Firstly, excuse the ignorance as I am new to 3D printing.
I start to print something, but it goes pear-shaped halfway through the first layer.
Is it a setting or is the filament not dry enough as I live at the coast?
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I am using Bambulab PLA basic filament and no settings changed
At first glance, that appears to be a nozzle clog. Likely a partial clog. Does it happen consistently? Multiple prints? Same print? Same spot on each print attempt?
Additionally, if you look closely, does the printed filament appear bubbly in texture? Or is it quite smooth.
Thank you for the reply.
Filament seems smooth but had to unclog the nozzle previously so maybe a partial clog. It is happening on multiple prints. Will wait for my new nozzles to arrive.
Are you using an AMS? I ask because if your spool is not unwinding smoothly, this would produce the exact same image you are showing.
Here’s troubleshooting method that will isolate any friction from the spool or AMS. It’s low-tech but effective.
- Slice your print and check the estimated filament usage in your slicer.
- Unwind that amount of filament plus an additional 50cm.
- Load only this segment of filament, bypassing the Bowden tube as much as possible, and let it hang freely on the floor.
- Start your print and make sure the filament isn’t getting stuck.
This test helps identify if friction from the spool or AMS is causing filament drag.
You can also visually inspect or inspect by feel, the filament for deformities. Although it’s rare with Bambu Filament due to its quality. However, I’ve had issues with some filaments recently that didn’t meet standards. If you encounter such a problem, pull out the filament and either measure it with calipers or visually examine it. In some cases, the deformity is so noticeable that you can feel the extra thickness just by running your finger over the filament’s end.
Here’s an example of a filament I recently returned to Amazon because it had lumps. Turns out that this was a multicolor filament and this particular maker changed the color every 10m via splicing and it was at the color boundaries that these lumps appeared. You can visually see the deformity and guess what? When my print got stuck, like yours, I pulled out the filament and found one of these huge nodules at the end.
It was 2.47mm in diameter. No way was it fitting through a 1.75mm nozzle.
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Thank you, will give it a try😎
First thing I would do is purge a ton of filament while watching for steam
Ok done that no steam🤔
It seems to extrude the filament but doesn’t print the lines before model printing starts
Will have to wait a week as I’m in Mozambique for the new nozzle to arrive🤦♂️
Ok things are looking better😏
Did another nozzle unclogging and changed filament to genetic abs and looks like we are ok after 6 hours of trial and error🫣
I spoke to soon, the nozzle clogged halfway through aaaaaaaaaaaaargh
Ok result. Changed nozzle and all seems good, must have damaged the nozzle when trying to clear a clog
Printed with an .8 nozzle for quick result
Changed to a .2 nozzle to see and everything seems fine besides the fan being broken on a brand new nozzle🤦♂️
