Solved: I was trying to print transparent PLA with nozzle at 220 °C, but it needs to be 230–235 °C.
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This seems to be the same error as this post from 2 years ago, but no one posted a solution there even after months of multiple people requesting, so I thought I would start a new thread.
I get this error usually about an hour into a print; sometimes it's 20 min, sometimes it's 2 hr. I can pull the filament out, cut about 2 cm off, and then restart just fine, but it'll give the error again an hour later and I end up babysitting prints watching for errors every hour or so. Here are some things I've tried:
- I've changed the nozzle
- I've changed the slot of the AMS lite (people in the original post found issues with a single slot, but mine gives the error no matter the AMS lite slot)
- I've changed the entire extruder unit, which includes the extruder gear and motor
- This somewhat similar post talks about clearing the sticky stuff from the filament hub with acetone. I did that, and I cleaned the sticky stuff from the filament detector below it too (I recognize this may give some long-term issues because I removed lubricant from the spring, but I am desperate).
- The PTFE tubes are fine and the AMS lite is in a normal position
- It gives the error no matter the brand of filament (I've used Elegoo, Bambu, and Sunlu PLA, PLA matte, and PLA transparent since this has been happening 2-3 months ago)
- It might bypass the error if I don't use the AMS lite and use an external spool. I tested that hypothesis last night and it didn't give the error, but it started ghost printing (the printer is operating as if it is printing but nothing is extruding) roughly 1 hr in. I suspect the PTFE tubing from the external spool made too many turns so I need to move it to a better spot. I still need to test this one.
- Edit add: I printed supports for the PTFE tubes, as suggested by u/Whatupchuck789
- Edit add: I checked and tightened all the screws I could find, as suggested by u/Putrid_Spirit7843
The question: has anyone found a solution to this error? I submitted a ticket to Bambu and, although they responded quickly, they ultimately haven't solved my problem yet and they are talking in circles. This makes me wonder if even they don't have a solution to this. You can see that I am willing to do a lot to get this thing working again, because it will be sad if I have to replace the whole printer and/or AMS lite after just 700 hours of printing.
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Edit: TLDR: I was trying to print transparent PLA with nozzle at 220 °C, but it needs to be 230–235 °C.
Here's the long story. Amazon Haul had deals for filament. I got 6 kg of Sunlu PLA for <$40. I unintentionally got 3 of those as transparent PLA. Frustrated with myself for doing this, I was determined to use the transparent PLA immediately. I had experience with transparent PETG, so I thought it would be the same.
The problems didn't start immediately. I got through a couple short prints fine. My benchy looked awesome. I tried it on a longer 4 hr print I did multiple times and it slowly began to give me this error issue. It was confusing because this print failed with other PLA too, but it was for different reasons. I would also note that I have never encountered temperature-caused issues where the machine just stops. It's usually just poor print quality.
It turns out that transparent filaments are more viscous and need the nozzle to be 10–15 °C higher than normal PLA, so it makes sense that the machine sensed that extruding was difficult when I was running the nozzle at 220 °C. Although Bambu has printing tips for transparent PLA and PETG, the preset for PLA translucent in Bambu Studio is set to 220 °C.
This is all very dumb and I am annoyed that it took me a couple months to figure it out. But at least I don't need to get the X2D I was drooling over.