3D Printer

[aliss...@gmail.com]

I've been using a Lulzbot 3D printer with my students for a while. It seems to clog regularly. Often I can unclog it on my own, but sometimes I have to send it back, because I'm not skilled enough to disassemble the tool head. Is that a regular thing with 3D printers or are there other printers which are more "user friendly"?

Thank You,

Alissa Ossip

Educational Technology Specialist

Yeshiva Har Torah

[JD Pirtle]

Not sure how old your Lulzbot is, but we have an old one at our school and I've printed a few things with it. It definitely tends to clog in the same way printers like the old MakerBot Replicator 2s would. We are using Prusa Minis for all 3D printing and I rarely encounter a clog with those...even using generic filament for them. 

Might be worth the saved time and frustration to buy something like a Prusa or Bambu. 

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[Sandee Bisson]

Alissa,

I use the Dremel DigiLab 3D45. It's expensive to purchase and runs best with its own filament, which is more expensive than generic filament. I never have an issue with it. It is very reliable.

I chose this machine because it had a reputation for being very user friendly and it is. I've had mine for 3 years and have run hundreds of prints with very few frustrations (one clog, very occasional adherence issues). I need to get a second machine and am trying to decide to just get a second Dremel or branch out to a Prusa.

Hope this helps!

Sandee

Sandee Bisson Maker Educator and Lower School STEAM Curriculum Designer 415-294-4901 office pronouns: she, her, hers  (why is this important?)

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[Joan Horvath]

Have you tried a cold pull with some nylon? Some bit of crud might be stuck in there that isn't coming out with PLA. Or maybe the nozzle is a bit beat up and just replacing the nozzle, if possible on your model, will get you there. Nozzles do wear out and get dinged up sometimes, particularly if you use abrasive filaments (glow in the dark is a surprising one) and then might be more prone to clogging up.

Also, are you sure it is a clog and not the filament jamming someplace farther back in the chain?

Just some other things to try - Lulzbots are usually workhorses.

- Joan Horvath

Nonscriptum LLC 3D printing and maker tech

[Joseph Chiu (Toybuilder)]

If you continue to experience it despite even after having sent it out to be professionally serviced, there are a few additional things to consider:

1) Are you frequently switching between filaments?  If so, it's important to purge the nozzle of all remnant of the old filament - run the extruder at the higher temperature of the two filaments for about 30 seconds before running the new filament at its appropriate temperature.  If small bits of old filament is in the feedpath (dust in the extruder gear, left over small amounts in the nozzle), they can accumulate unmelted until you get clogged.

2) Calibrate. If you can unload and reload the filament and it seems to work fine for a while, you might have calibration issues.  Make sure you are printing at the right temperature and at the right filament diameter/flow rate settings.  Over-extrusion can sometimes result in behavior that looks like a clog.  Wrong temps can as well.

3) Manage heat creep - if prints tend to fail after the printer has been running a while, but the problem goes away after it's had a chance to cool down for a long time, you might have issues that come with the areas beyond the hotend getting too warm and allowing the filament to deform and not feed correctly.  I've temporarily worked around that in a few instances by blowing a box fan right into the printer to pull more air through.  If that solves the problem, double check that your cooling fans are working and are the correct flow rate.  Sometimes, quieter/cheaper fans seem to be okay, but have too little flow.

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