Filament jamming, pushed out of between gear and bearing

[Zenith]

Hi Everyone,

I got a Printrbot Simple Metal yesterday. Everything has been going well, but after 4 or 5 prints I've started having issues with the filament jamming.

It's getting pushed out from inbetween the feeder gear and the bearing. Any advice on stopping this? The filament is of unknown age and origin, as it came from the guy i bought the printer from. I'm loosened the retention arm a little hoping this might stop it. Its doing another print right now so hopefully it makes a difference.

[RetireeJay]

Hi Zenith and welcome. Thanks for taking the time to browse around the forum and discover how to post pictures.

Unfortunately, from the perspective you used, it's impossible to understand where the problem is.
Do you mean that the filament is not tracking "true" from the feed-hole above the gear down into the gear? In that case, the filament moves outside the toothed groove and the gear loses traction. Or do you mean the filament is kinking up between the gear and the hole below it that feeds into the Hot End?

If the problem is above the gear, then you just need to figure out how to make it "track" better (or maybe adjust the position of the gear on the motor shaft so the groove on the gear is aligned properly with the holes above and below).

If the filament is kinking below the gear, that's the traditional definition of "jamming" and there are lots of posts about that in the forum.

[ktfergus]

Looks like your printer has the older extruder. Printrbot updated the design because lots of people were having this sort of problem. The distance between the handle and gear is now much smaller.



You can pick one up on their website: https://printrbot.com/shop/printrbot-alu-extruder-v2/

However, in the meantime you might try a guide to keep the filament as straight as possible before it reaches the gear. When I had the older extruder I experienced similar problems & decided to incorporate a guide into the handle extension I use on my Simple.





I've attached an stl. of the file below. It might be saved in inches, so you'll have to scale it to mm. Also, here's a thread discussing the v2 extruder: viewtopic.php?f=80&t=9787

[frankv]

The hole in the extruder may also be worn, which exacerbates the problem. My solution to this was to drill the holes out and tap them for 6mm thread. I then screwed pieces of a broken E3D stainless steel heatbreak into the extruder, so that they guide filament very close to the drive gear.

And mounting the spool so that it feeds straight into the extruder, with no sideways forces, also helps. I have my spool hanging from the ceiling above the printer.

[New Passion]

Hi Zenith, the picture is hard to see what is happening, first thing look down from the top of the extruder and make sure your bearing is lined up with the drive gear, what I mean is the center of the bearing should be in line with the center of the drive gear, and they both line up over the center of the hole in the extruder. If the bearing is centered and that is not your issue, then I would order a v2 extruder ( They are on sale right now at printrbot)
https://printrbot.com/shop/printrbot-alu-extruder-v2/ I ordered the v2 when it came out and it solved all of my extruder jam issues, I can print with NinjaFlex with no problem. Enjoy your printer.

[Zenith]

I ended up printing one of these

thingiverse thing 488531 (Can't post URL links)

Haven't had the issue since, I'll consider the v2 extruder in the future, but it's a lot of money.

Thanks for the advice guys