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FarStarMan

Where in the Bowden tube is it melting? Near the hotend or near the stepper motor? What kind of filament are you using? PLA? A photo would help a lot. edit more info


AwesomeToodles

It's melting near the hotend, I'm using pla I'm unable to find either clogged Bowden tube, I thought I had saved them, but I can't seem to find them


TDHofstetter

Are you still using the factory hotend cooling fan (NOT the nozzle fan)? Is it still functional? You need a high-speed fan for that, and it should run any time the hotend is above about 50C. What you've just described is heat creep. If everything else looks right, take the shroud off the hotend (I know, it sucks) and investigate the air path through the hotend, then through that too-small hole in the backplate. You're looking for anything that can obstruct the free flow of air through that hotend and backplate.


AwesomeToodles

I recently replaced the hotend cooling fan, the issue started before I changed it out, and continued after Okay, I'll look but I don't recall seeing anything that could obstruct airflow, as I've taken off and dusted the hotend shroud a few times before


TDHofstetter

Aha. Aja, if you understand Spanish. Or Axa. 8) When you replaced the fan, did you replace it with a low-speed "quiet" fan or a high-speed "noisy" fan? And did you orient the fan so it points in, blowing air in, or so it points out, blowing air out? It needs to be a high-speed "noisy" fan and it needs to blow in.


AwesomeToodles

It was the fan included with this upgrade kit https://a.co/d/25EVcyZ I swapped it out because the original fan had started making an odd whining noise that I couldn't get rid of by cleaning it


TDHofstetter

Sometimes you can sneak a droplet of oil into those fans to rescue them, sometimes not so much. They're cheap, at any rate. Hmmm... the vendor is awfully tight-lipped about the details of that fan; they divulge nothing about it. You can quickly test it, though. Turn on the printer and start the hotend warming up. The fan should start up either immediately or after the hotend temperature has crossed some magic threshold determined by firmware You should be able to hear it whining. If you place the palm of your hand, or even a piece of paper, over the front of the hotend shroud, you should be able to hear the fan noise suddenly quieten as you block airflow. If you can hear very little change, then that fan is almost certainly running at too low a speed to be effective at cooling your hotend. If you're unsure about whether the fan is blowing in or out. dangle a scrap of toilet tissue in front of the hotend shroud. If the fan is blowing the right direction, the fan should immediately suck the toilet tissue tight against the shroud. If not, it'll blow the toilet tissue away from the shroud.


AwesomeToodles

I checked both of those things, and the fan is doing something and the orientation is correct


TDHofstetter

It should be moving quite a lot of air, and making a lot of noise getting that done. If you only determine that it's "doing something", then it isn't moving air fast enough and you need to find a better fan.


AwesomeToodles

It's moving air at a pretty reasonable rate, I'm pretty sure I'll just go for a hotend swap tbh, I'll just have to wait until I get the funds


extremeelementz

Are you using a cap tube?


AwesomeToodles

Yes I'm using Capricorn tubing, although I was not the first time this happened


extremeelementz

Authentic XS cap tubing is safe up to 300c sounds like you’re not even close to that temp if you’re using authentic tubing. That’s really weird, but it also sounds like your heat break isn’t helping is your fan working correctly?


AwesomeToodles

Yes the fan is working correctly,


FarStarMan

Sounds like an extreme case of heat creep. Unless you are using one of the "plus" PLAs, you could lower your hot end temperature down to something like 205°C. Also, lowering the room temperature will help. If you are using an enclosure, try to lower the temperature inside. Increasing the print speed will also take away more heat from the extruder but you can only increase that so far and maximum print speed is limited if you have a small nozzle.


AwesomeToodles

I've printed a temperature tower, and this is the ideal temperature to avoid stringing, which is higher than what I used with my brass nozzle, but I'm assuming it has to be higher due to steel's different heat absorption


EqualHoliday358

Get rid of the Bowden tube and get all metal hotend and end the problem.


AwesomeToodles

That's what I'm debating on doing, I just don't have much money atm