Metal extruder questions

[landrus60]

MP10 mini replaced the extruder with the Dr. Vax recommended all metal extruder and changed the profile to his all metal profile.. Once I cleaned out the nozzle, I solved a skipping issue. New issue, while printing a 2.5 hour print today, several times the print stopped with an, out of filament error. When I press resume the print resumes just fine. Confused. Also, I'm seeing filament that appears to be scrapped from the filament between the filament sensor and the extruder...see the picture. Could use some guidance on what is going on with the out of filament error and what isscrapping filament.

Thanks, you guys are the best.

[Alan]

Is the filament sensor path on the same level as the extruder filament path? For the metal extruder that I bought I had to print a spacer to get a level and straight path. I've had false alarms too, although last time the printer filament ran out, the sensor never stopped the printer! You might try taking the sensor apart and cleaning it and visually inspecting it. Worse, comes to worse, just unplug the connector. The printer will work fine.

Cheers

[landrus60]

Is the filament sensor path on the same level as the extruder filament path? For the metal extruder that I bought I had to print a spacer to get a level and straight path. I've had false alarms too, although last time the printer filament ran out, the sensor never stopped the printer! You might try taking the sensor apart and cleaning it and visually inspecting it. Worse, comes to worse, just unplug the connector. The printer will work fine.

Cheers

How tall was your spacer. I also noticed that the sensor does sit higher than the extruder.

[Geit]

Not seeing any pictures I find it strange that a filament sensor does false alarms. These things are only a switch in a case.

The only thing I can imagine is that the sensor has to much space on the inside and when the filament gets retracted it slides back into the sensor causing bending into a curve, releasing the switch. Could also be a loose connection triggerd by filament movement and printer vibration.

To me it is clearly the filament sensors fault. It has nothing to do with your changes. The sensor is not doing its job properly. If you are forced to ensure the filament goes into it in a straight line thats a design flaw.

However I would mount the switch far away from the extruder. That way you avoid the retraction and bending issue.

This is exactly why I never used a filament sensor. It is nice when they work, but when they randomly fail for some reason this is wasting more filament that it would ever save. If you don´t plan on emptying a spool, just pull in some filament into the sensor and not use it while printing.

[Alan]

How tall was your spacer. I also noticed that the sensor does sit higher than the extruder.

You can also move the sensor further away from the extruder and just use the two far holes as a quick fix. Attached is the hack I threw together using TinkerCAD.

Cheers

P.S.--I can't upload STL files for some reason, but it let me upload a ZIP file.
MP10_Extruder_Spacer_v2.zip

[landrus60]

Geit, look at the picture in my original post. You will see that the sensor is factory mounted right in front of the extruder. I don't see a bending issue. With that being said, the sensor sits above the new extruder so the filament is entering the extruder on a downward angle. This is causing the filament to be scrapped as it enters the extruder. I wonder if the plastic fragments are getting inside the sensor causing the out of filament error.

[Geit]

Geit, look at the picture in my original post. You will see that the sensor is factory mounted right in front of the extruder. I don't see a bending issue. With that being said, the sensor sits above the new extruder so the filament is entering the extruder on a downward angle. This is causing the filament to be scrapped as it enters the extruder. I wonder if the plastic fragments are getting inside the sensor causing the out of filament error.

I was not able to see the image because of my default post sort order.

This is really strange. I suspect the sensor to be faulty. This should not happen and the inlet/outlet of the sensor should be the diameter of the filament, so not much room to get dusty. The micro switch inside is also capsuled. Then there is the switches lever, which would rather prevent detecting a filament run out, than creating a false alarm.

I guess you need to open the sensor box and show us the inside. This could also give a hint if it is the dust, which I don´t beleve. As long as you get filament into the sensor, it should at least not create a false alarm.

[Alan]

I missed that picture too until I resorted using "Posts". Those flakes should not be there!

Cheers

[roon4660]

Does Irv have a revue od this extruder with positive and negative results? Does anyone else want to add their two cents?

[Alan]

Does Irv have a revue od this extruder with positive and negative results? Does anyone else want to add their two cents?

In his YouTube video, he clearly states that the links are Amazon Affiliate links. The extruder he used in the video was (and currently is) unavailable when I purchased a metal extruder.

Cheers

[roon4660]

I am confused. Which extruder do you use and how do you rate it?

[Alan]

I am confused. Which extruder do you use and how do you rate it?

Evidently, I'm confused. I misread the typo. I purchased a Redrex extruder and it works much better than the OEM extruder for the MP10 mini.

Cheers

[landrus60]

Alright guys, here is a picture of the inside of the sensor. Not really sure how it senses the filament, but I forgot to load filament this morning and tried a print...odd thing, the sensor didn't register the lack of filament. Are there good aftermarket sensors I could replace it with?

[Alan]

Thanks for the interior picture! This extruder appears to be one that is unique to Malyan printers. I'd just clean the existing sensor out with a brush, make sure it mechanically works, and try it again (my plan when the current roll of filament is used up). Replacements are $7.17 on the Monoprice website. Unfortunately, these sensors do not seem terribly reliable. There are even complaints about Prusa's optical sensor.

FWIW, the firmware does not return the status of the filament sensor when sent M119. 🙄

Cheers

[Ender5r]

Looking at the last photo from landus60 it seems pretty clear to me that the sensor switch is in the body of the sensor that is still attached to the extruder mounting plate. If you look where the sensor wires connect to the sensor, you can see that they connect into the body, below the bearings. I suspect the shaft that mounts the white plastic guide wheel and bearing combo (the one higher up in the photo) triggers a switch inside the body.

I would absolutely print a spacer to get the sensor exit port and extruder entrance port lined up as closely as possible.