Help Getting Started

[lowendt90]

I have inherited an Ender Pro and have been unable to get it working. In fact, the previous owner (my deceased daughter) was never able to get it working either.

I’ve done all of the troubleshooting I can find:

Leveled the platform.
Cleaned the lines.
Replaced the nozzle.
Checked/set the temperature settings.

Everything is set as it should be, but the problem is that the filament is not being fed through. If I push on the filament while it’s printing, it does go through and comes out onto the platform, so I know that the lines are clear. It just won’t feed automatically.

I’ve read about adjusting the “retraction” settings, but in all honesty have no idea where you’d “adjust” these and to know how much to do so. I’ve “adjusted” what I believe is the feeder, and I can see it “moving” during the print, but the filament is still not going through at a rate to actually print.

Thoughts?

I’ve done a video…hopefully, this can help someone assist me?

Video

[Nikoli]

Hi @lowendt90 and welcome to the forums.

It sounds like you have got the printer setup pretty well.

I have reviewed your video and would recommend double checking all cabling including the mainboard cabling too. The front fan on the printhead should be running at all times during the print and the fact that its not turning tells me there may either be a loose connection.

In terms of the extruder not extruding… does the gear on the extruder turn when its trying to extrude filament during the printing or is it completely static and not turning?

[lowendt90]

Hi Nikoli,
Thank you for the quick response. I’ll double-check the cabling…thank you for that suggestion.

Initially, that gear was NOT turning…but when I found an article about the retraction settings and a photo of that gear, I loosened it and it does turn now while it’s printing. But I’m not sure how much to loosen it to ensure a proper feed/flow of the filament.

[Nikoli]

You’re very welcome @lowendt90

Hopefully its something as simple as needing a little tinkering…

Ideally you want the grub screw on the brass gear to be done up tightly so that it cant slip. You would then adjust the silver tension screw that sits horizontally to ensure the pulley and gear are gripping the filament well. I can never remember which way tightens and which way loosens

On second look at your video I am struggling to see if there is a pulley on the silver screw or not. If you can feel free to take a photo of the area shown in the example photo as a photo may show more detail than trying to zoom in on the video

Having compared your extruder to a stock one there should be a silver pulley as shown below, I am also starting to wonder if the brass gear may be the wrong way up? Although some printers used slightly different gears so yours may be completely fine. Feel free to take a photo of the other side where the gear is too if need be

[lowendt90]

Hmm…I think that may be the problem…

Unfortunately, it does not appear that the unit came with a pulley. This part was supposedly “intact” when the printer came and there was no installation of the components. But there is no pulley on this unit, as you can see by the photos I’ve included.

This would explain why my daughter was never able to get it to work either. The unit simply came incomplete. Unfortunately, this was gifted to her in 2021 and she died in 2022. I’m just now getting around to trying to get it to work so it can be donated to a youth center in her memory.

I guess at this point, it’s simply scrap metal.

I appreciate your attempts to assist me with getting it running, though. Thank you!

[Nikoli]

Thank you for the photo, I think I can safely say I have found the pulley it looks to be resting on the X axis gantry.

It looks like the pulley was removed at some point and not put back onto the extruder.
If you remove the silver pulley screw you should then be able to reattach the pulley onto the screw and then reattach to the extruder. You may need to remove the filament to get the pulley on if you cant get it to slip on with the filament in place.You should then find that the filament will be squeezed between the pulley wheel and the teethed gear and when printing hopefully the filament should begin to extrude.

I am still slightly concerned by the fan on the front of the printhead also not running, the front fan should be on at all times when the printer is turned on. I would recommend checking all cables running back to the mainboard in the bottom of the printer and also the cables running off to the power supply on the side to make sure there is no loose connections or unplugged connections.

Good on you for not giving up on the printer just yet, I admire people like yourself that are not afraid to try something new and want to make a difference in this world!

[lowendt90]

OMG! Nikoli!! You are amazing! How I never saw that in there is unbelievable…but then, I guess when you are too close to the problem, it’s harder to see it.

Everything is now in place and I’m giving it another go.

That fan issue is interesting…the fan DOES work and run…if I set the fan to 100%, it does kick on. However, I think the gcode file that I’m using has presets (it was sent to me by a friend of my daughter) and it looks like the fan is not set to run during this process, maybe?

This is part of the code.

; external perimeters extrusion width = 0.45mm
; perimeters extrusion width = 0.45mm
; infill extrusion width = 0.45mm
; solid infill extrusion width = 0.45mm
; top infill extrusion width = 0.40mm
; first layer extrusion width = 0.42mm

M73 P0 R117
M73 Q0 S118
M201 X1000 Y1000 Z200 E5000 ; sets maximum accelerations, mm/sec^2
M203 X200 Y200 Z12 E120 ; sets maximum feedrates, mm / sec
M204 P1250 R1250 T1250 ; sets acceleration (P, T) and retract acceleration (R), mm/sec^2
M205 X8.00 Y8.00 Z0.40 E4.50 ; sets the jerk limits, mm/sec
M205 S0 T0 ; sets the minimum extruding and travel feed rate, mm/sec
M107
;TYPE:Custom
M862.3 P “MK3S” ; printer model check
M862.1 P0.4 ; nozzle diameter check
M115 U3.11.0 ; tell printer latest fw version
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; extruder relative mode
M104 S215 ; set extruder temp
M140 S60 ; set bed temp
M190 S60 ; wait for bed temp
M109 S215 ; wait for extruder temp
G28 W ; home all without mesh bed level
G80 ; mesh bed leveling

G1 Z0.2 F720
G1 Y-3 F1000 ; go outside print area
G92 E0
G1 X60 E9 F1000 ; intro line
G1 X100 E12.5 F1000 ; intro line

G92 E0
M221 S95

; Don’t change E values below. Excessive value can damage the printer.
M907 E430 ; set extruder motor current
G21 ; set units to millimeters
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; use relative distances for extrusion
M900 K0.05 ; Filament gcode LA 1.5
M900 K30 ; Filament gcode LA 1.0
M107
;LAYER_CHANGE
;Z:0.2
;HEIGHT:0.2
;BEFORE_LAYER_CHANGE
G92 E0.0
;0.2

The reason I asked her for this file is because I know what it’s supposed to look like when finished, so it’s easier to allow for troubleshooting when I have expectations. The files on the TF card (pig, cat, etc.) don’t really give me any indication as to what to expect the printer to do.

---

It IS running now…and it IS extruding…lol…but now I’ve got a bit of a mess in that it’s stringy and patchy. Thoughts on that?

By the way…thank you for your persistence with my questions! You have gotten me so much farther in less than a day than I have done in six months!!

[Nikoli]

You are very welcome @lowendt90, I am so glad we were able to see that the pulley was there and hadn’t gone missing

I am happy to hear that the extruder is now extruding filament as it should! Great idea to use a model you are familiar with as like you say it will definitely make it easier for you to judge how the print should look

The stringing and patchy parts could be due to insufficient cooling or it could be something such as retraction settings aren’t high enough. The nozzle temperature of 215c should be fine and the bed temperature of 60c should also be fine so I don’t think those are an issue.

When you say that the fan turns on if you set it to 100%… is that the side fan or is that both the side and front fans on the printhead?

I also forgot to ask you which slicing software you were using.

It is my absolute pleasure to assist you in trying to get the printer back running as it should be I really do commend you on your persistence too as a lot of people wouldn’t have even entertained the idea of trying to work it all out So glad to hear that I am able to help

[lowendt90]

By 100%…lol…I mean the screen on the front of the printer shows 100% under the fan icon when it is running. The side fan that is. The front one is not…and I’m unsure which cables connect to it. (I’ve actually disassembled that unit to work on the nozzle and have checked the connections there, so I’m at a loss as to where to look next. All of the reachable cables are attached, though.

And I’m not using “slicer software”…lol…I’m only using gcodes that came with the TF card and/or downloaded from Thingiverse. I will say that I have more knowledge of 3d printer language now than I did a few weeks ago.

[Nikoli]

Ahh ok, it sounds like the side fan is working as it should but the main fan that regulates the temperature of the hotend also needs to be running all the time. The main fan on the front should in theory run from the moment you turn the printer on so if all cabling looks ok in the printhead side of the machine I would recommend double checking the connections on the mainboard too if your comfortable doing that. It could be that a cable is either not fully seated in position or has come loose. The other possibility is that the front fan has become faulty and no longer functions.

I dont blame you for sticking with pre-sliced files for now as it will be the easiest way for you to quickly run off a print and be able to compare it to something thats been printed before