Filament stop feeding after a while.

[erl 1]

I just recendly change a 2.85mm PLA filament to a 3mm PLA filament. It printed ok at first, than I start getting problem like the filament wont come out and there will be a clicking sound from the feeder from time too time. Please help! I tried cleaning the nozzle twice already and it will still stop feeding the filament after a few hours. Im using ultimate 2 with the new cura 2.1.3.

[DidierKlein 729]

When you say 3mm is it really 3mm or is it 2.85mm?

The UM2 is designed for 2.85mm filaments, if you use bigger filaments it can work but if the diameter gets bigger than 3mm then it can have more trouble extruding.

Main problems: the bowden and the Teflon coupler are not designed for bigger filaments

[erl 1]

The 3mm filament is basic on the package of the filament. When i bought the ultimake 2 with the filament. The supplier gave me some filament in that size. So could it be because of the size of the filament that is causing all these problem? Is there work around for this?

[DidierKlein 729]

It could be if it's 3mm, can you measure it at different areas? What's the brand?

[gr5 1,999]

95% of all 3mm filament is actually 2.85 or 2.9mm filament so only 5% chance that this is the problem. But this is trivial to measure if you have some cheap digital calipers.

Your problem sounds like a UM2 or a UM2+. I have different advice on debugging your issue depending which printer it is but first try move material and move the filament up and down several times (you can see it in the bowden at the head moving up and down) as it likely catches on the end of the bowden. Push the bowden as it enters the head in all 4 directions (east/west/north/south) as you move the filament down and hopefully it will get past the "catch".

[erl 1]

Hi Guys. I believe it could be the 3mm filament. I had another failed print and this time when I try to remove the left over filament from the tube, it much harder to pull it out. I'm using whatever 2.85 filament I have left to print now just to be sure.

You can have a look at the 3mm filament brand from the image. I dont have a proper caliper to check if its anywhere more then 3mm... :(

Do you guys have any advice or work around for this? Dont think I can request my supplier to change the filament to the correct size for me as they insisted that is not the problem. Will removing the tube or adding oil into the tube temperately help?

Thanks !

[erl 1]

Sorry. I forgot to attach the image.

[erl 1]

So far its still printing. Will only know tomorrow. . However, now I got a new problem :(. The print bed start to shakes/ vibrate when its doing the infill. I tune the speed down to 70% and it seen to not shake as much.

My speed setting is

Print Speed - 50

Infill Speed - 80

Top/Botton - 15

Travel speed 120

I did not change any setting under the infill and Top/Bottom. There wasnt any vibration where I was using the old cura software.

[gr5 1,999]

eSun in particular sometimes is too large for the bowden and can get stuck. You might want to buy a larger bowden. 3dsolex sells slightly larger bowden and if you are in usa I sell them at thegr5store.com.

When the print fails - remove the bowden from the feeder end and feel how much force it is to slide the filament through the bowden. These filaments can have thick sections and thin sections every meter or so.

[erl 1]

Thanks gr5 ! I will look into replacing a larger bowden.