I’ve been battling extruder problems all week. Every time I fix a problem it’s something else. Like okay, fine… but I got the process down to a science and I was really hoping after fixing the ptfe tubing and unclogging and cleaning the nozzle and stream lining the filament and got it all back and printing for like the 15th time that when the job finished I was in the clear. Great print as usual. No cfs problems as the filament retracted properly. But I’ll be damned if I didn’t get an error saying there is a filament read error or something. I knew what it was. I took the assembly apart again and there is filament in the stem. The cutter cut the filament. I’m losing my mind. I know I can unclog it and put it back together again and recalibrate and get another print done but what’s going on here that I’m missing? I’m not putting this thing back together again unless I feel like I’m actually fixing something. Help please?
I’m having sort of similar issues. Most errors for the extruder tends to be ghosts as there is nothing in the way or blocking anything. I have also got the extruder and nozzle removal down to a science. This is all right oit of the box with these issues. One thing I have noticed for my situation is I have to start the print from the screen on the printer AND it has to run the 2 print tests on the two sides of the bed in order to keep printing. Now most of my issues are more coming from the CFS when its changing filaments. I hit retry and it starts working for a few more layers then that same error comes up again. Hit retry and rinse repeat until the print is done. I wouldn’t think for $2k (printer and 2 CFS units) I would be having all the trouble out of the box like I have had but here we are. LOL Good Luck and I hope you find a fix for your issue as well. I’m sorry I couldnt help, but figured I would let you know you’re not alone.
I was having strange extruder errors and Buffer errors too. Then, while watching the blue LED light on the buffer, I moved the buffer connection cable on the top of the buffer, and the LED would flicker. I snapped apart the buffer, and took out the board. I found the connector had some cold/weak solder joints… reflowed them, and it has not failed since, nor have I had any extruder errors. I think the buffer unit is sending a false error signal that there is a filament jam, and then the extruder stops. Hope it helps a bit.
I’m unsure if this is relevant, but I had similar issues. The last issue indicated that I had a filament loaded from the external holder and would not use the CFS. I disassembled the extruder and removed the screws that held the extruder motor in place. I found that the little ribbon cable to the filament sensor was pinched between the motor mounting and the frame. I rerouted the cable and have not had the problem since. I plan on replacing that cable when support gets back to work!
I noticed mine flickers as well. I hadn’t thought to open it up but I’ll add that to the list. I’m going to order a soldering kit so maybe that will be a project for this weekend. I keep rebuilding this thing 5-10 times a night fixing a problem and getting new ones. It doesn’t seem to be just one specific problem at this point but I think I have that buffer problem as well so hopefully that will help. I appreciate it.
“Down to a science” cracks me up. I likened it to nascar pit crews changing a tire. I can do it in under 5 minutes easy now. I think a lot of my problems are ghosts but then sometimes they’re not. I found a post somewhere about the tiniest obstruction can cause a problem with the extruders sensor so the next time it gave me an error I took it apart and I did manage to find a tiny piece of red filament. It was the size of a hair. I had to use the zoom on my phone and take a picture to even get a decent look at it. I removed it and got the printer working for another 12 hours. It failed at 70% through the next 12hr print so I threw in the towel for a day. I’m sad this seems to be par for the course because when it prints it’s awesome. Plus my fingers hurt at this point. I checked the error logs last night and I’m at like 50 errors since I factory reset the printer Monday so that’s 50 times I’ve taken apart the extruder assembly in 72 hours.