Hi there! I have more than 2300 hours on our printer. The usage here at work is pretty basic stuff: inserts for boardgames, various items like tropgies or medals, nothing fancy, always mono-colored.
We use PLA filament, mostly Overture, Polymaker and eSun brands. We used some cheaper one too but rarely.
Lately, the head was making clicking noises and not pulling the filament. I tried everything “official” and a lots of non-official thinks also. Nothing worked:
- no clogging
- some extruder internal gears were worn out a bit
- I cleaned and greased/oiled eveything with the original Bambulab products and again with WD40 and other silicon lube brands
- Replaced the whole Hotend assembly (.04) AND the whole extruder assembly plus the cutter for good measure
- I already replaced the TH Board Set for the V9 version a few months ago.
- I unplugged the PTFE tube to get the filament directly through
- I checked the motor and I can’t even try to stop it turning, it’s very strong, so not the motor
- There is no error message appearing
- I read every topic that tlaks about extruding problem in this forum or even on reddit.
The filament is being pulled when I load it or pushed when unloading it but if I simply try to get the filament out, it still makes the grinding sound (more than 50% quieter but still there) and nothing comes out.
I’m getting a bit frustrated at the moment so before I throw that thing out the window in the parking lot I need some help. Did I forget something somewhere?? Sometimes it’s a small thingy or procedure issue but I am out of ideas. Pretty sure it’s something I’ll say “that easy?”. At this point, I wont get frustrated if it’s simple, I just want it to work!
Thanks for your help all!
