Poor prints - CubePro Duo/ 2.02 firmware/3ds slicer - Help?

[RicciEU]

Hello all,

I have been having some very poor prints and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions around what may be the cause and how I can improve the prints?

I am using a CubePro Duo/2.02 firmware and using the 3DS OEM slicer. Printing is set to solid. I am achieving the same results with 3DS, Amazon Basic, and Smartfil filaments.

Attachment 4284

The print above stopped prematurely due to filament issues. I ran the nozzle cleaning option and it seemed to be no problem.

Then . . .

2.jpg

7.jpg

It doesn't seem to be printing solid, is it possible that the feeder is set too slow?

Any ideas?

Cheers,

RS

[bolsoncerrado]

Is this PLA?

I wouldnt say "too slow" when underextrusion appears but perhaps partial clog that appears intermitently...

[TommyDee]

I got something similar when ABS was running hot by about 10C.

[RicciEU]

It's ABS. I have spent the last two days swapping around print head assemblies between two machines and from what I can tell it appears to be a software issue. When I manually control the jet I can head the hot end to 260c and set the feed rate at 2.0rpm and it works fine. I can also do an internal nozzle clean and all works fine. When I try and print a gap calibration test discharge from the jet is intermittent and inconsistent.

So based on that today I'm going to try and re-flash the firmware.

[RicciEU]

Well it definitely not the firmware. Reflashed it and no change. I can hear a deep ticking which I am assuming that noise is the feeder slipping for some reason.

This is the gap test print:

Gap Test.jpg

- - - - - - - - - -

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to clear a hot end. I'm not sure if a partially blocked jet is the cause but I would like to try it.

I'm not sure if it's related but I have only experienced this since I started using 3rd party filament. The problem also seem to get progressively worse.

Cheers,

RS

- - - - - - - - - -

So I managed to get one out of three print heads to work. It's now printing to a decent standard.

One nozzle is definitely blocked, so I guess I will try acetone. I was thinking that I would stand it upright and then pour some acetone down the filament channel and let is soak for a couple of days and then try wire or air pressure to clear it.

As for the third print head, in my haste I damaged the filament sensor so now have to buy a complete unit.

I am guessing I would try ebay for parts. Does anyone know of any site that sells CubePro parts?

Cheers,

RS

[TommyDee]

You are bold RicciEU. I run only 3DS ABS in my CubePro Duo. I really don't want to learn how to unclog the nozzles. Is it possible your filament of choice requires a little extra temperature? I never had clogs with Cube3 with 3rd party ABS - it just made those turn-backs thin like your original image.

The way to clear the nozzles is a special filament using a 'cold-pull' method.

[Cubical]

Did you try taking the feed section of the extruder apart? Remove four hex bolts and the two pieces of the feed unit pull apart. I had filament get wrapped around the feed wheel. By taking it apart it was easy to clear. I had thought of using acetone but in retrospect I don't think it could have worked for my type of jam -- I think it would've made it worse.

One thing to note is that the gap between the serrated feed roller and the idle roller is adjustable. So when reassembling it, before I tightened the bolts I inserted a piece of filament. What I actually found was that making the gap as wide as possible still had ample "bite" into the filament without causing the motor to stall out, which is a problem I had with certain 3rd party filaments.

[TommyDee]

Interesting to note the adjustable gap. That is a new twist. Glad to see you got it working again. Acetone would have made a mess for sure.

[Cubical]

Small update to this -- in the extruder I had opened the gap all the way up, I switched to a different filament (nylon) and it no longer would feed reliably, probably because nylon is a bit slippery. So I had to take the extruder back out and tighen up the gap a bit. After doing so all was well again.

[RicciEU]

Hi Guy's, Sorry for the late reply.
I have been playing around with the Extruders and what I have found is the problem is solely with the aftermarket ABS . . . so far. Amazon ABS and Smartfil ABS. Both end up jamming. They print for 5-10 min then they jam and the print quality is extremely poor.
If I immediately swap out the ABS for PLA it prints perfectly.
I have taken the extruders apart as you mentioned Cubical and reassembled with no change. Like you Cubical when I reassemble the extruder I put a small section of filament in the feed rollers so I can have the perfect spacing. If it too tight it will jam and if its too lose it tends to slip.
As the Cubepro doesn't have a heated bed I do get deformation when I use ABS, which is very unhelpful as most of the parts I print are for prototypes I am working on. PLA does print better but PLA is a bit brittle for what I need so I have ordered some PETG. I am hoping that it will print like the PLA.
I am trying to find replacement hot ends and full extruder/hotend assemblies. Once I have those I will cut an old blocked hotend in half and see whats going on in the hotend.
I have one hotend that is fully blocked, so I have removed from the extruder assembly and I have filled it with acetone to see if I can breakdown the ABS inside and unblock it. It's been two days, I'll give it a couple more and then try and clear it.
I am wondering if the heat could be causing this? The CubePro prints ABS at 260c, both the Amazon and Smartfil ABS state the max temp should be 250c, so I am wondering if that 10c could be causing the ABS to burn in the hotend?