I’ve had this printer for about a year with very little problems until lately. It won’t print a complete print. It will print about 10mm and then go through the motions but won’t disperse any filament. Ok, I thought it may be moist filament. Put the PTEG in the dryer for over 10 hrs. Same thing. When I retract the filament it looks like the drive wheel is trying to push it through and it’s binding. Almost as if the nozzle heaters were not working. Replaced the hot end and nozzle, twice. Same issue. Update the software, no change. I’m running out of ideas so I thought I would turn to the guru’s and see what they come up with.
So if I understand correctly, everything is working well but nothing is leaving the nozzle, right ?
And you changed the nozzle and the hotend but the problem is still here, right ?
Correct. It starts to print, but will only print 3 - 10mm before no more filament is extruded.
I have changed the nozzle and hotend twice, tried different filament, different stl files, same result. I even took my calipers to the filmament it was exactly.1.75mm. Trying to reset the printer to original and start again.
and when it stops extruding, do you have a ticking/clicking from the extruder ? That will tell us if the issue is coming from after the extruder.
And when you extrude via the screen (and extrude twice to make sure) ? Does it extrude normally ? That would tell us the issue is coming from the extruder.
I haven’t noticed a ticking/clicking sound. I’ll try again and pay more attention. Usually I come in and it isn’t printing so I stop it.
When I extrude it via the screen it extrudes normally after I retract the filament and cut off the damaged portion.
I tried another print which failed. I did not notice any ticking/clicking sound, even with the bed movement. You can see from the attached photo how much was printed, the height of the nozzle off the bed (where it didn’t print) and the filament when I retracted it.
If there was a ticking sound, that would mean something is blocking the filament.
No ticking sound ? Then I guess it could be related to the spring of the extruder or its motor
A bit weird that it’s working for the “extrude” via the screen but I still think it’s related to the extruder.
If the motor doesn’t seem to turn well, maybe check the voltage ? Service Tutorial Ender 3 V3 SE&KE Extruder E axis troubleshooting
If the motor is turning well….I think you may have to replace the extruder.
Thanks for your help and input. I’ll have a check at the voltages and the extruder troubleshooting.
Hi
Have you checked the hotend cooling fan, The creality fan is weak I would not be surprised if this has failed and is causing heat creep up the nozzle.
By the way, the first photo looks like a wrong z-offset 
Hi Kevin,
All fans are new. I had a meltdown about a month ago where the filament encapsulated the nozzle melting the fans and the fan cover. Replaced all the fans and the fan cover.
I think the motor is turning ok. When there is no filament in the extruder and I run extrude/retract you can see the wheel on top rotating fine. It will extrude and retract the filament, but once in a while the filament gets stuck in the nozzle and I have to take the unit apart to remove it. It has gotten stuck in the nozzle once or twice and I had to take it apart to remove the filament. Almost as if the nozzle wasn’t heating, but yet it was hot to touch.
My E-axis voltage is .942v, close enough to the 1v they are looking for.
Voltage on pins 3 & 4 is 24.55, pin 5 - 23.24, pin 6 - 20.19. Continuity is good on the conversion cable. Continuity between the extruder port and the conversion cable port is good.
