What’s the 3D Printing Problem?Stripped or slipping filament can happen at any point of the print process, and with any filament. The result is that no filament is extruded from the hot end bringing your print to an abrupt end. What’s Causing the 3D Printing Problem?Blockage, loose idler tensioner, wrong hot end temperature, these are just a few of the common causes, but all are usually easy to correct. The result of the problem is that the knurled nut or toothed gear in the extruder is unable to pull or push the filament through the printer. As the motor spins the small teeth on the gear that would usually grip and feed the filament through the system, instead wear it away until there is no longer any grip, and the gear and filament slip. 3D Printing Troubleshooting: Stripped Filament3D PRINTING TROUBLESHOOTING TIP: HELP FEED THE SYSTEMIf the filament has just started to slip, you can usually tell by the noise and the appearance of plastic shavings, then apply some gentle pressure to the filament to help it through the system. This will often help to get the machine printing smoothly again. 3D PRINTING TROUBLESHOOTING TIP: ADJUST THE IDLER TENSIONStart by loosing the idler, feed in the filament and tighten until it stops slipping. Filaments vary in diameter so although the idler will absorb some difference in diameter some filaments will require fine adjustment. 3D PRINTING TROUBLESHOOTING TIP: REMOVE THE FILAMENTIn most cases you’ll need to remove and replace the filament and then feed it back through the system. Once the filament has been removed cut the filament below the area that shows signs of slipping and then feed back into the system. If the filament has snapped it may be passed its usable best. Try it again and if it snaps again and you find the filament appears brittle discard and use another filament. 3D PRINTING TROUBLESHOOTING TIP: CHECK THE HOT END TEMPERATUREIf you have just inserted a new filament as the issue started, double check that you have the right temperature. 3D Printing Problem Checklist: Stripped Filament
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