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I was printing a part on my Creality Ender 3 printer and then all of a sudden, the filament stopped feeding. I got it working again. In this post I’ll got through how to troubleshoot issues like this.
The Basics
3D printers can only feed filament if the entire system is working properly. If any one part of the system fails, then the printing will stop.
It starts with the extruder stepper motor. This must turn. Secondly, the filament extruder must have enough pressure on the filament to be able to push it through the tube.
The filament move through the extruder tube and then into the end piece. This must be heated and fully up to temperature. Let’s take a look at these one at a time.
The Stepper Extruder Motor
This stepper motor has a small friction bushing that pushes up against the filament. The motherboard sends signals to control the speed and direction of the stepper. It is the first part you should look at if you have feed issues.
- Does it turn during the print? If not, check the wires and all connections from the mother board.
- It all wires are correct then you may need to replace the stepper motor itself and/or the motherboard.
Stepper Extruder Bushing
This small part pushes up against the filament. In my case the housing that holds the bushing broke. The original Ender 3 was shipped with a cheap plastic part and it was poorly designed. I replaced it with a new metal extruder and that solved the issue. Check your printer to make sure that this part is intact and working correctly.
Another part you need to check is the filament tensioner. There is a spring that pushes the bushing against the filament. Make sure there is sufficient pressure against the filament so that it can be pushed through the tubing.
Here is the metal extruder upgrade kit that fixes the broken feeder.
Filament Tubing
I had an issue with this on a separate occasion. During extreme heat, the filament heater started to melt the extruder tubing and eventually melted filament right in the feed tube. This was during a heat wave where temperatures in my garage were over 111 degrees F. That buildup caused a clog in the tubing and shut down the extruder.
If you hear a banging noise during print. Look at the extruder motor. If it move and then bangs and slips back to it’s original position, you likely have a clog. If so, you will need to remove the tubing from the heater and clean out the tubing. Once the tubing is off, heat up the filament end and then push the supplied brush through the heater to clear out any debris.
Filament End
This device heats up and melts the filament right before applying the PLA to the print itself. This must be up to full temperature or else the filament will not be able to feed. Check your printer screen and make sure it’s up to the correct temperature. You will see the temperature right next to the bed temperature on the display.