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Ender 3 Pro continual issues after initial successful prints - Updated

opalko

Hi folks, I have an Ender 3 Pro that I bought about a month ago. Stock machine. I have successfully printed using PLA and PETG filament initially.  I am using stock settings for PLA and PETG in Cura on a Linux machine for slicing.

The last thing I printed was a case, in PLA, for a transistor tester, one of those cheapee ones that work well. The outside of the case printed fine but the screw holders on the inside were a loose nest of filament that had no cohesion. They would just snap off with the touch of the finger. It would never hold screws.  So I tried printing the lower half again. This time the bottom layer did not even go down well. Tried again. This time even worse!

Ok after consulting different forums, I was first told my extrusion temp was too low - stock Cura setting is 200. I bumped it 210. Nope. Then I was told to clean the extruder nozzle, which I did. Nope. Then I was told to check the z step. So I went through the process of calculating that and adjusted it. No difference.

At this point I started over. I

- leveled bed again (still didn't work)

- cleaned nozzle again (still didn't work)

- tried different extraction settings (on/off, speed etc) (still didn't work)

Today I went back to the default settings and tried printing it one more time (and then a second and third attempt..). Now the skirt won't even lay down properly. Any guidance for what is going on or where to start (again) with this? I keep the PLA and PETG in the foil pouches they came in with dessicant but I don't have a dryer or use the oven before printing.

Here is a link to the photo album of first good prints and then the degradation over time to the last picture which is from today of the bottom of the tester case I am trying to print again.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PmBKJQojMPebxnpJ8

Thanks

Robert Opalko

  • in reply to opalko

    I may have missed this before, but do you live in a humid area? I've had more stringing problems as the weather has gotten warmer and muggier. I just bought a Sunlu dryer, but before I would back my filament about about 170c for a few hours before I printed, it helped some. My printer is still down, waiting on parts, so I hope the dryer works out better.

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    I've had a ton of good results with new nozzles. but,, I just waste nozzles. At least the brass ones are fairly cheap, I just ordered a Creality basic direct drive and maybe that will work out better.

  • in reply to opalko

    Wow! Interesting that the cat prints out well, and good catch on the tight filament spool - that’s something none of us seem to have thought of!

    If the cat prints well consistently, then it does seem like your profile needs adjustment. There’s a YouTuber named CHEP who does a lot of videos on experimenting and adjusting settings for the Ender 3 Pro printer. He might have some good ideas for you.

    I can try exporting a filament profile from my Cura here if you think it will help? I have some for the PLA filament element14 / Newark / Farnell sells, that work well enough for me, but can use some fine tuning.

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    Hmm, I just re-read my old blog posts and noticed that my test cat also printed perfectly even with the broken extruder. so I’m not sure if a good cat print rules out printer problems, sorry.
    Learning to 3D Print

    ps, have you tried putting a little bit of pressure on the extruder arm (while it was out of the printer) to test for hairline cracks?

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    Wow, that's crazy. I wonder what magic they have in the code that allows it to print even with a broken extruder arm!?

    I did check the arm under a magnifier but at this point since yours worked after installing a new arm,..

  • in reply to opalko
    opalko said:
    I wonder what magic they have in the code that allows it to print even with a broken extruder arm!

    I think it prints so slow and fine that it doesn’t need to move the filament much.

    I was talking to a friend yesterday, turns out he also has the exact same 3D printer, and also had the extruder issue and upgraded to the metal extruder like I did.

    So I think you can’t really go wrong with the metal extruder upgrade - it’s not super expensive, and it appears to be a very common problem with our printers. So even if it’s not a problem today, it will likely become one sooner or later.

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    I've ordered one and should have it here and installed by the weekend. Wish me luck.

    Do you remember if, before you installed the metal arm, the gear on the plastic one slipped regularly pulling filament through. Mine does and I wonder if this is part of the problem with the print being filament starved..?

  • in reply to opalko
    opalko said:
    the gear on the plastic one slipped regularly pulling filament through

    Oh that is definitely an issue then.

    I don’t recall seeing that on mine, but that’s what causes the under extrusion.

    Knowing that extra detail gives me confidence that the metal extruder upgrade will most likely fix the issues.

    I just had an 8 hour print fail at hour 7 last night Face palm tone1
    The filament was jammed on the spool. I should’ve checked more regularly! I guess even with the metal extruder’s extra grip that can still happen.

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    New extruder arm finally arrived and I installed it yesterday:

    image

    First print out of the gate, after making sure PTFE, nozzle had no clogs:

    image

    Same exact result as before. Birds nest mess. I stopped this print before it got any further.

    Tried a new print thinking "maybe this design has bad juju". I picked something at random from thingiverse and tried this model:

    https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3877505

    The result: (again, I stopped it when it was obvious it was going to fail)

    image

    Also, the CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK of the gear slipping is still going on:

    Link here in case video upload doesn't work:

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/eZrzvHGsQqBZouHE7

    The filament is a matte black PLA, not glossy, and it has worked for the cat model, and very early prints. This is disappointing and frustrating!

  • in reply to opalko

    Argh! I was really hoping that would do the trick!

    Looks sparkling shiny good though Smiley  So at least it looks pretty while it fails Thinking  

    That clunking though… I’ve never encountered that before. In my case it slipped quietly. I’m assuming you made sure the filament is not jammed on the spool and is moving freely.

    I wonder if it could be the stepper motor. If you run the print without filament, does it still clunk like that?

    Or it could be jammed at the other end, like a clogged nozzle or failing hot end. I assume if the hot end stops heating it would jam up - if you have a way to check the nozzle temperate while printing, that might help figure it out. Could it be a loose heater wire or bad connection?

    does the display show the nozzle temperature at the temperature it is supposed to be?

    also a way to check is at the time it fails like that, stop the print and try pushing the filament through manually - it should squeeze out. Kinda like when you first feed the filament.

    I know you’ve already cleaned the nozzle many times, but that might be an inexpensive next step too.

    I’m hoping others with more experience can add feedback too.