3D Printer Is barely Extruding Filament On the First Layer

[Schmordan 4]

When I start a print on my Ender 3 V2 , it barely extrudes any filament, causing a thin string which isn't touching my perfectly levelled bed, and tiny little beads on the string. For some reason, the filament extruded on the side of the printing bed is extruded perfectly, so I think it might be a software issue, but I'm not sure. This is weird, as I've printed just okay at other times.

Thin Strings and Beads:                                                               

     

 

The Whole Failed Print:

 

 

The Filament being Printed On the Side:

 

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by Schmordan

[Schmordan 4]

I've also tried checking the extruder gear and nozzle temperature, but nothing seems to work. Please help!

[43915 19]

The fact that it prints well on one side of the bed but not the other makes me immediately assume that it's an issue with the bed leveling. I'm not sure how you level your bed and how you can be sure that it's perfect, but I've had this exact issue a couple of times and it's been because of bad bed leveling every single time.

 

I'm by no means an expert on 3D-printer software, but I can't imagine that the software would be causing the printer to underextrude on one specific side of the printer while extruding perfectly on another side. I'm not sure, but I've never heard of there being any settings related to extrusion rates that depend on the location of the printhead on the bed, which could potentially be acting up and causing this issue.

 

I'd say make absolutely sure that the bed is level, and that it's actually flat, and try again. I've had a bunch of different problems all caused by bad bed leveling, and it's such a sensitive factor that even the slightest deviation can give big issues depending on filament type and print job.

Edited March 9, 2023 by 43915

[Schmordan 4]

Thanks for replying! 🙂

I've used a metal feeler gauge to level my bed and I think that my bed is flat after 4 tests. The string with little beads on it is actually thinner than 0.16, the resolution I'm printing in, and isn't reaching the bed. as you can see on the bottom left of the failed print, that it extruded just fine. but after about 3 or 4 cm it start not extruding as much anymore.

[43915 19]

Of course, I'm happy to help as best I can!

 

Very strange. So if I understand correctly it would for example matter how big your print is, in relation to where this problem occurs? Say, if you print a model with a bigger base, will the problem occur at a different place on the bed than with a smaller model? Or similarly, if you were to move the Z-seam to the opposite side of the print so that it starts printing at a different place, will the problem occur at the opposite side as well?

 

What happens if you let the print continue, will it keep printing fine on one side and bad on the other on each new layer, or does it extrude better or worse the longer it prints?

 

I had similar issues once when printing with PETG for the first time. It printed fine the first 5-10 seconds and then extruded less and less filament until it stopped completely at the second or third layer depending on the model size. Turned out that the temp was simply too low, so that the nozzle was clogged almost immediately after cleaning it out between prints. It usually worked if I started a new print without cleaning the nozzle, which had me confused for a while, but I assume that when the nozzle was heating up for a new print it "over-shoots" the temp and went to 4-5C higher than the set temp, which allowed the plastic to flow initially until the temp leveled out. I now print that filament at 5-6C over the max recommended temp on the spool, which feels a bit weird, but at least it works now. I see that you've checked your nozzle temps, but perhaps you're facing a similar scenario where printing at a higher temp than recommended could solve the problem.

[Schmordan 4]

I unscrewed the nozzle and took out the plastic gunk in there. I also think because I set my layer height AND initial layer height to 0.16, the printer printed it above my printing bed, as it was levelled to 2.0 mm. The problem was semi resolved, but still kind of under extruded on the skirt.

Thanks for the support!

[43915 19]

I'm not sure about how the Ender machines work, but on my UM2+ the distance between nozzle and bed during leveling should be 0.1mm if I remember correctly. That distance is then adjusted automatically depending on initial layer height. If I've leveled it to exactly 0.1mm and enter 0.2mm as initial layer height the printer will start at 0.2mm from the bed. So if the Ender machine is supposed to be calibrated to 0.2mm when leveling and you enter 0.16mm initial layer height I believe that it should compensate for it automatically and it shouldn't cause any problems.

And come to think of it, if the nozzle were to be too far from the bed and the plastic doesn't stick to the bed properly, the nozzle will probably stretch out the plastic in the air, causing it to become thinner than 0.16mm even if the nozzle was, for example, 0.2mm from the bed. While also likely leaving little blobs here and there. I'm just spitballing here though, to be clear.

 

Speaking of gunk in the nozzle. I've made a routine of always pulling the filament out (similar to the atomic method) every time I switch filament, as well as using different nozzles for different materials. I have one for PLA, one for PETG, one for ABS and one for "others". So if I'm about to switch from PLA to PETG I'll manually heat the nozzle to about 110C and keep a constant pulling force on the filament while the nozzle heats up. When it reaches about 60-70C the plastic usually starts coming out slowly and eventually pops loose with all the filament that was in the nozzle coming out. I make sure not to pull too hard on the filament since it tends to snap off sometimes. Then I switch nozzles to the PETG one, and the PLA one will come out completely clean and empty. This method doesn't even take much longer than unloading the filament through the printer menu. After fitting the new nozzle I just push the new filament in by hand as far as it goes, switch material in the menu (without unloading the material) and use the "move material" feature in the menu to make sure that the filament is loaded completely. And I also wipe the nozzle with a paper cloth between each print that takes a bit more time to finish.

I haven't had a single clogged nozzle since I started this routine about 2 years ago and have printed about 3k hours since then.

 

Sorry for the walls of text I throw at you, I just want to give you any tips I know of!

[Schmordan 4]

I also think this 'zebra pattern' is related to under extrusion too. But it also was only on the supports, so yay???

The stringing you see is from a (Very annoying) layer shift.