5th Gen Extruder Clicking Noise/Belt Snapped and Technical Support

[Joshua Wong]

I've bought a 5th Gen printer May this year.  Recently my extruder started making clicking noises and I followed the knowledge base article to re-level the plate and doing some test prints.  However, after a few test prints, the belt snapped.

So I submitted a case, and as most of us here have experienced, did not receive a response.  I called the Makerbot and the support staff indicated that they will ship the packing box/foams and the return label so I can ship my printer back for service (I threw out my original packaging already).

My question is: Do you know what is the typical turn around time for Makerbot to ship the packing box/foams/return label?  It's been a week and I wanted to print something for my daughter's upcoming birthday (at the end of August).  I just wanted to know the rough timeline so I can decide whether I should have Shapeways print it or wait for the printer to return to me and then print it myself.

Btw, for those of you interested this is what's happening to my print recently when the extruder started making clicking noises:

[Dan Newman]

> <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SP2KVeK28ys/U-OygSy0X4I/AAAAAAAAAAM/X7vbFMF6wG8/s1600/IMG_20140727_200843.jpg>

Sorry to hear that a belt broke. First I've ever heard of someone breaking
a belt this way. Was it a "normal" timing belt attached to a stepper motor
or some other sort of belt? Timing belts are normally very strong.

You need to PHONE MBI support. They are notoriously slow about tickets
submitted online. (But maybe Tiffany our moderator will see this and
follow up.)

BTW, were those 20 x 20 x 10 mm calibration cubes you were printing? They
looked a bit hollow. Just wanted to mention that if you were printing them
for purposes of adjusting the feedStockMultiplier in Makerbot Desktop, then
they should be printed completely solid (i.e., 100% infill).

Dan