Cleaning the drive gear


Overtime, filament bits may accumulate in the drive gear’s teeth, causing the gear to lose grip on the filament. In this situation, we will need to remove the drive gear from the extruder and clean off the filament debris.



Depending on the version of your DittoPro, the extruder compartment cap may have a quick access hole for the hex key. If this is the case move on to step 5.




1. If the extruder compartment cap does not have a quick access hole, you will need to remove four Phillips head screws from the positions indicated.




2. Using a Phillips head screwdriver, carefully remove the four screws that hold the cap in place. Set aside the loose screws and make sure to not lose them.





3. Remove the extruder cap and set it aside. The inner cap ring can be disconnected and can remain on the wire sleeve.





4. Turn the drive gear so the flat edge of the motor shaft faces upward, exposing the drive gear set screw.




5. Insert the hex key into the set screw fully and twist counter-clockwise to loosen the set screw. This may require a bit of force as the set screws have adhesive applied on them. There is no need to remove the set screw from the drive gear. Once loosened, the drive gear can be slid off the motor shaft. You may need to press down on the silver switch on the top of the extruder to release the tension between the bearing and he drive gear.




6. With a razor, lightly remove the filament debris from the drive gear teeth, taking care not to damage any of the teeth.




7.  Once the gear is cleaned, slide it back onto the motor shaft and line up the groove with the bearing. Make sure to also tighten the set screw down on the flat edge of the motor shaft as seen in the picture. If your motor shaft is similar to the one in the picture, then the gear will be aligned once it sits flushed like in the picture.  



However, if you have a different version of the DittoPro, you will have to align it again from birds eye view.  Line up the grove and the bearing.  Afterwards, tighten the set screw down on the flat edge of the motor shaft.  



8.  Replace the compartment cap and screws.  You're done!