MakerGear Forum

I really need some help. I have no idea what is going on with my printer. Two things have happened:

1) I had a Z axis issue that stopped the bed from raising, causing the nozzle to continually extrude and move at the same height. This caused a big mess and my extruder motor mount to snap.
2) I have installed a new metal motor mount on M2 to replace the plastic one that snapped

Since powering back up I am not able to print. I get anywhere from 10% to 80% in a print, and then it looks like i just stop extruding plastic correctly. The printer keeps moving in the air so i dont think its a gcode issue (i use simplify 3d). Temperatures read fine when this happens. Its almost like the plastic no longer stuck to the layer underneath, causing it to start extruding into strands that go everywhere. I checked and my extruder is engaging the filament well, so i'm not sure what to look at next. The printer sounds 'normal' so I don't think its an issue with the extruder skipping steps. Any advice here would really help!

I have uploaded 3 different print attempts. They all started to have issues at different spots...

I decided to sit by the printer and wait for this to happen. It took 3 hours, but i finally saw it stop extruding. The extruder was spinning but no plastic was coming out. I stopped and did a retract, the filament looked okay, so i cut it clean and put it back in... it started pulling in fine and then stopped. Seems like I have a clog in my nozzle.

I don't really understand why I can print for 3-4 hours with no problem, and then it stops. If it was a clog I would expect it to not work at all. What am i missing here? Is this a filament issue?

Sounds like a typical clog.

What can happen some old burnt filament can stick inside the barrel/nozzle (say to the sides) and while it still seems to feed fine eventually a piece of that burnt filament can come off the side and end up clogging the nozzle tip and that's when it stops extruding.

Partial clogs just happen (it's all part of the 3d printing fun and games) with enough experience you'll be able to look at the filament extruding (in open air) and see it's actually thinner than it should be... this is a sign it's time to clean the nozzle.

The best way to do this is to remove the hotend from the printer and then take the nozzle off. You can soak the nozzle in various chemicals depending on the filament used (such as acetone for abs) and then just pick the crud out with tweezers... or the easiest way most of have found to clean the nozzles is use a blow touch. (propane or map gas type) Just hold the nozzle with pliers and hit it with a torch for a bit and it will burn everything out.

Put the nozzle back on the hotend, reinstall the hotend, set your z-height and you aer good to go.

It looks as if you have been using the same filament each time. Occasionally, you can get a bad batch with crud inside that clogs your extruder. Some people also have claimed problems due to dust on filament. You might ensure your filament is clean and try a new spool.

Thanks for the responses. I never jumped to a clog being the issue because it always started, but material sticking to the sides and eventually falling in makes a lot of sense. I'll hit it with a blow torch and see if i can clean things up. I appreciate the help!