So I’ve been trying to print a model of mine for a week without any progress. My printer will not print my model. It’ll print a perfect looking skirt that’s been the easiest to clean from the plate so far but as soon as it starts the model it makes the movements but won’t extrude anything. Anyone have any idea what would cause this and how to fix?
Maker select v2
215 nozzle
60 bed
Is this PLA? If so, you are running kind of hot. It’s possible, and the is only a wild guess, that ‘heatcreep’
is occurring while the first lines are going down, but reaches the heatbreak and causes a clog pretty quickly.
Maybe try the same model at 195?
For PLA we use a bed temp of 60 and extruder temp of 210.
Thanks.
Give it a try at 195c and see if that helps. Oh, and check the fan speed in
your slicer settings. It may be set to be at 50% or off for the first few layers.
If so, then running at 210 or 215 may be too hot.
Again, only a guess. 
Which Cura version are you using?
Activate the layer preview in Cura and go through it. Usually you’ll be able to spot the problem right away.
If it is not Cura, then it is something with your printer.
What filament type are you using? If it is PLA, have you had it out for some time? Is it brittle or does it breaks easily?
Check out this video first:
Also remember to cut off the serrated segment of filament when you reload it.
A good step is to use air and blow out any debris that gets caught in the feeder mechanism.
Well, it might not be the best help you can get, but if you send me the model I will try to print it (at least start) and see whether it goes beyond the skirt. At least that will tell you whether it’s a problem with the model file or the printer settings…or an incompatibility between both. I’m using an Ultimaker with Cura.
Take a look at your coupler maybe it is worn out. When your machine is cooled down the filament should move easily. When not it there could be a knot in the coupler blocking movement of the filament. You can also trying to move the filament in the maintenance menu
If your printer is working with other models without a problem, I could also imagine that your current model / STL has a defect or too tiny parts / walls which do prevent it from being printed. I recommend to do a quality/health check / auto repair (e.g. with Microsofts Azure online repair service 1) of it and also check for thin walls or parts.
I agree, and that’s why I proposed to do a test print (or at least start one). I’ve been working with Cura for over three years and I’ve learnt that if it recognises your printer, it pretty much knows what can be printed and what not. It wouldn’t even start with the skirt if it’s not compatible. So, my guess is there is a defect with the file.
You can find a lot of these defects in the layer view. When a component is to small or a wall thinner than your nozzle you won’t find it there.
Download a copy of Autodesk Netfabb. It is a great help in repairing defective meshes.
I suspect the model is up in the air, so before it prints, it prints the skirt.
You don’t see anything printed, probably because, you’ve disabled supports.
This is just a wild guess!
Thanks but I center it after every change and make sure there’s nothing lifted. Also my model has connected parts so i enable support.
It’s not brittle but thanks for suggestion. Everything is only a couple weeks old.
I tried that and it’s weird the layers all look great. Should layer view also show supports if they are enabled?
its the newest cura 2.x something.
I’ll check that but the machIne is only a couple weeks old so I hope I didn’t get a defective part. The filament moves if I manually extrude though.
In which case, it could definitely due to the model being not water tight(should show up clearly
in Cura’s layer display). Also, there are rare cases, some plugins, or previous setting cause
an issue with Cura, in which case, you could either switch to quick print and then make changes
by switching to the expert settings. But if none of this fixes the issue, that to rule out any model
related issue, just try printing some known good models. Also keep a watch on the fan(sometimes
having too much fan at lower temp, could easily clog nozzle, and grind the filament, making it not
extrude afterwards).
In case you didn’t see my mail, I’ve printed your model on an UM3 using Cura 2.4 and it worked out just fine. So, nothing wrong with the file. I also tried it without support to see how the printer would react. After the skirt, as expected, it simply produced a mess of PLA.
Thanks for the tip. Couple of other people printed the exact same file without any issues. I have been able to print some other models but my machine seems to randomly dislike some. Someone gave advice to checkfor heat creep so I’m going to do that too.
Yeah sorry I just got to it. I forgot to ask how did you print it? Sd card or direct connect?
I just noticed something you said here. If cura recognizes printer. How do I know if it recognizes my printer?
I’ll try that tonight thank you. Nothing else I do is working so why not lol.
Well, recognise is perhaps the wrong word, but under settings you can select the printer.
