WTF is wrong with my printer???

It's fairly new. Did lovely prints, then I didn't use it for a couple of months (will now).
Note the missing filament on the bottom layer. It didn't have the problem the last time i used it. I'm honestly not sure if it's a leveling problem, extrusion, cura problem,...
It seems to sometimes just skip printing. The head moves, but the filament feeding stepper doesn't spin or try to spin. The head isn't clogged, at least not 100% clogged. I did try a cold pull with the filament I had, just to be sure.
I did notice that it doesn't push the filament out, so I'm guessing it's not a sticking problem.

I had a problem like this, found it was my fault I had inadvertently Sliced the model at 3MM.
Attached is a Picture

Attachment 12131

Now the fact that I was able to finish the print was a complete surprise to me.
Believe me it floored me when I found the solution was setting the correct filament diameter in Cura's slicer.

I have also experienced under extrusion because the Teflon tube inside the throat deformed.

Attachment 12132

These nozzles are plugged this the deformed Teflon tubing.
Guess I should have stated I have them sitting in my old Lead screw nuts.

I started a new print and kind of got it to stick, however now it seems to just skip layers. I did a print from some previous gcode that came out super smooth previously and the same thing happened. I really don't know what's going on. Should I just take apart the nozzle and clean it?

what printer is it and when did you last level the bed ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

what printer is it and when did you last level the bed ?

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Ender 3, I leveled it just before the print. Im fairly new at this so I might not have the feel for it yet, however...could this even be caused by bad leveling?

the first few layers can look like that if the nozzle is too close to the bed.
But in your case it's more likely a physical blockage or constriction.

Have you changed or cleaned the nozzle yet ?
if not - do that :-)
you've definitely got under extrusion. nine times out of ten it's a feed issue or a partially clogged nozzle.

On bowden printers you can get constrictions in the bowden tube feed system which cause this kind of issue.

what slicer are you using ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

the first few layers can look like that if the nozzle is too close to the bed.
But in your case it's more likely a physical blockage or constriction.

Have you changed or cleaned the nozzle yet ?
if not - do that :-)
you've definitely got under extrusion. nine times out of ten it's a feed issue or a partially clogged nozzle.

On bowden printers you can get constrictions in the bowden tube feed system which cause this kind of issue.

what slicer are you using ?

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I cleaned the first nozzle then when it didn't help, I switched it with a new one, which also didn't work.
I used a thingiverse that worked before. I also tried an online slicer (astroprint) and Cura. they all gave me the same result.

i also thought it might be a Z axis problem so I undid the bolts holding it a little...then I tried tightening them and there's not much difference in either case.

A friend suggested that the stepper drivers might be partially blown and that I should switch the Z one with one of the other two. However I have an Ender 3 and the drivers are attached to the board.
Maybe it's just a current problem on the motor drivers, I honestly have no good idea as to what it could be.

What are my options?

(looks at picture of printer)
okay so you've got a weird bowden setup.
Quite why anyone would make an i3 clone that didn't have a direct drive extruder - is beyond me.
But they did.
Heat the hotend up to about 220 and Push the filament through the tube manually and see if there's any resistance at any point.
Also check the feed cog and wheel on the extruder itself.

People always leap to the 'it's buggered electronics' when usually it's something a lot more mundane.

I already tried pushing the filament out manually to check if there was any resistance and it seems to be fine. The feed cog/wheel also look fine and spin. What exactly am I looking for?

EDIT: Ok, so I tried pushing the filament through the extruder again and I couldn't, then I detached the tube and there was a clump of filament at the bottom (while hot). Maybe the tube wasn't pushed in far enough so that happened?
I cut the clump off and tried pushing the filament through the tube only and that was a bit harder to push thought at some points but not so hard that it would cause problems. When it was all the way through the tube, moving it was quite easy aka it don't get stuck at any point. Maybe it's the tube that's giving me problems?

I'm doing another print as we speak and I pushed the tube down into the head as far as I could get it. Hope it helps.
I'll post an update on the print in a couple of min, when it finishes. Btw, I'm using a 220C temp for PLA and heating the bed to 60C.

clogging in the feed cog, move the printhead to different positions and chack the filament goes through with the tube in different positions.

If none of this makes any difference buy a new board. A mks gen is about $20
Or you can get a direct replacement for $50

Looking at the creaity board - it's pretty basic.
The mks gen L has all the same connectors, but no card reader. presumably you're using the card reader on the screen ? in which case it doesn't matter.
Oh yeah and the gen -L also uses replaceable stepper drivers.

Never hurts to have a spare board around the place :-)

It looks much better now. I just pushed the tube in as far as possible (not like I don't always do that). It must have slipped out a little somehow. Still not a perfect print though.

I've attached a couple of pics of the current print and one (gf holding it) where it came out quite good (same print a couple of months ago)

Should I just buy a new tube at a hardware store? If so what exactly am I looking for?

Now that you have you 3D Printer working you may want to print a Temp Tower follow the instructions on how to setup the difference here.

Once the Temp Tower is printed you will see the temperature your 3D Printer, material look best at.
After you have accomplished this you can again post with the results, and some Slicer settings could be altered to make the 3D Prints look even better.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roberts_Clif

Now that you have you 3D Printer working you may want to print a Temp Tower follow the instructions on how to setup the difference here.

Once the Temp Tower is printed you will see the temperature your 3D Printer, material look best at.
After you have accomplished this you can again post with the results, and some Slicer settings could be altered to make the 3D Prints look even better.

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I wouldn't exactly call it "working" yet. The most recent print is far from smooth. I'll try to clean the tube somehow and see if the prints improve.
Thanks to everybody that helped. If anyone has any more ideas, I'm all ears.

Try Installing Cura 15.04.6 - Here
Install one or more of the Cura 15.04.6 profile ini files attached.
1st Layer Print speed 32 ~ 46% No Fan
All Other Layers Print speed 70-86% Fan Speed about 50%

I print PLA at 196C ~ 206C with a bed temperature 40C ~ 56C

Check to be sure that your Ender 3 Printer is defined as your Primary 3D Printer...
If you need adjust the temperatures higher in the Cura Profiles as needed.

Hope this will help. I use the same Profiles for ABS only adjust the Nozzle to 228C and the Bed to 96C.

Hope this We will Help.
Sometimes we need more information in order to teach you what is required for that perfect print!
My Profiles work for me they may not work for you.

Your Start G-Code should look like this
G21 ;metric values
G90 ;absolute positioning
M82 ;set extruder to absolute mode
;M106 S127 ;set Fan half speed
M107 ;start with the fan off
G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops
G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstops
G1 Z15.0 F{travel_speed} ;move the platform down 15mm
;Put printing message on LCD screen // The line below should contain your Print Message
M117 My Print...
G28 X0 Y0
G1 E4.0 ;prime extruder
G92 E0 ;reset extruder length
;M420 S1 ; Bed Leveling On //// Comment this line it is for my Auto Bed Leveling "On Feature"
M220 S32.000000


Your End G-Code should look like this
M104 S0 ;extruder heater off
M140 S0 ;heated bed heater off (if you have it)
G91 ;relative mode
G1 Z+0.5 E-2 F{travel_speed} ;raise Z above print
G90 ;absolute mode
G1 X0 Y270 ;move extruder to rear left Model to front.
M84 ;steppers off
G90 ;absolute positioning

Thank you all :D

teflon tubes I get from amazon.
few bucks for 2 metres. should be 4mm outer diameter and 2mm inner diameter.
If you don't already have a digital caliper - get one :-)
Pretty much an essential for any 3d printing.
https://www.amazon.com/Staron-Electr...gital+calipers
no idea whether that's a genuine price - but for 99c got to be worth a punt :-)

This is probably the best for the money at the moment https://www.amazon.com/iGaging-Elect...=igaging+ezcal

I now have another problem. It seems to be extruding but not all the time or at least the layers dont stick. The bed seems to be leveled fine since the outer rim looks ok, but...well, you can see what happened.Is my printing bed bent or is it still an extrusion problem? Ill try putting the print at a different position on the bed and see if that helps. When doing the print multiple times, the holes seem happen in the same places.Any ideas?

It appears to me that the nozzle could be a little too close to the bed.

When My Nozzle gets too close to the bed, seen in your Image shown look exactly like my failed prints.
And this is a good time to Mention. I have a Proximity sensor mounted on an adjustable Slide Bracket, that is tuned by a thumb nut.

Attachment 12162

One day I might redesign the spring tension-ed Proximity Sensor Slide mount as it is many times larger the the flat Sensor on the bottom.
But is still works I can adjust the sensor height by micro-millimeters with a partial turn of the thumbscrew.

Original found on Thingiverse https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1258415
I redesigned the one above to accommodate the Flat proximity sensor pictures above.