I have a TAZ 6 with the Dual Extruder 3.1, using Polylite PLA in E1.
It prints for about 40 minutes, and clogs pretty much every time. It stops extruding and the feeding gear starts grinding into the line.
I have lost quite a few prints this way. Every time I have to clear the clog, get out the clog and get all the junk out of the feed gear.
What can I do?
You have the 3.1 upgrade? That was supposed to mitigate the heat creep that was common with the Dual Extruder V3. It would appear that LulzBot’s 3.1 fix isn’t good enough for you.
On the V3, the shared heatsink had, IMO, poorly engineered cooling flow. The solution that worked for me is https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3213878. I was able to get the stock fan to attach with some careful rerouting of the existing wiring. There are also higher CFM 40mm fans that can be used if necessary.
Other things to try are lowering the nozzle temperature, use an external fan to blow on the tool head (PLA loves cooling so this shouldn’t affect your prints). You may have to reduce the speed as well as the temperature (giving the filament just a little more time in the hot zone).
Thank you so much for the suggestion! I am currently printing the shroud, and looking forward to seeing if it helps.
I purchased the 3.1 as soon as it became available, since I had been looking for a v3 for some time. The impossible gears model seemed to work fine, but otherwise it’s been such a headache. I was getting quite frustrated, like ‘looking at a new printer from the competition’ frustrated.
PLA also loves water. Dry PLA for 6 to 9 hours before printing at 50 C. Grind through is almost ALWAYS wet filament.
In my 10+ years of printing with FFF (5 with my Taz 6?) I have never had a clogged extruder. The only thing that got close was a spool of this awful nasty Kodak PLA+ which burnt at the temperature they said to print at.
So besides coked Kodak and PVA the only thing that clogs extruders is dust and dirt. I doubt your printer is clogging. I am almost willing to bet it is wet PLA.
I modified the extruder using that article, and it has helped. I have found that the settings the S1 Polydissolve which I was also having lots of problems with have the temperatures way too high, and that filament ends up burning in the hot end.