Recently, the filament stopped extruding halfway through the print. The machine would keep going, but there would be no filament. I took it apart and found no clogs or jams. After putting it back together it wont extrude at all. If i push the filament it starts extruding again but once i stop pushing it through it stops extruding. I’ve taken it apart many times and found no problems and I’ve tried many different models, any solutions?
your jam will probably be in the ptfe tube inside the aluminium threaded guide tube unscrew the nozzle take out tube and check, if you need tubes and nozzles or idealy replace with an all metal hot end you can get from www.technologyoutlet.co.uk
After you are sure the PTFE tube is clear, and filament can be pushed through it clean, check to be sure the stepper motor for your clogged extruder runs. You can easily see it if you take the fan and heat spreader off of the extruder, then run the the extruder. Also check to be sure the spring loaded pulley that presses against the filament is correctly assembled and working. Once you get the extruder running again, put a few drops of vegetable oil into the extruder and run some filament through.
when you stop pushing is there any noises? is it jamming or just not pushing? could be your stepper motor drivers or cables if not physical jams
I had this, my filament spool had gotten stuck (pushed up against a wall) so couldn’t spin, depriving my printer of filament.
In all likelihood, it’s the PTFE tube or nozzle itself. The issue you describe is one I encounter all too often, and if fact so much I just ordered me an all metal hotend. The frustrating part is that the PTFE tube and nozzle may look completely clear, but there may be a tiny stuck particle that is giving you all the trouble. If you pull out the nozzle, check out the tube to see if it looks burnt or swelled. In my experience, I’ve swapped out the tube and things resume as normal. Seldom is it the nozzle, but there have been occasions. You can get replacement nozzles and PTFE tubes for a good prince on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Nozzles-Teflon-FlashForge-Creator-Dreamer/dp/B00JEBNLHK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465823147&sr=8-1&keywords=Flashforge+nozzle
Where are people finding these all metal hotends for the creator pro? It’s carriage is designed to fit its own hotends and won’t take standard 3rd party hotends. I myself designed and printed a kit to put 2 v6’s on the existing carraige, with a spacer in the back for the z offset. Also (after learning from someone here on 3d hubs) I changed the bed lowering end script to only lower the bed 130mm (rather than 150) so I wouldn’t bottom out the print bed after each print.
Actually you can get them directly from Micro Swiss or go to Amazon and type in Micro Swiss all metal hotend. I have installed them in all of my factory printers.
Micro Swiss MK10 All Metal Hotend Kit .4mm Nozzle WANHAO, FlashForge, Dremel Idea Builder
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C3HEQZC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_3USxxbEDK3PT4
It might be possible that your feed gear is loose too. It tightens with a set screw on the shaft of the motor. Just a thought.
This might help :
1. Remove the stepper motor.
2. Heat up the nozzle to 240C
3. Poke a guitar string , I think it’s .3mm in diameter from below the nozzle going up to the extruder block until you see it come out the other side.
4. pull the string out from above slowly, as if you where fishing for any plastic that could be left inside the extruder.
5. after clearing it all, clean out your the feed gear of your extruder with a toothbrush.
And just incase you are printing with very low temps, the following temp settings work for me :
ABS : 240C
PLA : 230C (PLA tends to clog nozzle if temps are too low)
I had this problem only last week and it turned out to a firmware error updated to sailfish 7.8 via Flashprint and all seems good now.
