Not Printing

WHAT’S THE ISSUE?

The nozzle is moving, but no filament is depositing on the print bed at the beginning of the printing, or no filament comes out in mid-print that result in printing failure.

POSSIBLE CAUSES

∙ Nozzle Too Close to Print Bed

∙ Nozzle Not Prime

∙ Out of Filament

∙ Nozzle Jammed

∙ Snapped Filament

∙ Grinding Filament

∙ Overheated Extruder Motor

TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS

Nozzle Too Close to Print Bed

In the beginning of printing, if the nozzle is too close to the build table surface, there will not be enough room for plastic to come out of the extruder.

Z-AXIS OFFSET

Most printers allow you to make very fine Z-axis offset in the setting. Raise the height of the nozzle slightly, for example 0.05mm, to get away from the print bed. Be careful not to raise the nozzle too much away from the print bed, or it can cause other issues.

LOWER THE PRINT BED

If your printer allows, you can lower the print bed away from the nozzle. However, it may not be a good way, as it may require you to re-calibrate and level the print bed.

Nozzle Not Primed

Extruder may leak plastic when they are sitting idle at a high temperature, which creates a void inside the nozzle. It results in a few seconds delay before the plastic come out again when you try to start printing.

INCLUDE EXTRA SKIRT OUTLINES

Include something called a skirt, which will draw a circle around your part, and it will prime the extruder with plastic in the process. If you need extra priming, you can increase the number of skirt outlines.

MANUALLY EXTRUDE FILAMENT

Manually extrude filament using the extrude function of the printer before beginning the print. Then the nozzle is primed.

Out of Filament

It’s an obvious problem for most printers where the filament spool holder is in full view. However, some printers encase the filament spool, so that the issue is not immediately obvious.

FEED IN FRESH FILAMENT

Check the filament spool and see if there’s any filament left. If not, feed in fresh filament.