syllable_studio

Here is how I fixed it.

(Error 81 due to a false positive filament jam -- occurs because the encoder wheel gets stuck and isn't turned by the moving filament)

The problem was indeed the encoder wheel getting stuck which triggered a false error. Your instructions do discuss the encoder wheel here. They say to move the encoder wheel to the "back side." This was confusing to me for a few reasons: - I didn't know which side was the back side - I didn't know why this would help - The wheel didn't seem to move when I nudged it anyway.

If this is indeed the right fix for some people, can I suggest that the instructions give a little more detail? Like: - Check if the wheel groove is not aligned with the top plastic hole. If necessary to fix the alignment, use a flat head screwdriver or a similar tool to gently push the wheel closer to the back side of the Smart Extruder.

_The real problem_ For me, the real problem was that the wheel didn't turn because there was a combination of too much wheel axle friction (between the wheel and its axle) and/or not enough wheel groove friction (between the wheel groove and the plastic filament)

_Verifying this problem_ While the printing is in progress, shine a light through the top or right side of the 3D printer case. You can watch the encoder wheel. It should turn in sync with the filament passing through the wheel groove. If there is an error, you can verify that the error happens because the encoder wheel stopped turning while the filament was flowing. This was happening for me in one particular sticky part of the encoder wheel's rotation.

_The solution_ 1: I applied lubricant to the encoder wheel axle. - I didn't even need to take the cartridge apart, I just used a needle to carefully apply some to the axle and manually turned the wheel while letting it drip down into the bearing.

2: I roughed the plastic of the encoder wheel groove. - I used an exacto knife to make tiny scrapes all around both sides of the inside groove of the wheel.

3: Test that these steps are working by holding the (cooled down) extruder in your hand, and manually inserting a small length of plastic into the top hole. Move the filament in and out and ensure that the wheel is turning smoothly in sync with the filament passing through the wheel groove inside the cartridge.

I hope this helps others! I know it's a very old product now, but maybe there's still some people out there still having this problem. Good luck :thumbs-up:

Thanks to paroneayea and team for doing this! It's so important that we move this technology forward. I'm looking forward to digging in and maybe getting involved.

I hope this will be much easier for people to do when there are decentralized options. (other thread here discussing that.) And then the big players can't just buy the competitors and keep locking us into the same problem.

same as now, encryption and permissions. We'll just have more options and less lock-in.

Just a general response to some of the skeptics here (I hear your points, I just think we're still early in the game). I do believe this will happen. I believe it's inevitable, it will just take time. The main advantage over current networks+apps is that it breaks the barrier to entry for new competitors. Mastodon etc are still early newcomers who still have to break that barrier. But once there are many of them playing in the same water, they can gradually build a competing network - slowly at first, then they'll win over the entire new generation. Whatever the next "tik-tok" is could be decentralized, and then the flood gates open. Advertising and privacy issues will still exist, but it will be competitive. There will no longer be a monopoly gate keeper who that sets the rules. Lots of details to be worked out for sure. We need user interfaces to improve and get simplified. I agree that right now federated platforms like mastodon are still too cumbersome for users. But I believe all of this will improve and this will work eventually. I think it's coming this decade.

I CAN'T WAIT for decentralized infrastructure to finally become robust enough that clones of instagram and facebook can all share a network -- they'll all become portals to the same social graph data. When that happens, there will no longer be any reason to put up with this abuse of privacy garbage.