The extruder is continuously pulled up

image

XY Offset Calibration
The extruder is continuously pulled up and printing is paused
Error code: 13-18
Please check if the nozzle is clogged or pushed up, or if the filament is stuck outside and cannot be pulled in successfully.
If the problem persists, contact our Support for help.
Confirm

When I first got my Snapmaker Artisan and I started doing 3D prints, I found I got the above error quite regularly. Turns out the solution is in fact quite simple.

image

Initially, I had my filament feeding from the top of the roll into the enclosure. This creates additional friction and resistance to the filament feeding smoothly. When I changed the the orientation of the filament roll to feed from the bottom, as shown above, and let gravity do some work, ‘the extruder continuously pulled up’ error has not returned.

The resolution seems simple in hindsight, but during initial set up, on top of everything else, it wasn’t something that I paid attention to. So, if you are having filament being pulled up issues, ensure your filament is feeding with the least amount of friction. This typically means ensure it is feeing from the bottom, not the top, of the reel.

Varnish applied

image

After etching the above images onto 3mm plywood, they have now been varnished. Prior to applying varnish they looked like:

image

Perhaps the varnish has now made then etchings a little darker but it has sealed in the carbon from the etching, prevent smudging which is a good thing.

image

I used the above varnish:

Timber Protect Quick Dry Clear Gloss 300g

which is available from Bunnings.

I also varnished the rear side of the plywood with the aim of repeating the laser etching process with the same image but this time on a ‘pre-varnished’ surface to see what the results will be.

Wood etching test

image

The above is a etching onto 3mm plywood using the SnapMaker Artisan and the 10W laser. The laser power settings are listed in the bottom left of each i.e. 60%, 50% and 40%.

I think the 50% power setting provides the best output but 60% ain’t bad either. 40% however misses a few spots so isn’t adequate.

The next step is to put some varnish on the result and see what happens.