Replicator 5th Gen, Smart Extruder cooling down while printing

[Sascha Willems]

While trying to print a bigger model, I noticed that our printer stopped extruding at some point after laying down the raft. At first I thought that it was the cloggin issue mentioned over here, but the extruder doesn't seem to be clogged, as everytime I restart the print, it extrudes again without any problems.

So I restarted the same print again and noticed that the smart extruder's temperature is falling at a constant rate until at some point it cooled down so much that it stops extruding. 

Any idea as to why the printer isn't able to re-heat the extruder while printing? We already printed several bigger models, but I haven't encountered this issue yet :/

[Ryan Brodowicz]

How much of a temperature drop are you seeing? 

My R5G is set to run at 230C but it seems to hover around 225-229C while printing. This is with no external fan blowing. I think you would have to see a significant drop in temperature for it to actually stop extruding, somewhere around 180C if I had to guess (the melting point of PLA is 170-178C). If you are seeing a drop in temperature that is a LOT lower than your set printing temp, give Makerbot Support a call, do not email them. They are pretty bad at responding to emails in a timely fashion currently, but a quick phone call will get you someone right away (provided you call within business hours which you can find on their site). 

[Sascha Willems]

Last time I cancelled the print, after leaving it unattented for about 10 minutes, the temperature dropped down to a mere 27°C (yes, twenty-seven!). I'll try to contact our german reseller as we have a priority support contrat. Getting Makerbot USA on the phone during business hours can be tricky due to the difference in time zones ;)

[robotastik]

I had this exact same issue. It was printing fine out of the box for 10 hours or so. Then for no reason the temperature would start to drop on every print after about 10 minutes of printing until the nozzle clogged. MBI will want you to send the nozzle back for replacement.

[Sascha Willems]

Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Trying to print a bigger model today several times, the printe reported homing errors, though the smart extruder wasn't attached anymore in the midst of printing (which wasn't the case) and now the belt that moves the whole smart extruder platform was torn appart, so the printer is pretty much defunct now.

I can't unterstand how a company can put something unfinished like this on the market..

[Ryan Carlyle]

Sascha, it's called the "Cult of Done" and it's part of MBI's corporate culture.

Also, there is an enormous amount of money riding on MBI's 2014 sales. The terms of the merger with Stratasys are pinned to this year's sales.

[Ryan Carlyle]

They might sell you a cardboard box with a dead parrot inside and call it a printer if they thought they could keep you from returning it this year.

[Scottbee]

They say that for every project there comes a time where you have to shoot the Engineer and go into production.

But sometimes the Engineer gets whacked a little prematurely!

(knowing exactly when to cap the helpless bastard is the key to manufacturing success)

[Sascha Willems]

"Luckily" the cambelt hasn't been torned apart. The cambelt is clipped atop the slider with it's two ends, so it's not torn but one of the ends jumped out of the clip. So it looks like this can be fixed pretty easily, although the clip doesn't look too stable I wonder if this a device that'll last for several years :/

[Dan Newman]

On 16/04/2014, 5:53 AM, Ryan Carlyle wrote:
> Sascha, it's called the "Cult of Done" and it's part of MBI's corporate culture.
>
> Also, there is an enormous amount of money riding on MBI's 2014 sales. The terms of the merger with Stratasys are pinned to this year's sales.

Ah yes, this

Additionally, MakerBot owners will be entitled to up to an additional 2.38 million SSYS
shares under a performance based earn-out provision through the end of 2014. This
represents another $201 million compensation based on the June 19 closing price.

That's how it was reported at

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1512152-game-changing-merger-of-makerbot-by-stratasys-key-facts-for-3d-print-investors

Other news outlets also covered it. It would all be in the SEC filings.

Dan

[Dan Newman]

On 16/04/2014, 6:52 AM, Scottbee wrote:
> They say that for every project there comes a time where you have to shoot
> the Engineer and go into production.
>
> But sometimes the Engineer gets whacked a little prematurely!
>
> (knowing exactly when to cap the helpless bastard is the key to
> manufacturing success)

This is how we refer to it in software,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8

Dan

[xj5373]

Hi,
My 5th generation machine arrived with this plastic belt joiner broken - it has a very small detent/clip feature each end to clip it back to the alloy angle bracket that is itself attached to the linear rail. Makerbot would not ship me a replacement part so I had to ship it back to them in the US.
Shipping back has not gone well - the machine got stuck in customs waiting for documentation.
I need to decide whether to take it back or take a refund and try something else......any ideas? CubeX for example?
Ian

[Ryan Carlyle]

Replicator 2. Stay away from Cube products unless you WANT to pay >5x more for "closed" filament.

[xj5373]

What about Ultimaker 2?

[Ryan Carlyle]

Some people like them. Cost and logistics for parts may be prohibitive in the US. Try asking in https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/3dprintertipstricksreviews

[Wirlan Delgado (Costa Rica)]

I received my 5fth generation by the end of March, today after hours and hours of trying to get it to work and a Smart Extruder replacement received I called in to just return it and get a refund but they said I was already outside my return window so think fast if you would like to return it as you might go outside your return window even when you reported the problem a few days or hours later upon printer delivery. MBI going for bad reputation now...

[Ryan Carlyle]

Standard warranty should be 6 months -- call back to try to get a different tech support person.

[CraXgt]

Just wanted to let you know that I've noticed the same issue. It starts at the first infill part of a print. Temperature drops around 4-6°. Looks like a firmware issue to me, as it otherwise heats and keeps the temperature fine just like it should.

[Oneironaut7]

27C seems extreme for normal operation. Is your active cooling nozzle on correctly or even on at all?  The cooling nozzle is a black clip on the bottom of the extruder that surrounds the hot end on the 3 sides. If not installed or seated properly the active cooling fan will blow directly onto the hotend causing temperature issues.

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