anything.
If you have a true clog (often caused by a small "bulb" of filament remaining in the feed tube after withdrawal) then you'll have to poke, drill, melt, or burn it out as others have described. To prevent this happening, when I withdraw filament I pull very very gently so as not to break off the bulb, and I usually do multiple retractions to make sure I get it.
I don't think it is a blockage, as the machine is totally new, just out of the box.
The extruder stepper motor is not turning to feed the filament through, it is only stepping back and forth very quickly when the load filament button is pressed. I have checked all connections, and I cannot see anything loose etc.
Could it be a faulty stepper motor?
Could it be the main ribbon cable from machine to extruder? I had to bend this cable during installation so that it could fit into the cable clamps at the back of the machine (strange having round clamps for a flat cable?)
I have emailed Zortax about this, but haven't had any reply yet.
I don't think it is a blockage, as the machine is totally new, just out of the box.
The extruder stepper motor is not turning to feed the filament through, it is only stepping back and forth very quickly when the load filament button is pressed. I have checked all connections, and I cannot see anything loose etc.
Could it be a faulty stepper motor?
Could it be the main ribbon cable from machine to extruder? I had to bend this cable during installation so that it could fit into the cable clamps at the back of the machine (strange having round clamps for a flat cable?)
I have emailed Zortax about this, but haven't had any reply yet.
Stuart
Does not matter that it is brand new, it still can be and most likley is a blockage in filament path. Do as Jula suggest "You need to determine if the problem is due to a clog in the filament path or simply because the filament is not hitting the hole."
btw. I think of different method for filament replacing: cutting old filament near feed tube hole and gluing to the end of a new one (f.e. with acetone), wonder if this could work?
After a couple of clogs I said i'll try, but then it didn't happen even once :) (I'm very careful when replacing filament, and do it always WHILE old filament is unloaded and warm; after a few seconds, when it's colder, it is too late and almost always clog...)
Will the stepper motor stop turning if there is a blockage in the nozzle?
Sorry for being a newbie :-)
Also forgot to say that I haven't done a print yet, cannot get the filament loaded.
The stepper motor will click or stutter anytime it's unable to push the filament. This can be due to an obstruction in the path after the motor or too much tension on the spool (less common). I'm guessing that your problem is simply that it's missing the hole. How much filament goes in before the clicking starts? If it starts right after the filament passes the gear then it's missing the hole. If it goes in approx 100mm then the blockage is near the nozzle. If between those values then the blockage is in the path between the gear and the nozzle.
Some times imperfections happen. Here is a pic of a filament that was half way through my spool and found my printer printing air as the stepper kept rolling. lol
Little things do happen that you wouldn't guess. Now I seem to look a little further on the spools that just hooking it up and printing. Probably this is only 1 in 1000 but still.
The filament does not go in past the gear at all, as the gear just oscillates, if I push it through it goes in a little, before I need so much force that it deforms the filament.
Is there a sensor farther down in the extruder that senses a blockage?
The filament does not go in past the gear at all, as the gear just oscillates, if I push it through it goes in a little, before I need so much force that it deforms the filament.
Is there a sensor farther down in the extruder that senses a blockage?
Really? The filament doesn't go past the gear on the motor?? If that's the case then why are we talking about nozzle blockages etc - your filament is nowhere near the nozzle! If the motor is unable to move filament at all, not even past the gear, then I suspect a motor or motor connection problem. Check the 4-conductor connector from the motor on the print head.
