So everything had been working fine on my A1 for a really long time. Then the other day it started doing some weird stuff. First layer would start to print fine, but then get all messed up about halfway through. At first I thought it was just the model, so I tried some others and had the same issue. Hmmm….
Now I had just installed an AMS filament box and thought it might be that, so took that back off. Nope. Next tried printing from BS. Nope. Tried a different filament. Nope. Tried a different hotend Nope.
I am getting more frustrated because now the extruder is going clickity clack like crazy whenever it starts printing fast. Do some googling and one cause can be hotend temp too low. Never had a problem before, but I try raising it. Nope.
Ok, time to break out the spare extruder and install it. Also make sure no filament is stuck anywhere. Nope.
Next I decide to do a FW update. See my previous post on that frustrating ordeal. Finally get that installed, and do a full calibration. Nope.
Ok, WTF is left?? So I do a little more searching and see people having those 4 screws on the hotend heater coming loose. Ok, what the heck, lets try that. Sure enough they are loose as can be. Tighten them up, put in a brand new hotend assembly, re-calibrate again and cross my fingers. Success!! Perfect first layers again.
But wait….there’s more. Go to do a 4 hour print and initially watch it like a hawk. 30 minutes in and it’s printing perfectly!! Great, I go watch TV. About an hour and a half later, I hear the printer stop. Uh oh.
Go in and find it in error mode…Extruder failing to feed. WTF?? Fiddle with it for a while trying to keep things in place so I can just continue. It will start to extrude off on the side, but then just stop (wheel is still spinning). Think it could be a clog, but every time it retries, filament does come out, but then it stops. So I give up on trying to save my 2 hours of printing and take everything apart again. I can’t find anything wrong. Cold pulled the nozzle, but it’s just PLA and I never had a clog before, let alone on a new assembly.
So I put is all back to it back together, but I don’t flip the cutting blade properly causing more issues until I figure that out. Ugh. Nope. Now it just craps out doing the dynamic flow calibration.
Finally, I try replacing the hotend again with another new one and now it’s all is good. Go figure.
Not sure what the moral of this story is except try to do things in a systematic way. Try not to let frustration get to you. And don’t assume just because a part is brand new, it will work!!