troubleshooting [Bukobot 3D Printer Instructions & Docs]

This pages aims to help people solve some of the problems they might encounter.

Remember that there can be multiple possible causes for the same symptoms. If you are not fixing the right cause it will either not help or may make other problems worse.

If you have solved a problem which you think other might be useful to others then please add it to this page.

===== Software =====

^ Symptom ^ Possible Causes ^ Suggested Remedies (for each cause) ^
| Print stops mid-way through | 1) The Azteeg Arduino controller boards (and especially the USB circuitry) are sensitive to electrical noise. Turning on/off other appliances, plugging/unplugging other equipment, or just bad mains noise can cause the USB connection to drop out. The Repetier-Host software (especially older versions) is not very good at recovering dropped USB connections (and if the Arduino has reset then there's nothing the host can do anyway). | Installing a mains EMI/RFI noise filter (e.g., used for computers), a small Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) or inline USB Opto-isolator can help with electrical noise. |

===== Hot-ends, Extruders and Thermal Issues =====

^ Symptom ^ Possible Causes ^ Suggested Remedies (for each cause) ^
| Hot-end has trouble reaching desired temperature | 1) Power-supply is set to incorrect supply voltage (e.g. set to 220V for 115V area) | Set power supply to correct input voltage. |
|  | 2) Extruder fan is blowing onto hot end | Adjust fan or add thermal insulation (see below) |
|  | 3) Operating in a very cold environment | Add some thermal insulation around hot end. E.g., using ceramic tape, rectangles of silicon from oven molds/trays (see also: http://bukobot.com/hot-end-thermal-management). Can also increase power supply voltage to 13.5-14V instead of 12V (using the small trimpot adjustment on the power supply and a multimeter) in increase power dissipation of heater element. Could also build a cover around Bukobot or relocate. |
|  | 4) Poor connection in heater wiring. | If the supply voltage setting and airflow are all normal, then there may be a poor connection in the wiring. Ensure that the screw terminal connections are all solid. |
| Extruder slips on filament (clicking sound) | 1) gummed up driver gear teeth | Clean drive gear teeth (e.g., with brush or a pointy piece of filament). |
|  | 2) not enough spring tension | Ensure the nut is done up all the way on the spring tensioner screw. Some particularly stiff and problematic filament types many benefit from adding a couple more washers to get a bit more compression. |
|  | 3) hot-end is starting too close to print bed | See print-related problems for remedies. |
===== Motors and Movement =====

^ Symptom ^ Possible Causes ^ Suggested Remedies (for each cause) ^
| Motor moves in the wrong direction | 1) Motor connector is reversed. | Flip over motor connector. |

===== Print Related =====

^ Symptom ^ Possible Causes ^ Suggested Remedies (for each cause) ^
| First layer doesn't extrude properly | 1) Hot-end is starting too close to bed or bed is not level. | Go through pre-flight check to ensure that you can fit a piece of paper between head and bed with only slight resistance all around bed. |
| Extruded filament has gaps | 1) Filament drive gear is slipping. | See possible causes and remedies in Extruder problems section. |
| Some layers print fine but some have irregular height or not strongly bonded | 1) Too much resistance in pulling filament off spool causes X-carriage & hot-end to lift. | Install a filament feed tube (PTFE or LDPE plastic tube with 4-5mm internal diameter) or reduce resistance on filament spool (e.g., use bearings). |
| Print starts out fine but shifts to side after a certain height | 1) Motors are getting too hot and cause motor mounts to deform which changes tension in syncromesh cable. | Reduce stepper driver current by turning trimpot counter-clockwise (for SD82A/B stepper drivers). Reduce cable tension if too tight. |
|  | 2) Motor could be skipping steps during printing if motor driver stepper current is set too low (especially if this is mainly occurring at higher speeds). | Increase stepper driver current by turning trimpot clockwise (for SD82A/B stepper drivers). For SD82A/B stepper drivers the Vref test point should be set to 0.4V to give a stepper motor current of 1Amp (see Panucatt SD82A/B user guide). |
| Extruded filament sticks to hot-end during printing | 1) This can occur with very soft or poor quality PLA filament. | Most people recommend trying to print these types of filament very slowly and with thin layers (say 0.2 or lower). Some experimentation for optimal temperature is required and usually varies for each type of the filament. The best solution is to buy good quality filament (e.g., printbl.com) - 3D printing has enough challenges without adding problematic filament. |
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