Filament Loading Issue
Hi all,
Last night I pre-heated my nozzle for PLA, unloaded my PLA, then when I went to swap out and Load new filament, the filament would feed into the PFTE tube (under the stepper and bearing) but after about an inch the stepper motor would start slipping. No filament was melting or coming out of the nozzle. I've tried heating the nozzle to 250, tried hand feeding, tried removing the xextruder fan.. nothing seems to work. Suggestions?
Thanks
Re: Filament Loading Issue
Sounds as though your only option is to dismantle the hot end and clean out the blockage or replace the PTFE tube.
E3D instructions are here: http://wiki.e3d-online.com/wiki/E3D-v6_Assembly Be careful with the thermostor wires; they are easily broken.
Before removing the nozzle heat it to 210+ degrees and use the correct spanners for the nozzle and heater block.
Peter
Please note: I do not have any affiliation with Prusa Research. Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage…
Re: Filament Loading Issue
Hi Kyler,
This could very well be a blockage in the heatbreak. If so (you can check how far the filament goes in and if it is at the heatbreak) you have to dismantle the hotend as Peter wrote.
If the heatbreak is blocked you don't need to remove the nozzle. Just remove the cooling elemment above the break and heat up the hot bit to 210 degrees and hold some PLA to the melted plastic in the heatbreak. Then turn down the temp to around 100 and wait a bit so the filament can melt onto the stuck one. Then pull it out with plires in one swift motion.
Releasamble the whole thing! Be careful not to damage the heat sensor in the hot end!
Re: Filament Loading Issue
Hi! I got the same issue as I first got my prusa just two weeks ago. I was still doing calibration/straightening of the frame and I decide to unload filament to be able to turn on a side the printer.
So I unloaded the filament and then let it cool down without inserting a new one. Once i tried to turn on the machine again, loading the filament (after heating up) i got the same problem and I felt stupid 
After panicking, I picked up the needle (0.4) that was together with the PEI cleaning pad, heated up to 220 degrees for a minute the nozzle WITHOUT filament (was clogging with pla) then started pushing with a bit (not too much, don't break the needle in!) of force and i manage to let the needle to go all trough. Then, I tried again to load filament and after a couple of iterations it was extruding perfectly!
Hope this helps!