Flashforge Creator Pro, I think I just jammed the extruder but I'm not sure. Pls Help

Hi guys
I just started 3D printing for about a week with a new Flashforge Creator Pro. Today I messed up big time. I've changed filaments before, after heating up the extruder I push down the filament before level down the spring and pull out the filament. But today I was not paying attention while doing this and I pushed down the filament too quick and too hard and I think I jammed it.
The situation as you can see in the picture is the filament is stucked from all the way. I tried preheat and push down, pull out the filament but it just stuck there big time.
Do you guys think I have to take everything out to parts in order to fix it?
I've searched the internet but this task seems to be a bit too complicated for me, i've never done this before so I would like some recommendation and suggestion here if you guys don't mind.
Thank you very much, I appreciate your time reading my post.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it doesn't appear the filament passes the drive gear into the extruder. So if that is the case, then you should be able to grab the small section of filament at the top (with some pliers) and pull it out while holding the lever down. Once you get that piece out you need to inspect the 'drive' gear and make sure its clean. You may need to pick out any filament caught up in the teeth (I use some dental tools). Once that is done, and checked you should be able to run a load filament command and reload the filament.

THAT SAID...

I would however recommend that you dismantle that assm. You need to learn and feel comfortable with doing this, as it's an important part of maintaining your printer. Take your time and take lots of pictures at each step, once you do it a few times it's easy-peasy... :p

okay - for one thing I've never pushed the filament into the feed hole.
Just insert it gently and let the machine do the rest. hell I've never even pushde the lever down.

So the first thing you should do is start the printer's loading for that extruder.
if it feeds filament through - great, leave it for a few seconds and then swith to unload and it should come out pretty easily.
Or do what i do and cut the filament where it enters the hole and just let it feed through. Then insert the new filament and let it feed through.
I don't actually use the unload option anymore. faster and easier to just load one all the way through and stick the new one in.
But at no point should you manually try and force the filement in. that's where you get filament grinding and clogging of the feed gear.
So don't do that. No need for lever depressing and no need to force filament into the feed gear.
Just get the load cycle running and gently insert the filament till the gear grabs it.
Sometimes with flexible filament I have to remove and reinsert a couple times until the end finds the actual extruder hole, but that's the only time I use the unload option these days.

If the filament doesn't feed at all. Then yep it's got stuck and you'll need to remove the fan.
2 bolts, be careful of the spacers as they'll usually fall off into the printer.
Once the fan is removed you can see the extruder and dig out the jammed filament. not complicated.
Getting the fan and spacers back is a little fiddly. But not diffcult.

Worst case scenario you'll need to remove the gear - small grub screw - and clean the grooves with a hobby knife.
It's easy, very little to go wrong and you should be fine :-)
It can only go back on one way.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ServiceXp

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it doesn't appear the filament passes the drive gear into the extruder. So if that is the case, then you should be able to grab the small section of filament at the top (with some pliers) and pull it out while holding the lever down. Once you get that piece out you need to inspect the 'drive' gear and make sure its clean. You may need to pick out any filament caught up in the teeth (I use some dental tools). Once that is done, and checked you should be able to run a load filament command and reload the filament.

THAT SAID...

I would however recommend that you dismantle that assm. You need to learn and feel comfortable with doing this, as it's an important part of maintaining your printer. Take your time and take lots of pictures at each step, once you do it a few times it's easy-peasy... :p

---

Sorry but what do you mean by dismantle that "assm"? you mean the metal thing behind the fan?
I removed the fan in order to take this picture. I tried to take out the drive but it seems like the other end of the filament is stucked in the noozle so I could not take it off. I'm pretty sure this is the case.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

okay - for one thing I've never pushed the filament into the feed hole.
Just insert it gently and let the machine do the rest. hell I've never even pushde the lever down.

So the first thing you should do is start the printer's loading for that extruder.
if it feeds filament through - great, leave it for a few seconds and then swith to unload and it should come out pretty easily.
Or do what i do and cut the filament where it enters the hole and just let it feed through. Then insert the new filament and let it feed through.
I don't actually use the unload option anymore. faster and easier to just load one all the way through and stick the new one in.
But at no point should you manually try and force the filement in. that's where you get filament grinding and clogging of the feed gear.
So don't do that. No need for lever depressing and no need to force filament into the feed gear.
Just get the load cycle running and gently insert the filament till the gear grabs it.
Sometimes with flexible filament I have to remove and reinsert a couple times until the end finds the actual extruder hole, but that's the only time I use the unload option these days.

If the filament doesn't feed at all. Then yep it's got stuck and you'll need to remove the fan.
2 bolts, be careful of the spacers as they'll usually fall off into the printer.
Once the fan is removed you can see the extruder and dig out the jammed filament. not complicated.
Getting the fan and spacers back is a little fiddly. But not diffcult.

Worst case scenario you'll need to remove the gear - small grub screw - and clean the grooves with a hobby knife.
It's easy, very little to go wrong and you should be fine :-)
It can only go back on one way.

---

Thank you for your advice I think my situation is the last resort. The extruder won't load anymore filament, it's jammed I think.
So I need to remove the whole extruder part by part and try to clean it up?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SkyKisser

Sorry but what do you mean by dismantle that "assm"? you mean the metal thing behind the fan?
I removed the fan in order to take this picture. I tried to take out the drive but it seems like the other end of the filament is stucked in the noozle so I could not take it off. I'm pretty sure this is the case.

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By assm., I mean removing the stepper motor, drive blocks, cooling fan and block heat sinks for starters. There will come a time when you will need to unclog a nozzle, but I would wait to learn how to do that until it happens.

So if there is still filament going down to the extruder preventing the removal of the drive bock and motor then you should be able to push down on the lever and pull the entire assm. up (remember to disconnect the stepper wires). If that doesn't work, cut the filament between the black drive block and the the metal extruder, right at the extruder (flush with the metal).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by curious aardvark

okay - for one thing I've never pushed the filament into the feed hole.
Just insert it gently and let the machine do the rest. hell I've never even pushde the lever down.

So the first thing you should do is start the printer's loading for that extruder.
if it feeds filament through - great, leave it for a few seconds and then swith to unload and it should come out pretty easily.
Or do what i do and cut the filament where it enters the hole and just let it feed through. Then insert the new filament and let it feed through.
I don't actually use the unload option anymore. faster and easier to just load one all the way through and stick the new one in.
But at no point should you manually try and force the filement in. that's where you get filament grinding and clogging of the feed gear.
So don't do that. No need for lever depressing and no need to force filament into the feed gear.
Just get the load cycle running and gently insert the filament till the gear grabs it.
Sometimes with flexible filament I have to remove and reinsert a couple times until the end finds the actual extruder hole, but that's the only time I use the unload option these days.

If the filament doesn't feed at all. Then yep it's got stuck and you'll need to remove the fan.
2 bolts, be careful of the spacers as they'll usually fall off into the printer.
Once the fan is removed you can see the extruder and dig out the jammed filament. not complicated.
Getting the fan and spacers back is a little fiddly. But not diffcult.

Worst case scenario you'll need to remove the gear - small grub screw - and clean the grooves with a hobby knife.
It's easy, very little to go wrong and you should be fine :-)
It can only go back on one way.

---

Just a heads up, on my older drive blocks (I now use jfKansans blocks) I had to push that lever down to get the filament to pass through to the drive gear. I don't have to do that with jfkansas blocks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ServiceXp

By assm., I mean removing the stepper motor, drive blocks, cooling fan and block heat sinks for starters. There will come a time when you will need to unclog a nozzle, but I would wait to learn how to do that until it happens.

So if there is still filament going down to the extruder preventing the removal of the drive bock and motor then you should be able to push down on the lever and pull the entire assm. up (remember to disconnect the stepper wires). If that doesn't work, cut the filament between the black drive block and the the metal extruder, right at the extruder (flush with the metal).

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I took your advice trying to cut off the filament between to seperate the motor driver and the noozle but I dont know where to start then I contacted Mr Tang from Amazon Flashforge. He gave the same advice with some pictures and videos instructed to cut off the filament and try flush down the left over filament without the motor on. But it is easier said than done.
Cutting off the filament on top and inside the drive is not hard but the part between the drive and the top noozle is hard as hell since the space is so little. It took me sometimes to cut it off with a very thin blade.
So now I can seperate the motor. I heat up the extruder and tried to poke down the filament with a small head rod but the little bastard is tough like rock. You can see it in the picture. I could not make it move even one bit. I almost gave up thinking I have to remove th noozle and start from the inside. Then I had an idea, I heat up the little rod with my lighter and try melting the filament at the same time poking it down. And YES it worked, it was very easy then to flush out the stucked filament.
I am in heaven right now, I am total noob when it comes to technical aspect but this one time I am feeling good about myself lol.
Guys, I have to say I really appreciate your time to give me advices. I know nobody that owns a 3D Printer so it's all come down to you guys, the online community.
Last but not least, the support from Mr Tang has been great so far.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ServiceXp

Just a heads up, on my older drive blocks (I now use jfKansans blocks) I had to push that lever down to get the filament to pass through to the drive gear. I don't have to do that with jfkansas blocks.

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I dont know what kind of drive mine is but in order to pull out the filament I have to push that level down too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SkyKisser

I took your advice trying to cut off the filament between to seperate the motor driver and the noozle but I dont know where to start then I contacted Mr Tang from Amazon Flashforge. He gave the same advice with some pictures and videos instructed to cut off the filament and try flush down the left over filament without the motor on. But it is easier said than done.
Cutting off the filament on top and inside the drive is not hard but the part between the drive and the top noozle is hard as hell since the space is so little. It took me sometimes to cut it off with a very thin blade.
So now I can seperate the motor. I heat up the extruder and tried to poke down the filament with a small head rod but the little bastard is tough like rock. You can see it in the picture. I could not make it move even one bit. I almost gave up thinking I have to remove th noozle and start from the inside. Then I had an idea, I heat up the little rod with my lighter and try melting the filament at the same time poking it down. And YES it worked, it was very easy then to flush out the stucked filament.
I am in heaven right now, I am total noob when it comes to technical aspect but this one time I am feeling good about myself lol.
Guys, I have to say I really appreciate your time to give me advices. I know nobody that owns a 3D Printer so it's all come down to you guys, the online community.
Last but not least, the support from Mr Tang has been great so far.

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Fantastic! Nice Job. and yes Mr. Tang's support is VERY good, much better then the factory rep support I hear. You will be an 'expert' in no time, as the one thing this hobby pushes you to do is to learn and experiment. :o

Have fun!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ServiceXp

Fantastic! Nice Job. and yes Mr. Tang's support is VERY good, much better then the factory rep support I hear. You will be an 'expert' in no time, as the one thing this hobby pushes you to do is to learn and experiment. :o

Have fun!!

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Thank you for encouraging me learning and trying. I am sure I will never be able to overcome this challenge today without guys like you.
So to all of us, Print Safe and Enjoy :cool: