I recently purchased the Ender 3 V3 Plus on Amazon and assembled it yesterday. I have five years of 3D printing experience using the Ender 3 S1, so I’m very familiar with assembly, setup, and troubleshooting. Unfortunately, this new printer has been nothing short of a frustrating experience.
After setup, I successfully printed two Benchy models at separate times without issue. However, when I attempted to print a spiral fidget spinner, the printer stopped extruding after just two layers. Upon inspection, I discovered that the filament spool had gotten caught around the filament sensor, which I promptly fixed.
Despite correcting the filament snag and restarting the print, the extruder still would not push out filament. I disassembled both the front and back covers of the print assembly and looked into the extruder and found no visible mechanical issues. I also checked the hot end for a clog—there was none. I heated the nozzle manually via the control panel and was able to push filament through without resistance, indicating the hot end is not clogged.
However, once I re-engaged the extruder motor, it only extrudes a tiny amount of filament before stopping again. I can see faint marks on the PLA where the drive gear is trying to grip it, but it’s barely catching, and after a few seconds, extrusion almost completely stops—just tiny specs come out.
Given that all basic troubleshooting steps have failed and the issue seems mechanical (possibly a weak or defective extruder motor or gear tension problem), I’m unsure if this is something that can be fixed easily or if the entire printer should be returned.
Please advise if this is a known issue with the Ender 3 V3 Plus or if I should proceed with a return/refund through Amazon.
Hi,
Try updating the firmware once, or if it’s already on version 23, downgrade it to version 21.
Then do a factory reset on the machine and run the auto-test again.
When you press the extrude button with or without filament, what happens?
Does the extruder motor run?
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve seen a lot of people make mistakes during assembly or run into user errors while using the machine.
Even I messed up the first time — I wanted to remove the filament, so I hit “extrude” and unlocked the lever, then pulled the filament out. That ended up causing problems and I had to spend three days straight trying to fix it🥹
Hi Possiby filament munched up inside the extruder…Check out this vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI2l2LSkEME
The Creality Wiki site also has info on a clogged extruder.
This would be me pushing the filament with the extruder unlocked. Goes thru nozzle with no issues. I extrude with extruder locked and the extruder motor not running. But when i unlock the exteuder and extrude by pushing filament thru very easy with no issues? It seems like motor on extruder not working
Hello @Bill_Garcia
Welcome to the Creality Forum…!
Is the filament dried pretty good. Maybe try another roll…?? I also have the 3 Plus and I only have issues when the filament is wet.
You mentioned the filament got snagged somehow on the sensor which could have done some other damage to the gears being stripped trying to pull the filament through. Check the gear teeth.
The red “M” icon is to put turn the motors off so you can move the printhead easier.
Unfortunately, being new does not guarantee the filament to be dry, even though it may have been packaged with a packet of silica gel inside.
The filament may have been slightly damp when rolled onto the spool and the silica gel pack will only trap and humidity in the bag, it won’t pull it out of the filament.
You will find many here that are aware of that and dry the roll before first use to make sure.
