Manual Extruder problem, duplicator i3 Mini

[Doubird]

hi, when i go into quick settings and click on Extruder, nothing happens. It won't go forward or back. I mean that it won't extrude any filament or retract either. The other options like Z, Home all, etc work. What can I do to fix this? thanks

[TommyDee]

Hello Doubird and welcome to the forum. I don't know much about a Duplicator. What should a forward or backwards selections be doing? Is this a new machine or is this a recent development? A little context might help someone answer better. Thanks.

[Doubird]

hi i edited my post to explain more. I mean that it won't extrude any filament or retract either. When you go into settings/move and click on extruder, the filament should come out but it does nothing anymore. I have a feeling that it is a hardware problem inside the machine where all the wires etc are. I do not want to open it up until someone tells me for sure to do so.

[TommyDee]

Is the temperature up to extrusion temperature? Can you tell?

[Doubird]

yes, the temperature is fine. it is at 200 or 220. All other settings on the machine work except the extruder. And it used to work before so I don't know why it stopped.

[TommyDee]

What drives the filament is the stepper motor. This is controlled inside the box by a special device that tells the stepper motor exactly how much to turn. There is either a problem with the wire between the motor and the special device or either of these devices quit. Is there warranty on the unit?

[Doubird]

Sadly no warranty. I guess i could open it up and see if there is a wire problem. If not and it is the device or devices that quit then there is nothing to do. The printer still works fine, prints okay. I was trying to fix the problem of when printing, it will will often drag a filament line accross my print. I tried the Retraction settings in cura. I tried the combing settings and it did not help. So i saw online something about Calibrating extruder. Make a mark on your filament: ex 3inches and Manually extrude and see if it extrudes the 3 inches... something like that. So I guess I'll do some more tests in Cura with retraction and combing. Thanks for your time and help. Stay safe and take care.

[TommyDee]

If the printer works except during the setup then the motor and electronics are working. Therefore maybe trying to calibrate, you have somehow disabled this function? Do you have a full factory reset procedure?