Hi all, finally got my voltages dialled in correctly on my k8400 and have nice smooth axis movements, however, I ran across a problem…
in 2 prints one 2 hours and one at 4 hours, using pla filament, all prints absolutely lovely til around the final half an hour, when the filament is jamming in and around the pulley/hob. There is no apparent blockage in the extruder/nozzle, as after removing the jam, the printer then prints fine - until the last 1/2 hour(ish).
any advice please?
tia doing my head in
Is your printer in a heat chamber? This happened to me allot when printing PLA in my soundproof box. It would heat up slowly till it hits 40°C and the pla starts to get soft. I mounted the upgraded feeder which has a longer guide tube. That fixed it for me.
Kind regards
JeAfKe
[quote=“jeafke”]Is your printer in a heat chamber? This happened to me allot when printing PLA in my soundproof box. It would heat up slowly till it hits 40°C and the pla starts to get soft. I mounted the upgraded feeder which has a longer guide tube. That fixed it for me.
Kind regards
JeAfKe[/quote]
can you link me to the upgraded feeder please?
You should check the pulley.
Make sure the screw that holds on the motor is tight and the alignment is correct.
Yes, I’ve checked those when I had the issue…
But afterwards I printed this in PLA and worked fine… But it started warping when again getting above 40°C
Now I have printed it in ABS and works perfectly since then.
Improved feeder
thingiverse.com/thing:967475
Hehe what do you think of my Feeder Jeafke? Got any ideas for improvement? You using the 1.0 or the 1.1 Version?
// Ted aka Marlark/Cinya 
[quote=“Marlark”]Hehe what do you think of my Feeder Jeafke? Got any ideas for improvement? You using the 1.0 or the 1.1 Version?
// Ted aka Marlark/Cinya ;)[/quote]
/
nice so far, but it seems to print a little too thick on the z axis, what is proper dimensions of final print please? I’m printing 1.1
ok so after 2 failed tries with latest version, reverted to the original design for the feeder, which appears to be working a treat, cheers guys
Hi everyone,
A week ago I installed a second printhead and thought that the extruder clicking was a blocked nozzle. Cleaned it two times before I looked at the extruder. The assembling instructions gives a mounting distance of the filament pulley on the stepper motor of 19,5 mm, but I think you’d better set the pulley another way that’s far more reliable because this distance is listening closely:
- Take off (only) the bolt of the release lever and remove lever and spring;
- Turn the pulley to the open side of the housing in such a way that the set screw can be reached with the allen key;
- Loosen the set screw al little bit;
- Remove the filament tube and take a piece of about 80 mm filament and bend it straight;
- Push the filament through the tube fitting downwards till it comes out of the lowest hole of the extruder housing;
- Shove the pulley in such a way the filament is exact perpendicular levelled in the extruder, thighten the set screw and apply the release lever and spring again.
No more clicking… Maybe someone else earlier had the same advice, I never searched for it but two times the same can’t harm 
Have a nice day.
Well it’s pretty much perfect IMHO. No issues whatsoever It was a serious though job to print them in ABS since I didn’t had a heat bed back then. I’ve used v1 and v1.1 the first I printed in PLA and warped after a while due to the heat. The only thing I’m a bit concerned about is how far the pulley needs to be on the stepper shaft. I can imagine the bearings inside the stepper will wear somewhat faster this way due to the increased force that this generates.
-So maybe decrease the thickness of the baseplate?
-make a hole to tighten the grub screw… This took a while to get the pulley aligned perfectly. I think with the original velleman one you can do this by only having the lever inserted without the spring, guide some filament trough and jerk around until its in the right place. And can tighten the pulley on the side. I don’t like preset numbers cuz every machine/part is slightly different. SO that would be IDEAL. Maybe add the distance between the top of the shaft and the top of the pulley to the instructions so it’s a little more easy installing it for the first time?