I’ve had my Snapmaker 2.0 A350 for about 4 months now, and I’m now starting to get very fed up with it. For basic prints, it does well. But when I’m printing more “complex” things, such as this multiboard: 8x8 Multiboard Corner Tile - 3D model by Multiboard on Thangs, it consistently fails, and usually never at the same spot (Note: this isn’t the only print it does it with, it’s just one of many examples).
I’ve tweaked the temp settings, extrusion settings, type of filament, etc. I’ve come to realize that it’s the gear in the extruder that eats at the filament when retracting. The gear looks worn, or maybe it’s something else? Anyone else have this issue? I like the Snapmaker and the 3-and-1 feature, but I’m considering giving it up if this is typical for the 3d print function. Any help is appreciated.
Looking at the pictures, your filament path is far from ideal. Even in PTFE tubing it can be at harsh angles when it’s hard for the filament to slide through. Plus the tension of the filament at the spool
This multiplied by the default retraction speed - gives you problems.
Reduce the retraction speed, waaaaaay down. And fix the PTFE tube so it doesn’t just dangle around in the air.
I’d verify also if the filament is easy to move between spool and the PTFE port on the dryer.
As for the retraction speed, the Maximum Retraction Count is set to 90, Minimum Extrusion Distance Window is set to 5mm, and Retraction Speed is set to 25mm/s in Fast Print (in Luban). Those are default numbers as well. Any recommendations for the speed?
I had a print where it was doing a lot of retraction. It ended up chewing up the filament so much that it lost it’s grip. I didn’t care about stringing, so I just disabled retraction.
I had a lot of filament chunks inside my print head. A shot of compressed air cleaned out the print head… and made a big mess on my desk.
I have my Cura retraction distance set to 0.5mm, speed to 25.0 mm/s, zhop disabled.
Also, check your spool. I’ve had mine get tangled when I didn’t store the filament properly, and it caused binding. It didn’t show up right away. Sometimes it didn’t cause problems until an hour after I loaded the filament and started a print. Make sure the filament is wound evenly and smoothly, and doesn’t pass underneath a future winding. When mine does it, the miswinding likes to hide on the back side of the spool where I can’t see it.
I just had a 7hr print stop printing after 5hrs because it did exactly what you said:
It ended up chewing up the filament so much that it lost it’s grip.
I blow it out with compressed air every time as well, load the filament, recalibrate, and start all over. I have the retraction at layer changed disabled, maximum retraction count set to 10, and minimum extrusion distance window set to 3. Retract before outer wall is disabled, speed set to 25mm/s. Still didn’t work.
As for the spools, they are coming straight from the factory (SUNLU) and no binding has occurred. Every time I have to restart the print, the spool is fine, it’s the retraction issue.
I wanted to update this post with the cause of my problem, in hopes to help others that may experience the same thing.
After contacting customer support, it turns out my extruder gears are very worn, which was preventing it from properly grasping the filament to extrude and retract. Unfortunately, I’m unable to order this part using a third party source, and it turns out the only way to order it without buying a whole new extruder is through customer support.
I’m currently waiting for it to ship so it could be about 2 weeks before my printer is up and operational again. I will test it out to see how it goes and will let everyone know if this fixed my issue. Crossing my fingers!
The problem is, that the gear wheel is not really a wheel, but they decided to cut the axis of the feeder stepper motor. So basically you’d need to exchange the whole stepper motor - I seem to remember that Snapmaker can sell you the motor alone… Still, with the spacer workaround, you can use the existing gear for more time.
That’s normal - some wear happens with all 3D printers I’ve been working with - which is why they usually have the option to exchange the feeder wheel. The idea to use the stepper axle is definitely not one of the best design decisions. Especially if people use very abrasive filament like glow-in-the-dark or carbon fiber enforced - these eat feeder wheels away much faster.
The extruder motor was replaced, which has the gear connected directly to it, and I swapped out a brand new hot end. I’m happy to report that my printer has now been printing without fail.
because it did exactly what you said:
