Ender 3 extruder motor clicking

I have a Creality Ender 3 printer, and I have been having continual issues with the extruder motor trying to push the filament through, but it seems unable to get enough torque, and just clicks, acting almost like a ratchet. I have replaced the factory bowden tube and coupler with better quality ones, and the issue is still there. With the new tube and couplers, there is no build up of filament inside the hot end. I am new to 3d printing, and have no idea where to go from here. Thank you for any help that you have to offer.

When replacing the bowden tube you have to push it in quite hard otherwise it will not reach the bottom, thereby forming a pocket that causes a clogs.
You may need to burn out the nozzle, this can be done heating nozzle to red hot this will remove all debris.

Just a silly question is you hot end getting to a high enough temperature ??

I was printing PLA, at about 235 degrees

At that temperature (if the nozzle is at that temperature?) pla is melted. Just check you can push filament through manually. Pinch the side of the extruder as if you were loading filament and try to push filament down the PTFE tube. For every cm you push in bout 3 cm of extruded filament should emerge from a 0.4mm nozzle.

Once youhave tried that and get back to I will try to help further

So, I did what you said and got about 3 cm from the nozzle for every cm i pushed through. One other thing that came to mind is that I was printing 0.3 mm layers with a 0.4 mm nozzle. Could that be the problem?

You can successfully 3D Print up to a 0.32mm layer height with a 0.4mm nozzle.

max extrusion is about 80% of the nozzle diameter. 80% * .4 = .32

Because you can feed filament by hand suggests that there is not a blockage in the tube/hotend But that the force needed is beyond that that the extruder mechanism can supply.
a couple of reasons come to mind
1 the filament is not being softened enough for some reason you say you are printing PLA at 235C which should be enough but a faulty thermistor are not unknown. If you have some way of measuring the nozzle temp such as an infra red thermometer I would check that.
2 That the Extruder is not gripping the filament hard enough. Is the extruder gear actually rotating or just just moving forward a bit and the dropping back.
3 The stepper motor might be jammed or 1 phase of its supply absent.
You could take the Bowden tube out of the hot end and then try to see whether it will feed filament down the bowden tube.
If it does the next test is to see if it will feed filament without the nozzle .Its going to be messy but just warm the hot end up and remove the nozzle then try printing.

let me know

I was unable to test the temp on the nozzle, but its hot enough to melt PLA in a quick touch. The first few layers of a print are usually fine, but after a while the gear will move forward a bit and then click back, like you mentioned.

That indicates that the filament is trying to extrude !! you could try giving it a helping hand by pushing the filament gently and seeing whether that helps. Have you tried changing the nozzle
question after the fault has occurred can you pull the filament back while it is hot with little force (after disengaging the extruder camp wheel of course)

could also be the voltage or wiring on the stepper motor.

Check the cables are seated properly and there are no tight kinks.

Have you done anything with/to the firmware on the printer ?

I am able to push it on through with a little help, and the in able to pull it out while it is still hot. And yes, I have changed the nozzle.

The cables are fine, and I have bot done anything to the firmware. Is that something that needs done?

The fact that you can help the filament through I think eliminates blockages and the fact that it lays down several layers before the problem arises suggests a thermally reacted dry joint some where . It appears from what we can ascertain that one of the stepper phases is not working after a while. This could be due to dry joint within the stepper motor or a cable or the stepper driver which I assume is on the main board. time I am afraid to start changing parts. Extruder stepper motor and Mainboard?? but one at a time. Before you do that just check the cable from the stepper to the main board these idc cables can appear fine but mave not been made off fully.

Why is it that every thing has to be re-named as time passes this was called a cracked solder joint or cold solder joint in my time.
Cold solder joints are caused by inadequate cooling to the board over a long period of time.

If you believe dry joint then your choice is simple using a heat gun you need to re-flow the controller.

OR

Visually check the controller for dry joint shown below, then re-solder the connections that need to have solder re-flow.

Attachment 15847

My boss the other day wanted me to check his soldering jokingly knowing he wanted me to re-flow the connections I told him they looked fine to me.
I could barely contain myself when seeing what the soldering connections looked like none of which would have passed my QC soldering inspection.
He did not agree with my joking assessment an asked to make it look better he stated we are a business and need to strive for perfection.

Dodgy joints have been called a lot of things different names in different places Dry joint comes from the days of hand soldering joints and was caused my not getting the joint hot enough that the solder flowed freely and so didn't WET the surface being soldered

I realized that during the prints that the fan on the right side of the extruder and the one for the mainboard were not running. Is that a problem?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Orrin Kuntz

I realized that during the prints that the fan on the right side of the extruder and the one for the mainboard were not running. Is that a problem?

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I have been working with electronics most of my life, most of all problems could have been prevented with added cooling or vent fans.
With one exception of cranking your stereo to max volume.

Sorry mean cranking any Electrical/Mechanical equipment to Maximum operating input/output for extended periods of time.
To answer your question Yes cooling helps to extend the life of many Electrical/Mechanical items.

What percent speed should I be running it at?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Orrin Kuntz

What percent speed should I be running it at?

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Print speed is what each individual 3D Printer / Model to be printed will handle.

Example My 3D Printer having a rigid frame allows me to 3D Print at near melt rates vs pressure advance.
Meaning that I can print as fast as the filament can melt vs pressure advance to adhesion.
In simple terms 12.0mm^3 per sec or 107 (mm/s) now this is printing long walls.
If were to print curvy lines then the speed would be affected.
If these lines were very short an very curvy this again would affect the print Speed.
If a cheaper wobbly frame 3D Printer this would decrease the print speed dramatically.

Guess I can not answer your question there are too many unknown variables at this.

The right hand fan on the hot end is the material cooling fan and is controlled by the slicer setting, The main board cooling fan stops and starts on the ender 3 depending in how warm the motherboard has got.On my Ender3 pro it runs about half the time. That might have had a bearing if your fault as that could be related to over heating of the mother board causing poor joints to expand and loose contact - just a guess !!

https://youtu.be/QyMqnTplVgc
I could not figure out how to upload a video directly, so here is a link to a video of what is actually happening.

Hi could you make another video like you last but put a permanent marker line on the wheel and the sprocket of the extruder and also a few line about 5mm on the filament. That way I can have a try at slow motion analysis of the extruder motion.

https://youtu.be/LVZxEXldPiI

At this point I am afraid it is time swapping parts. IMHO the most likely is the board containing the motor drivers which in the Ender 3 I think is the main board. When you have removed it from the printer it would be a good idea to inspect all the solder joints on the board with a magnifying glass looking for cracks in the solder joints. If you find an reheating them with a soldering iron usually solves the problem!!

Hope this helps and good luck!

The nozzle is always packed full when I remove it. Is the problem with that possibly?

unless for some reason your hot end had gone cold while you were trying to print!! I don't think it has any bearing. when it starts clicking you could check the nozzle temperature.

I think I finally figured out the problem, which was my nozzle was to small. It has been printing fine since then and I would like to thank everyone for their help.