It all works except no filament comes out

[Joejatkins]

Hello there, i am new to 3D printing and have only had my RL200 for a few months, but in that time I have still to manage to get a single thing to print. It is all set-up correctly and the repetier is working fine - I load a model, i slice, i send to print and the machine goes through all the right movements to print but no filament ever comes out .... Frank it is driving me a little mad.
The boss of Rapide light for some unknown reason has taken a dislike to me and won't answer any e-mailsso I can get no help from there.
I am wondering if there is a problem with the stepper motor that feeds the filament (i have aligned it many times now) but I just don't know how to check this and indeed, if that's what it is, then how to go about fixing it.
Currently my 3D RL200 is an expensive door stop - I would like it to be more.
Can anyone suggest what I might try next.
I have had conversations with Justin ay 3Dprinting TV, a lovely chap and very helpful, but we have not been able to solve this issue.
Any help would be gratefully received and acted upon.
Ciao
Joe

[milstream]

Sounds like you have probably done a lot of checks and instead of starting from the beginning it might be helpful to know which direction to start so...

Do you know if the extruder stepper is working? Take the extruder assembly off the X-Wing, connect to Repetier, heat up the extruder and manually ask for 10-100mm. Look at the shaft through the end plate and is it turning?

[bolsoncerrado]

May be your extruder has a missplaced wheel, like many of us got...

Where in the world are you located?

EDIT: Italia?

You can send me the extruder and I can take a look at it if you want. I'm on Spain.

[Zl1aox]

Hi Joe, I would check that your nozzle is clear. To check this:
1. Using your repetier turn nozzle heater on and set temperature to 210 degrees
2. While nozzle is warming, loosen the two allen key screws next to where the filament feeds down to nozzle.
3. When nozzle temperature reached, you should be able to push the filament by hand down through the mechanism and have a stream of molten filament coming out of nozzle. If you can't do this, then there is a blockage between the top and bottom. To fix, refer to messages about unblocking nozzle on this reflector.
4. If filament flows, then for some reason the extruder is either not turning (broken wire to stepper motor?), or the extruder has some other mechanical problem and is not gripping the filament.
5. If after hand feeding works, tighten both of the screws mentioned in #3 (about 3 turns) and using Repetier host click on extruder 10mm. There are two choices, use the left one which will try and extrude at normal rate, or the right one will force 10 mm out at full speed of stepper motor. If nothing happens, you probably have an electrical issue in the stepper motor or the wiring. If you have never had the bottom cover off, it could be worth while checking that all the wires to the mother board are properly seated. (Make sure power is off before taking off panel.)

[Joejatkins]

Guys,
Thanks so much for the replies - bolsoncerrado - I am in the south central region of France.
I am going to take it all apart ...again!!!! then if I still have no luck maybe I will take you up on the offer and snd it to you.
Where about in Spain are you?

[bolsoncerrado]

near Barcelona. YOu're welcome.

[BobenhamHotspur]

Guys,
Thanks so much for the replies - bolsoncerrado - I am in the south central region of France.
I am going to take it all apart ...again!!!! then if I still have no luck maybe I will take you up on the offer and snd it to you.
Where about in Spain are you?

No need to take it apart again, just yet. Follow the steps above from Zl1ao and hand feed some filament through the extruder first. If that works then other check involving some disassembly may be necessary. The key is to do things logically and methodically, not just jump to possible solution number 12 and hope that works.

[Joejatkins]

UPDATE: There is filament, but so little that nothing will hold together? plenty comes out if I push it and I have run it through while disassembled and it appears to feed ok - when assembled and running from the Repeater host - almost no filament?

[Holgamods]

Then your settings are wronging repeater......

[bolsoncerrado]

Are you sure there's no residue left inside? hmmm... it's indeed weird.