I have a Monoprice Maker Select V2.1 (rebadged Wanhao Di3) with a microswiss all metal hot-end and machined lever and extruder plate. It had been printing very consistently for months with this set up - through 5 or 6 kg of filament - until a couple of weeks ago when it has started to under-extrude and then stop partway into a print, after about 30-40 minutes. It seems to clog and grind the filament, skipping steps. I first assumed this was heat-creep, and so disassembled the extruder, cleaned the heatsink and applied new thermal paste before reassembling, but to no luck. I also tried new fans on the cold-end but this didn't help either.
Other things I have tried:
- various models - point at which the extruding stops seems based on length of time printing, not z position, suggesting to me that it is not an wires/electronics issue or an issue with the file.
- various layer heights
- various temperatures
- dust filter
- various filaments (changing reels of similar filament, different colours and brands, although all PLA)
- cleaned, and subsequently replaced extruder gear to rule out wear to that
- inserted washer under lever spring to add tension
- clearing the nozzle (cleaning filament, atomic pulls and drill-bit)
I've now run out of ideas of what could be causing the issue and what to try. What other issues could cause the above symptoms or, if it is heat-creep, how else could I solve the issue?