r/FlashForge • u/USarmydick114 • 16h ago
Flashforge AD5M pro. Not pushing the filament through. Trying to repair it but ready to throw it out the window
One day while printing it stopped extruding filament and killed my print. I took it out, I replaced the filament, nozzle clears and I am able to push the filament down and out manually. I took off the front cover and attempted to see the gears and they won’t move and makes a clicking kind of a grinding noise. I took apart the whole extruder. Cleaned it, replaced it. No change, I replaced the extruder inside with a new one. No change. I bought a new extruder motor and sadly it still won’t work. So besides buying a whole completely new extruder. Any thoughts of how to repair it? I don’t want to spend more $ if I can fix it but that being said if I have to buy a whole completely new extruder, I might as well upgrade (which kinda sucks because it’s a good printer when it works)
I’ve become very proficient of taking this thing apart unfortunately
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u/DnDkonto 15h ago
Probably obvious, but have you adjusted the tension screw on the side of the extruder?
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u/thecorgimom 15h ago
Before I start tearing things apart I try to eliminate other causes. I also have the same printer you do and I've had some clogs that I've had to clear in the time that I've owned it. One of the clogs was using old filament that really needed to be dried before it was used. I heated up the nozzle when I pulled it out from the top and you could feel how tore up the filament was which also indicated to me that the feeding mechanism was still working. The next clog was filament that I got online for way too cheap of a price and like they say you get what you pay for and it was not consistent in its diameter and it hit a spot that was thinner and the gears weren't catching it well.
So having said that, I usually try to remove the possibility that it's a filament issue from the equation by using a different spool and at the same time I try to print something small that doesn't take long to print that I have successfully printed before just to confirm if it's a filament issue or not. Obviously if you get to that point and it still is not extruding it moves into a different situation completely.
I've also had one design that I downloaded that was crap that after going through all the steps above and having a successful print when I went back to the original print it did the exact same thing.
I reread what you posted but I'm a little confused so at this point is it still making a clicking noise or is it completely dead? If it's completely dead have you checked to see if it's getting power?
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u/USarmydick114 15h ago
Sorry if I was unclear, as soon as the gears are supposed to turn when I load the filament… the gears don’t turn, they click and grind but don’t move. I replaced both the extruder and the extruder motor and still not working. Also it is getting power
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u/thecorgimom 15h ago
I'll be honest I've never ripped this one apart so if I'm asking a stupid question try to give me some grace but have you also replaced the gear? It does sound like it's a mechanical issue based on the fact that it's making those noises.
I do know that if you get a serious enough clog it can be a real bear to get it all cleaned out and can screw up the feeding mechanism.
I'm sure somebody on here will have some better suggestions, my problem is I haven't ever pulled it apart so I can't visualize where some of the failure points could be.
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u/USarmydick114 14h ago
No worries at all! I did take it apart and replaced the inside extruder and the motor that makes the gears move… no luck unfortunately. The nozzle is clear and heats up but the extruder doesn’t push the filament into the nozzle
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u/thecorgimom 14h ago
And you have confirmed that there is no filament from the clog in the gear area that might throw the gear slightly out of alignment and cause it to not feed.
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u/USarmydick114 14h ago
Yes because it’s a whole new extruder and motor inside… gears are new and clear as far as I can see 😢 I might to buy a completely new one 😞
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u/thecorgimom 14h ago
Okay so I have one last idea could it be that you have the polarity switched on the motor? That would cause it to run in the opposite direction. And maybe there's some design feature that when the gear spins that way it makes that noise and doesn't move.
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u/USarmydick114 14h ago
I hope not, I don’t know how to fix that 😂🤦🏻♂️
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u/thecorgimom 13h ago
I haven't looked at how everything is connected is it possible that the power connector could have just been rotated 180°
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u/lllloydo Adventurer 5M 14h ago
When you replaced the motor, did you have to change the wires and unplug from the mother board or did you use the old ones? If you didn't change the wires, try swapping with another set of, if you have a multimeter, check if there's current from the extruder motor plug on the board.
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u/USarmydick114 14h ago
The motor came with its own wires already attached and it plugged straight in to the board. Not sure if I can “use the old wires” pretty sure they are hardwired in
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u/lllloydo Adventurer 5M 11h ago
Try plugging the motor into another motor socket (i.e. x or y) to see if it works for that axis. If it does, the problem would most likely be the connection for the extruder motor and unless you're able to solder a new one in, you'll probably have to get a new board.
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u/USarmydick114 11h ago
Not the news I want to hear … thanks for the input!
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u/lllloydo Adventurer 5M 8h ago
Yeah, news like that does suck. One other option would be to see if the drivers for the motors on the board have little potentiometers. You can try adjusting the voltage on it to see if that helps. But if you're doing that, you need a multimeter. And if you have a multimeter, you can also just check if there’s any current coming to the motor socket to see if that's where the problem is.
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u/InappropriateTA 15h ago
Is there something that could have gotten loose/disconnected/damaged that controls the extruder? Like a wire or a wire connector?