Filament not coming through ??

[jm1201 0]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can help me, I'm using an Ultimaker 2 with PLA however its seems that the filament is continually getting stuck and I cant work out why. I've printed things before with no problem but halfway through a print last night the nozzle appeared to clog and so no filament came out. I heated the nozzle up to 260 to unclog it, however the filament still wasn't coming through.

After some research online I tried the atomic method which after several attempts appeared to work and filament was finally coming through, but then it blocked again. I retried the atomic method, and when I hand fed the filament it comes through, but once i reassembled to print again, very little filament came out and very slowly until nothing came through!

Has anyone got any idea what could be causing this, any help will be much appreciated!

Thanks

[Labern 775]

Firstly don't heat the PLA above 240 as it can burn and make the problem worse.

Is the feeder slipping or grinding the filament? How much impression from the feeder do you have? you may need to increase the tension.

Is your roll low? it can be hard to pull filament of a low roll.

Is it a new printer? how many print hours have you done?

Have you tried to heat up the filament and push it through by hand? the feeder should have no power to it and you can just push it through with a bit of force.

Did the atomic's come out nice and clean and a nice nozzle shape?

[cloakfiend 996]

Ok sorry long post here, but i think its very important, most likely you are not clearing the nozzle properly, once you learn how to spot a clean nozzle you wont have that problem anymore. i only realised how to properly clean my nozzle after a recent block that was the result of a burn which i thought id cleared, id been getting random small jams not knowing why and in my honest experience using this printer, is where most people need to focus. Once you sort it, your prints will be perfect! (assuming all your other settings are good).

practice you atomic pulls (a lot), make yourself some tea, get some biscuits. and lose yourself in analysing the tip that comes out of the hot end again and again, and again……repeat. ANY bump, indent, graze, wobble, mark, scratch, lump or discrepancy on the tip will just mean a jam in the future. I do about 1 - 3, atomic pulls before EVERY print which guarantees me perfect prints.

this is extreme but after i did this i learnt pretty much ALL of my previous feeder problems and quality issues also stemmed from the blocked nozzle issue. I am still using everything stock on the printer and the same nozzle, and getting prints like this, with perfect layering and no weird business.....

Also im getting the little pile of filament gathering up at the start like i used to when my printer was brand new. If you dont get this, then i can bet you have a n ever so slightly blocked nozzle. It may not even matter for a few prints, but it will lead to the feeder jam noise and clicking and imperfect printing in my opinion. I could be wrong seeing as i really dont examine how this stuff, but im sure im right just going by the prints im getting and lack of issues since doing this, lol.

You want to be getting this at the start of each print....(its a sign of a clear nozzle)

There should be lessons in good atomic pulls, it would solve 99% of problems with the printer. Of course if you are using fancy filament thats a whole new ball game, and im talking about PLA use, as with ABS things get hotter and this damages the PTFE quicker ive heard.

Casual atomic pulls will achieve nothing when you have badly burnt your nozzle.