My Artist-D Died, and I Might Have Made it Worse.

IDEX Multi Material 3d Printers
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The right extruder on my Artist-D stopped working. So I first looked at typical issues such as a plugged-up nozzle. Once I was sure it was not any of those, I decided to determine if the stepper motor was turning. Unfortunately, I needed to start taking things apart to see the stepper motor spindle with an enclosed hot end. (Once I had it apart, I realized that I could look through the side grill to catch the stepper motor spindle.)

It ends the carriage that holds the hot end assembly is attached to the hot end unit with four screws and is accessible to disassemble. Just unscrew the two adjustment knobs, one you press to release the extruder gear to load filament and the second that holds in the nozzle. Take out the four screws, and the unit drops out.

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Well, I plugged the ribbon cable back in, went to the front panel, and verified the stepper motor was not turning. So now it could be the cable, the adapter board, the cable from the adapter board to the stepper motor, or the motor. I thought I would be smart and try it on the left side, which was working. BAD IDEA. As soon as I powered on the unit, I saw the cable begin to smoke. Fortunately, I caught it in time, and when I reattached the left side, it still worked. So now I know the pin assignments on the left side and the right side is different. Interesting.

Ok, I am a lucky guy, and YouTube (Google) sends me a bit, a tiny bit, of money for the ads that run on my channel. So I dug into the MakeWithTech bank account and ordered a new right extruder and all new cables from JG Maker. Ordering was easy. Know I we will see how long they take to get from the warehouse to the Midwest of the USA.

I report back what I learn.

You may be asking why didn’t I replace the extruders with a third-party extruder. I want to keep my Artist-D close to stock to do videos that make sense for the broadest number of people.

artist-d extruder carriage.jpg
artist-d extruder carriage.jpg4032×2268 2.4 MB

artist-d extruder.jpg
artist-d extruder.jpg4032×2268 2.39 MB

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Sorry to hear about your troubles Irv. I wonder, did you happen to test the stepper motor separately?

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I did not test the stepper motor separately as I did not have the right cable and was too lazy to rig something up from another 3d printer. I plan on using the assembly I am replacing for a video where I will take it apart completely and explain all of the components. I also wanted to try out JG Maker’s parts department since I talk about their printers and want to have the first-hand experience with getting replacement parts. After I thought about it, the failed components are probably under warranty but I would have had to spend days going back and forth and trying one part at a time. By ordering a replacement assemble for $85 I will have additional spare parts which are good to have on hand. Not cost-effective but time-effective.

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I will be interested to get your views on the Artist D extruder, since it’s received quite a bit a criticism around the net. It would also be interesting if you can actually determine the actual failed part. I suspect the small control board, but that’s only a guess.

I appreciate your wanting to test out the spare parts cycle.

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@irvshapiro1 I too am sorry to hear of your problem. ? Partly because I am considering the Artist-D Pro as a possible second printer. Your experience resolving this issue and whatever video(s) you produce regarding it should be quite informative.

As the pic of the removed extruder appears to show the cooling fan working, l wonder if the issue might be upstream of the extruder possibly even in the main controller in the base of the unit or a bad (loose?) cable. In any event this will be interesting as it evolves.

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I will keep everyone informed. I received a confirmation that my order is ready to ship. Interesting to see how long it takes to get here.

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Well, it’s already been a week, so yeah, it will be interesting. Can I assume it’s coming from overseas?

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I will find this experience informative too.

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Folks the replacement hot end just arrived from JG Maker. In fact, the replacement part includes both the hot end and the attachment brackets but no cables.

I ordered cables on a separate order when I realized I probably should also have them, and for the cable order I paid a rush fee, but the regular hot end order arrived first. It was shipped via the USPS via class “Parcel Select” direct from China.

My plate is a bit full right now so it will probably be a while until I try the replacement part out. I will keep everyone updated.

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artist-d-hotend.jpg
artist-d-hotend.jpg2335×2727 1.68 MB

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That’s actually pretty decent delivery time from China. AliExpress items often take 2 months or more.

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That was quick.

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I have been waiting since middle August for a part from China. It is being shipped by China Post. I did see a news article that there are 29 freighters waiting at a California port to dock. The hold up is Covid. Hope they can convince people go go back to work! A lot of people around here want the government free ride. Just about every business around here have signs wanting help. KFC was offering $16 for new employees.

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I heard about those container ships circling Los Angeles. That probably puts a crimp in the supply pipeline.

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Best IDEX 3d Printer Under $1000? Review Of The WEEDO X40 - YouTube is a Weedo Idex printer that interests me. I wonder if any in our forum have any experience with this. It is still a kick starter but they seem to have it for sale in the USA.https://www.amazon.com/s?k=WEEDO+X40&ref=nb_sb_noss Amazon,ca doesn’t have it.

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Weedo keeps asking me to review their printers. I have reviewed the Monoprice Ultimate 2, which is a rebadged Weedo printer and works quite well. However, with Weedo and other non-standard 3d printers only sold through Amazon and Alibaba, the problem is support. When you have trouble with a printer you bought from a web-based distributor, it is often difficult to get parts and even software updates.

But you have inspired me. So I will reach out to Weedo to see what they say about this challenge.

At least when you buy a Weedo rebranded printer from Monoprice, you can send it back if it does not work with no questions asked.

Overall I have been thinking about where most folks should buy their 3d printers? Some of the early leaders, such as Creality, are now maturing and trying to support their users better, another topic for a video.

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re: support: I can say that JG Maker did respond well to my order for their all metal pop in nozzles for the Artist D. They took a while to arrive, but the process itself was pretty painless.

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Artist-D pro Problem with right extruder

Hi Irv
I had a problem with my artist-d pro right (EX2) extruder!

It happened when i sent a print job to the the printer
typically a job meant for duplication mode but i had left the
printer in duel color mode!
I would cancel the print in Octoprint and then set the printer
to duplicate mode. Octoprint would then report an error stating
that T1 (EX2) was not present!
The only way to clear the error is to re start the printer.

kitsoft