HELP!!! I have filament stuck in the feeder and half way down the bowden tube!

[Kwallnation 1]

Hi,

I need some help. When taking filament out of my Ultimaker 2 the filament stripped and I had to help it along by pulling on the filament. The plastic then broke at the opening of the feeder so i can no longer grab it with anything. I also cannot remove the Bowden tube. I pull out the blue tab and hold down the white ring and pull but the tube does not come out no matter how hard I try! Please help!!! Im stuck and dead in the water right now.

Thanks,

Matt

[DidierKlein 729]

You have to push the white collet down to pull the bowden. It shouldn't require much force to come out.

Alternatively you can load new filament and push the one that is in the bowden. You can most probably even do so by hand and make it come out from the side of the head?

Or let the piece of filament come out of the nozzle by printing something even.

But the bowden should be easy to remove.

Or take the bowden out from the head side and push the filament in order to grab it with feeder... (use the move material on the printer to make the filament move backwards in the feeder)

[Kwallnation 1]

Thank you,

I was going to try to insert new filament into the feeder to push it out. I will try it!

Matt

[gr5 2,172]

You need to practice removing the bowden at both ends so please do that.

On the head end it's easier - you loosen the 4 screws 1 or 2 full turns, then remove the clip, push down on the bowden-clip-holder and then only while pushing down on that ring pull up on the bowden. Note that there are 4 tiny metal blades that can damage the tube if you don't push down on the clip.

Once you have experience doing the head, the feeder is simpler because you can't loosen the 4 screws. But easier to damage. But I've taken mine off many times, no damage yet.

[paulsroom 2]

The filament in core 1 has stuck a couple of times recently and would not unload without me pulling it at the feeder end.  Since initially the filament was ColorFabb PLA and the proprietary Ultimaker PLA, I wondered if the composition was slightly different and thus sometimes result in sticking.  I contacted ColorFabb and they didn't seem to know - maybe no one has ever asked them the question.  Anyway now it is the proprietary Ultimaker PLA that has got stuck, but worse, it has broken off in the feeder and I can't load any filament.  I am assuming that there is a piece of filament stuck in the feeder that's preventing a new filament from loading.  The attached image shows that it is being squeezed - this is not the heated end, it is right at the start.  What is the solution?

I have unclogged the print core several times and have no problem disconnecting the Bowden tube, etc. at that end.  But it suggests to me that feeder grabbers may have become displaced.

[fbrc8-erin 272]

Depending on where and how it's broken in the feeder, you might need to disassemble the feeder to get it out. There are instructions here: https://fbrc8.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003853603-Reassembling-the-Ultimaker-2-Ultimaker-3-Feeder
 

If you're seeing this happen frequently, here are a couple things to check:

1. Is your front fan running? If you've been running the printer for a long time, you can get hairy strands of filament caught in the front fan that keep it from spinning. That would cause the filament to expand in the Print Core and not extrude, and get ground at the feeder.

 

2. What tension is your feeder set to?

 

3. Is there ground up debris in your bowden tube from previous failures?

[gr5 2,172]

The bowden comes off.  Read about how to do this properly.

 

This thread is messed up because the earlier poster is asking about a UM2 and the newer poster is asking about a UM3.

[paulsroom 2]

On 2/19/2018 at 4:40 AM, gr5 said:

This thread is messed up because the earlier poster is asking about a UM2 and the newer poster is asking about a UM3.

 

I don't think that this thread has been messed up my question, because the link given by fbrrc8-erin deals with all Utimaker models - 2, 2extended, 3 and 3extended.

The principle is the same for all.  The Ultimaker 2 has one printcore while the Ultimaker 3 has two printcores.  The Bowden tube and feeders are the same, just one set for 2 and 2extended and two sets for 3 and 3extended.

 

On 2/18/2018 at 10:17 PM, fbrc8-erin said:

Depending on where and how it's broken in the feeder, you might need to disassemble the feeder to get it out. There are instructions here: https://fbrc8.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003853603-Reassembling-the-Ultimaker-2-Ultimaker-3-Feeder

 

Edited February 22, 2018 by paulsroom

[geert_2 557]

If you want to make it a lot easier to remove the bowden tube next time, print a couple of these horse-shoe clips. Their base has the same dimensions as the original ones, but these are very easy to grab.

 

You can find the models on my page here (scroll down until you find them):

https://www.uantwerpen.be/nl/personeel/geert-keteleer/manuals/

 

Edited February 20, 2018 by geert_2

[paulsroom 2]

Thank you geert_2 that is an excellent link with very useful items and ideas.  I believe I may now have cleared my filament stuck issues,  I have thoroughly cleaned the print core area and Bowden tube with compressed air and the filament loads okay.