Filament unloaded midprint but printer continues to print mid air without filament
I'm currently printing the Adalinda model that came preloaded with the SD card. After about 30% of the model complete, the filament got unloaded somehow but the printer was continuing to print mid air without the filament for nearly 2 hours. The PLA filament spool is not over, more than 50% of the spool is still there. It is 3am in the morning now and I noticed this weird issue only after nearly 2 hours. I'm not sure how in the world the filament could unload automatically like this during midprint.. this is the original filament that came with the kit!
Now the question is how to lower the z-axis to the right height and resume printing? This is my 5th print with my i3 MK2 kit that is I received & assembled 2 weeks back; and I didn't face this issue with previous prints.
I contacted support via chat and got this answer:
I"m sorry, but there is no chance to continue, you can only slice the model in slicer and print the rest of it and than glue it together.
But still wondering whether there is any alternate way to set the z-axis to the right height and start/resume the print if this happens again at the middle of printing in future?
Re: Filament unloaded midprint but printer continues to print mid air without filament
Prabu
Short answer: No. With the 3D printing technology as it is currently, you have to accept that you will have many failed prints.
You need to find out why the filament "unloaded". I suspect that it didn't unload but rather may have broken due to either a tangle in the spool holder or extruder blockage which caused the filament to be ground down by the feed pulley and then ended up breaking.
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 unloaded midprint but printer continues to print mid air without filament
Hi Prabu ,
to help identify what actually happened,
if the filament unloaded during the print, there should be ribs on one side of the end of the ejected filament where the drive wheel teeth compressed the soft filament surface on retraction and the end of the filament is likely to be a bit pointed... with maybe a thin thread of stretched filament
if the filament broke, the end of the filament on the roll will be smooth, and probably not pointed. and there will probably be a tiny stub of filament visible in the PTFE tube under the filament drive wheel. (if the filament was withdrawn, the PTFE tube, in the extruder, under the drive wheel will be empty).
If the filament jammed and was worn away by the drive wheel, til it btoke, then there will be a curved point on the broken end of the roll, and a bit of filament sticking up out of the extruder PTfE tube, and some dust that used to be filament around the drivewheel!
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
Re: Filament unloaded midprint but printer continues to print mid air without filament
Thank you for the tips! I remember the filament tip on the roll was smooth but I didn't check if any leftover filament was there in any part of the extruder assembly. I think since the printer continued to print mid air for nearly 2 hours without the filament, any leftover filament in the tube might have melted and deposited on the model. I see a big blob of about 3 to 4mm deposited in the middle of the model.. not sure whether this is the melted leftover filament after the filament is cut off. Picture here..
Re: Filament unloaded midprint but printer continues to print mid air without filament
Have you reloaded yet?
Re: Filament unloaded midprint but printer continues to print mid air without filament
As said above, I think that getting a few failed prints is just part of the game. I had some PLA break on me 20 some hours into a 36 hour print. It stinks but you can always learn something about the behavior of your machine from the failures.
Re: Filament unloaded midprint but printer continues to print mid air without filament
Yes MrMik, I reloaded the filament and it loaded fine the first time and printed V2calibration gcode a few times. I'm having bed alignment issue (that is not related to filament cut off issue) and currently working on fixing / fine-tuning it.