Filament will load but won't unload

[katietopper 0]

Hi! I am not new to 3d printing but new to my S3 Ultimaker. My ultimaker PLA will load but it won't unload. Help! I've got a big project for my students that I have to print out this weekend. 

[gr5 2,069]

I'm not sure what you mean but I'll walk you through the more manual way to change filaments.

 

In the menu system find the menus that control nozzles and feeders?  I think maybe menu on left side middle tab?

 

Then click on the filament type for the core you care about.  I assume it will say PLA near the top left corner of the window.  Click that and then somewhere you can get to a submenu by clicking 3d dots "..." (but 3 dots vertical).  Maybe upper right corner?  Then in there is a "move" option.  Click that and it will heat up the nozzle.

 

While you are waiting for it to heat up - on both feeders is a lever.  Lift that lever all the way up and it will stay up.  At this point the feeder is disengaged (like neutral in a car).  when the temperature gets to around 160C you can pull the filament out manually below the feeder.  It's okay to pull very hard - 20 pounds of force is fine.

 

Once it's out you can remove the spool, put a new spool on and feed it in the same way.  No need to tell the printer you changed filament if the new filament type is also PLA.  If the new filament is a different material then next to the "move" button there is a "select type" button to let you select the new material type either automatically (it will read the RFID tag off the spool if it can) or you can scroll to the new material, click it and then click "confirm".

 

When you put the new material in don't forget to close that lever once you've feed the filament all the way in and then use the "move" command I mentioned earlier and use the arrow pointing down to push the filament through the nozzle and extrude enough until the new color shows up.