I’ve just bought a TAZ 3 this week and got my nozzle clogged after switching from ABS to PLA and then to ABS.
I don’t know the better option to unclog it … 
Heat up the nozzle, tighten up the extruder clamps and run the extruder to clear the nozzle. You may have to use some really small magnet wire to help clean the tip, which is available at Radio Shack BTW. After that you should be good to go.
You’ll have to heat it up to ABS temps to purge the ABS out. So heat it up to 220C or so, and keep pushing PLA through until all the ABS is out. Pull out the PLA, drop the temp to 170C or whatever, then print the PLA.
Hello guys.
I think I have a good workaround for this problem that took me one minute to execute.
I’ve just drilled the plastic through out the nozzle (inserting the drill bit where we usually put the filament) with the holder oppened and with everything in ambient temperature.
I used a milwaukee 1/8" (3,18mm) (extended length) drill bit.
It worked for me but I don’t know if it is a safe procedure or it can damage your nozzle.
There was no need to unmount anything.
I hope it helps.
That sounds a bit dangerous…
After reading through this thread I’m realizing I must have really bad luck. I have had my TAZ3 for 4 months now. I had a lot of issues at first (mainly user errors and rookie mistakes) I eventually got it all sorted out and began getting quality and consistent prints. I launched my website and began mass production of some small custom badges. It’s been 3 weeks and it’s all gone VERY wrong. My TAZ3 could go about 10 prints before it would start to have bad looking prints. It looked like I was just not getting enough ABS pushed through the nozzle. About print 12 it would completely clog and nothing would come out. I removed the .35 nozzle and soaked it in acetone all night and then started printing again with success the next day. Soon I could only get to about 8 prints, then 4-5 prints, then 2, then 1, and now I can’t even get through one print without clogging. I have checked, double checked, and triple checked the tightness on the tensioner bolts. I have not changed the gcode files. I am using the same ones I used 2 months ago that printed perfectly. I have not changed brand filament. I’m using the ABS from matterhackers.com. I have been using their filament for quite some time on my Makerbot Replicator 2 with zero issues, so I know their filament is good quality. I was told I was having dust issues. So I printed the little dust collector piece I got from the guys here and mounted that right where the filament goes into the head. I put some microfiber in there. I change it out between every print. That didn’t help. I then put all my filament that had been sitting out away and bought new filament. I will remove it from the bag and put it directly on the printer. STILL didn’t help. I am now keeping all filaments in sealed bags when not in use. I eventually built a sealed box for the printer and silicone in all edges so it’s pretty much air tight. STILL can’t get a good print. My printer used to be able to print for 12 hours plus without issue. I can now print only one print and ONLY if it is under 4 hours. At the 4 hour point I can literally watch the filament start to slow down and kill the print.Eventually (at about 4.5-5 hours) the filament stops extruding entirely. That window of functional time is going down with every print. I am now totally stumped on what to do next. I just can’t waste any more filament. I also can’t spend the time soaking tips and replacing tips for EVERY print. I now have orders I can’t fill and a machine I can’t get to work. I have replaced the entire budaschnozzle 2.0 twice and have a pile of .35 tips that are either soaking or on stand by for the next print at all times. I have spent hours on the phone with guys from Luzlbot, on forums, google, etc. etc. I have given up. Any advice/help would be GREATLY appreciated. Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to get all the info out there from the beginning. I REALLY hope one of you makes me feel really stupid and see something super obvious that I’m just not seeing.
I’m not seeing anything like you are. I turn the printer on, load the program on an SD card and print. Short time long times, it doesn’t matter. I’ve got two extruders, one with a .5nozzle and one with a .35 nozzle, both wor fine. The only time that the printer failed to work is when the power resistor failed. No big deal, sent it back and Lulzbot fixed it in a couple days and mailed it back. I now have resistors in stock so I can make the repairs myself.
The bottom line for me is that the machine just works. I would recommend that you go back to square one and check your setup. I have printed with the cheapest filament that I can find from eBay and the machine handles it all. As long as the hot end heats and you have enough pressure on the filament the extruder should be able to push plastic through the nozzle.
I’ll follow up with the support folks to see what they know about this. But soaking your nozzles is definitely a sign something is way off. (FWIW, I have never soaked a single one, ever.)
Are you sure the temp isn’t dropping or something that? Photos help a lot. If you already sent them to support, I’ll see them there.
Thanks,
-Jeff
Check the two extruder gears to see if they are meshing tightly and with very little play. During a test print, pause the print, then with your hand, try to turn the large gear. You shouldn’t be able to turn the large gear while the motor is powered. If the large gear can rotate, then the small gear on the extruder stepper motor shaft may need to be resecured (3m set screw in the base).
I have checked the gears and bearings. Everything is nice and tight with zero movement. The belts are also nice and tight. I have leveled the platform perfectly and my fist layer sticks and looks perfect every time. I also clean off the geared bolt (not sure the name) that pushes the filament through. Everytime my printer jams I have to use the dentist pick tool thing provided to clear all the chewed up filament off the teeth. Last night I ran a print that took 4.5 hours. It started having issues in the last 15 minutes. I was able to do a bunch of sanding to make the final layer look good, but that print needed zero sanding 6-8 weeks ago. My parts now adhere to the platform during printing so that isn’t an issue either. I’m just stumped on what to do. I need my machine to be running all day when I’m at work. I intentionally set up my prints to run for the 10 hours I’m gone for work and then run for 10 hours during the night. Unfortunately with only being able to print for about 4 hours, I can’t run the printer during the day or night. BTW, I’m running two colors so at the 90% mark on every print I have to switch the reels. I go to bed and when I wake up the color is ready to be changed. right before I leave for work I remove that print and start the new one. As soon as I get home from work the color is ready to be changed again. It was a fantastic system that worked beautifully for about 3 weeks. I was very efficient and pushing a lot of product. None of that can happen anymore.
What colors and materials are you using? What temperatures are you using for each? If you are using a pause command in order to be able to switch out the filament, what temperature is the printer idling at while waiting for the change?
I’m running black and silver for some prints (black first, then silver). I am also running red and silver with red first. I’m using 3mm ABS from Matterhackers. I have been using their filament in PLA for my makerbot for a while with zero issues. They do free shipping, have great customer service, and are quite knowledgable so I keep going back. There pricing is ok but not great. My temps are the factory setting of 230 for the nozzle and 85 for the bed. I have been using the print profiles that were posted on Lulzbot’s website. I must say that the older print profiles were rather poorly developed. I had to make quite a few changes to them to get quality and consistent prints. The newer print profiles seem to print much better as is with zero changes, but even those wont print anymore. I have tried numerous approaches to switching the color. I used to “pause” the print then raise the Z axis and then write down the location. I would swap out the color quickly then lower the Z axis back down to the original location (using the LCD screen and button/dial) and then “resume” the print. My issue with that was the Z axis adjustment was HORRIBLE. Sometimes it would have a large gap between the print and nozzle and other times it would smash the nozzle down into the print. In every situation I would return the Z axis to the original starting point (at least that’s what it would say on the LCD screen. I have since stopped taking that approach. I then switched to the “hot swap” where you just cut the filament off during the printing process, run the new filament up the tube and manually feed the filament into the nozzle while it’s moving. That is a HUGE pita. My success rate doing that approach was around 60-70%. That meant WAY too much wasted material. The pause/move z axis/resume approach was around 40-50% successful. So that wasn’t an option either. My final and most successful approach was to "pause " the build QUICKLY swap the new filament in and hit “resume” without ever moving the Z axis. If you don’t do this quick the nozzle will literally burn a hole in your print. I wait until the nozzle is filling in an internal area so you see no damage from the outside. That approach is close to 100% successful and the easiest approach. The temp at change is at the 230 the entire time, but the swap takes me about 15 seconds now. I have gotten pretty good at the swap.
Have you talked to Matterhackers about the filament? I am currently having nozzle clogging problems with a roll of red 3mm ABS from them.
If there are problems with a batch of filament, they need to know so they can work with their supplier.
I have spent quite a bit of time working with them trying to figure out if my issues were from their filament. I know a few others that are local that have used their filament without issue. I never did find out with certainty if their filament was the issue. I did switch over to the PRO PLA on my makerbot and was VERY impressed with the quality. I was thinking about switching over to the PRO grade on the ABS as well. Maybe that will make the difference.
What sort of badges do you make?
Uh, I know this may just sound like marketing hype, but we do buy the best filament we can to avoid these issues. This is what we have in our store. WE HAVE NEVER EVER HAD TO SOAK A NOZZLE IN ACETONE DUE TO USING OUR FILAMENT. We have printed hundreds of thousands of parts. Just sayin’. I don’t know Matterhackers filament, but even in this thread there is another person saying there are potential issues. I’ve also read it elsewhere. Just because one reel worked, doesn’t mean the next will–they may not have consistent manufacturing. I don’t mean to bash Matterhackers, but if you are soaking your nozzle in acetone, to me that means bad filament…
-Jeff
So I have spent the last two days going through all of my filament from matterhackers. I first started using some digital dial calipers to see if there was any inconsistencies with diameter. I went through a couple spools and all was quite consistent. I then got into the newer stuff and started finding issues. I had two red and a silver spool that were all over the place. They ranged from 2.82-3.01 in variance. That’s ridiculous! I then began to unroll the spool and started noticing white spots all mixed in. It looked like the wire had been bent which causes the white coloring. But it was all over the spool. I then decided to grab some of my old spools that had a little bit of filament still on them and started printing with them. Sure enough I had zero clogs. I then went to the newer stuff and very quickly I got clogs. I then looked at the batch # posted on each one and realized that every spool that kept clogging up my nozzle had the same batch number. The spools that did not have that batch number were fine. I called matterhackers and told them of my findings. They are sending me new spools. I will be going with the PRO this time and not the standard. Hopefully this will fix my issue. I already switched to the PRO with my makerbot and saw a huge difference in finish. My next hurdle is the uselessness of slic3r. For some reason I can’t get it to slice anymore. Prints take hours to slice instead of minutes. I am also noticing errors in the prints that are not related to clogs. I guess I need to start a new thread in the software section for this.
bhicks,
Thanks for the update on what you found with the Matterhackers filament.
But I must ask, why not buy LulzBot filament?
-Jeff
For me, this is why.
I can get a spool of MatterHackers delivered for $33 for the standard stuff and $44 for the pro.
Another way that worked for me to unclog the nozzle is the following:
First, turn off my printer and wait untill everything is in ambient temperature.
Second, turn on my printer and select pre heat for ABS.
Third, with the nozzle holder opened, I lightly pull the filament by hand. I would say abou 1 to 2 kgf.
Then just wait til the temperature is enough to have my filament out.
I holpe it helps.
att