Flashforge Creator Pro PLA Extrusion Problem

[mwhitaker]

Everything was fine until I decided to change filament, including all prints. Just wanted a change of color! Now, neither extruder will seem to load. Same brand of PLA filament from Flashforge. Acts like it wants to work, preheats, extruders heat up, leveled, but nothing happens. Anyone else experienced this?

[Olivier_Lafarge]

Hello,
When loading the new filament, is that the thread comes out in the nozzle?
if not, the nozzle is clogged.
If so, check the temperature and the extrusion rate

[npagazani]

Did you use the “Unload filament” function? If so, you probably clogged the extruders. Always use “Load” for loading AND un-loading.

[Dhin]

When I first got my FFCP the nozzles clogged a lot. Heat your heads up to about 220 and if there is filament still in them it should start to ooze out in a thin string, if not then either the head is empty or it has a clog. Load the new filament into the preheated head and apply a bit a pressure this will help push out filament still in the hot end and should tell you is there is a clog. If you can’t push filament in and nothing is coming out then the head is clogged. The two most common places are in the stepmotor (take the motor off and remove the filament) or in the hotend and nozzle. Most likely if there isn’t a clog in the step motor itself then a bit of the filament got pulled back into the tubing before cooled making a little plug that is fit pretty tightly with the tubing. The plug is usually far enough up that it is not being heated enough to melt completely so it gets a little soft and more filament is pushed into it and it all gets clogged up. Stead pressure can help move the clog back down towards the hot end, and it should melt and everything should flow again. But some times rather than filament a glob of impurities may collect in the nozzle, and these are harder to clean out and usually the result of cheap low quality filament. This stuff doesn’t melt, so you have to heat the nozzle (to avoid thermal shocking it) and unscrew it, remove the tubing and clean it out with luck everything is in the tubing and not in the nozzle. A g-string from a guitar can help get the nozzle cleaned out though if there is gunk up in there too.

[CarvedPrints]

npagazani has some good advice and I would just like to expand on it. I have had similar problems as well in changing from one filament to the other even if it is from the same supplier. The first thing is that name brand filament seems to clog less which is why I don’t use the cheap stuff anymore, but buy a few hundred spools of name brand filament. I found a way to avoid the glob in the tube problem that can mean changing the tube that works for me when changing filament. To avoid the problem I always extrude a bit of filament to clean the end, then I retract the filament. That way most gunk goes out and I retract cleaner melted filament. So far I have not had to change a tube for this problem on my three Flashforges or any of my other machines.

[mwhitaker]

No, nothing comes out. I checked the temp and extrusion rate, all seem ok. I guess I am taking the thing apart and clearing the clog! Funny thing, it is a dual extruder and the right extruder was clean and had not been used in months. Not sure why it is not working.

[mwhitaker]

I will try that next time. I have learned a lot of stuff about this!

[mwhitaker]

Yes I did. Probably did clog it then!

[mwhitaker]

I did try heating the head to 220 and nothing came out. It does seem to be taking the filament in, but nothing comes out. Weird thing too, I haven’t used the right extruder in months. It was cleaned and not used. It is doing the same thing!

Does look like I am taking the thing apart!

[iTech3DP]

I experience this all of the time, it can be quite frustrating. But it is really simple to check if it’s a filament jam inside the PTFE tube or aluminum block. Simply remove the two screws holding your cooling fan in place, then separate the fan and heat sink from the mount. Loosen, but don’t take out the two screws on the top plate and slide the extruder feed motor back slightly and presto you can see right into that tube. I usually have it break off right where the tube meets the aluminum block. While you are in there I would recommend you clean them teeth out too with a small paint brush or metal pick, it will feed brilliantly after that.

My two cents anyways, good luck.

Chris

[Olivier_Lafarge]

it is correct that if I do not have just finished printing, the nozzle has cooled a first time, I am forced to make a Load before an unload or do a load and press the button to free the filament power and extract it.
that the fact whether the PLA or ABS. Beware of temperature changes between the two materials. In this case I adjusts the temperature to 230 ° C

[Amarand]

Here’s a silly question: I realize that the gcode is going to change from ABS (higher temp) to PLA (lower temp) when I’m using Simplify3D for printing. But I worry that when I’m going from ABS (higher) to PLA (lower) the load/unload temperature is going to be too high for PLA loading, and too low to clear the ABS out of the nozzle. Do I load the PLA at the higher loading temperature?