Hello, I had noticed a few things yesterday when troubleshooting another issue and wanted to see if this is just normal wear and tear. This is my first 3D printer so I want to set my expectations properly.
The big green gear on the extruder of my Taz 6 has some wear marks (slightly lighter color deep in the gear teeth) and there is a some green dust on the toolhead carriage. Does this just happen over the course of regular use, or is something wearing incorrectly? Aside from having some temperamental filament, everything extrudes properly and I can’t hear anything i would consider unusual.
PICS: https://imgur.com/a/t2kPl
Also, when the filament retracts during a print, the gear makes a fairly loud clicking sound when it changes direction rapidly. Is that normal as well? I noticed this when I had my retract speed setting set to 15mm. Aside from the sound, it looks to be retracting properly as a lot of the stringing issues I had have subsided.
Lastly, the hot end has some gunky build up that looks like it’s from the sheathing of the red wire melting a bit since it is touching the hot metal. This started within the first couple of prints. Is that anything to be worried about, or do I just need to give the nozzle a good clean?
PIC: https://imgur.com/a/eYHOK
Thanks again. I’m just looking to figure out what is to be expected and what is a problem.