Hello everyone,
I’ve been successfully printing with PLA-CF spools on my X1C printer for a while now, but recently, I encountered a persistent issue with clogged nozzles. Despite numerous attempts to clear the nozzles, I ultimately had to replace the nozzle entirely to resolve the clogging.
After installing the new nozzle, I was able to resume printing. However, I’ve run into a new problem: severe ringing artifacts appearing every 5mm on my prints. To diagnose whether this was specific to PLA-CF, I switched to regular PLA and found that it printed flawlessly, without any issues.
Here’s what I’ve tried so far to solve the ringing issue with PLA-CF prints:
- Switching back to regular PLA, which resulted in perfect prints.
- Using a brand-new spool of PLA-CF.
- Recalibrating my printer to ensure optimal alignment and settings.
- Printing different models with varied settings to rule out model-specific issues.
Despite these efforts, I’m unable to achieve the high-quality results with PLA-CF that I used to enjoy. I’ve consulted the printing tips available at Bambu Lab’s Knowledge Sharing, but I’m still searching for a solution.
I’m reaching out to this community in hopes that some of you might have encountered similar issues and have insights or additional suggestions to try. Any advice or tips you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance for your help and support!
I’m not sure I understand what you mean by ringing. If it’s an artifact, I assume you aren’t talking about a sound but maybe a bubble. My only answer to that would be wet filament. If it goes away when changing the filament, the problem must be the filament. Being a new spool doesn’t really mean anything.
By the way, welcome back to the forum.
I am pleased to inform that I have successfully resolved the clogging issue with my 3D printer, and I wanted to share the findings and solution, which might be beneficial for future reference.
Following the advice here, I dried the filament and I initiated the troubleshooting process by cleaning the rods and conducting a test print. Unfortunately, this initial step did not rectify the problem. In fact, the situation worsened during the printing process, leading to a complete failure attributed to a clog. Upon further inspection, after removing the hotend, I attempted to extrude filament manually, only to discover that the extruder was entirely jammed.
Guided by the BambuLabs maintenance guide, I proceeded to disassemble the hotend. Despite my efforts, I found no visible debris that could have been causing the issue. However, I identified that the gears were immobilized, specifically pinpointing the issue to the grey idler gear assembly—a component comprising plastic, a metal pin, a hardened steel gear, and a bearing.
Taking a more thorough approach, I dismantled the grey idler gear assembly and subjected each component to an ultrasonic cleaning process. The outcome was astonishing, as a significant amount of residue was eliminated from both the gear and bearing.
After ensuring all parts were immaculately clean, I reassembled the assembly, applying Teflon lubricant to enhance its operational smoothness. This meticulous maintenance not only solved the clogging issue but also restored the printer’s capability to produce flawless prints.
Problem solved! 
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hmm - I wonder if this will work for me as well - I now have 2 Bambu’s that are constantly clogging on PLA-CF filaments. I will need to find a video on this though as I have never disassembled the actual idler.
If you print a lot of PLA-CF, this probably leaves a lot of CF strands in the idler. So it would make sense. If you’re afraid of opening up the idler, know what BL sells the full assembly. But honestly, it wasn’t very difficult and actually a ver fun exercise.
This was the 3rd print and still the first roll. The first 2 came out perfect, this one was perfect until the very top layers - maybe 3 or 4 layers - 5 tops.
Yes, that was exactly what I encountered. Can’t hurt to clean out the extruder gear.
This is the full assembly: Hardened Steel Extruder Gear Assembly | Bambu Lab EU
The gear in the gray tensioner is the issue.
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started off by doing some cold pulls - took 4 to get a clean pull back and the 4th still had some at the very top.
welp it made a few hours and then was clogged again. going to have to find the time to tear it apart and do this. Hard part for me is always finding time to work on them. I do regular maintenance so I expect printers to work as they are supposed to - and these are supposed to be able to handle PLA-CF with no issues.
I’m curious to know if you have continued to print with PLA-CF after this fix without clogging issues. We are experiencing the same with the Lava Grey and Royal Blue, but we never had clogs with Black.
I’m here because I have this issue after printing ~1.5 1kg spools of Bambu PLA-CF with 0.4 hardened nozzle. Nozzle is completely clogged and began to manifest inconsistent extrusion layers at first. I suspect the interior dimensions of the nozzle have been ablated from the abrasive. Printer is two weeks old.
I’ll be running to a V6 nozzle mod to use my diamondback nozzles today, not playing this game with Bambu ever again.
I have a P1S that works mostly fine with CF PLA. I have a converted P1P (to P1S) that keeps clogging. I am stumped. I’ve tried nearly everything. Seems I can get 30% of the way through a print and the nozzle clogs. Replaced the nozzle recently with hardened version and also the extruder gears. Worked for one print then right back to clogging. Sure wish I had an answer. I am running out of things to try…
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