u/codejoy

The Arduboy has honestly been one of my favorite gadgets I've owned over the years. I think I got one of the original releases back in 2016 and loved the concept from the beginning.

The funny part is... my wife eventually absconded with that original one 😄 It now lives in a shadow box because I actually used an Arduboy game to propose to her.

I missed having one around, so a couple years ago I picked up an FX and was immediately happy to have one back for tinkering and coding. Programming for these little things has been a blast and reminds me why I got into programming and game development in the first place.

Now I'm debating picking up an FX-C too. Is the form factor basically the same as the FX? I thought it was, but wasn't completely sure.

I’ve got quite a few hours on my A1 + AMS Lite at this point, and I stay on top of the maintenance I know how to do. Overall it’s been pretty reliable. Occasionally I’d get the “filament stuck” issue from too much spool tension, but usually a quick unravel + resume fixed it.

Now I’m running into something different and I’m not sure where to troubleshoot next.

I’m printing a large Hueforge print that lays down Slot 2 (black) one layer at a time before switching colors. Previously this worked fine. Now, during the very first layer, it constantly:

• stops
• purges
• prints for a few seconds
• stops again
• purges again …and repeats.

Originally I was getting “couldn’t feed filament” errors, but now it just endlessly purges without throwing the error.

Things I’ve already replaced/tested:

• PTFE tube for Slot 2
• AMS Lite hub (the PTFE tube was popping out, so I thought that was the issue)
• nozzle swap to rule out clogging

No change after any of that.

A few other observations:

• The issue seems isolated to Slot 2
• The same filament roll works perfectly from Slot 1 on the same AMS Lite and A1
• Prints coming specifically from Slot 2 look noticeably messy (see photos)

So now I’m trying to figure out where to go next without playing “parts bingo.”

Does this sound more like:

• AMS Lite funnel unit?
• Slot 1/2 feeder gear assembly?
• Something in the print head like a sensor or extruder gear?

What’s throwing me off is that other AMS slots print fine, which makes me think it’s probably not the print head itself.

If anyone’s seen this exact behavior before, I’d really appreciate the advice before I start throwing $70 parts at it.

This isn't an adhesion issue, same plate/a1/amslite different slot produce perfect results.

The total size

Incomplete line here, that is odd?