Fixing Under Extrusion in a 3D Printer

In this episode I show you how to identify common issues that cause under extrusion in your 3D printer and how to fix them. This is very important when 3d printing miniatures.
UPDATE: The two side alignment screws on either side of the heat break need to be left in as the grub screw does not hold the heat break tightly enough and Creality uses the side screws as a solution to the issue.
LINKS:
Amazon affiliate links (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases):
Bowden Tube fittings (not essential to begin with, but these are much better than the ones supplied with the printer and you will want to replace them eventually):
amzn.to/2JXDcvX
Extra nozzles:
amzn.to/2OjyPPa
Filament (eSun PLA Pro Gray). This is the best filament I have tried and helps prevent underextrusion:
amzn.to/2LRvx3S
Upgraded aluminum extruder for Ender 3:
amzn.to/2LJWGZW
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Join our Dragonlock Facebook group for help with 3D printing Dragonlock models, see Dragonlock D&D tabletop terrain builds others have made, and much more!
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[@leomachado7676]

I really like your style. You speak with knowledge and clarity. No phony Utube antics. Thank you for sharing your insights.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@RogueA.I.]

No annoying background music either!

[@gavinmcallister9805]

Ti

[@actvmellow]

Why does this read like a poem?

[@leviticusward1]

I also am a big fan

[@bobbykeyz1263]

You are the man. I'm not a beginner I actually have 6 printers the ender and Tornado included and I've been printing for almost two years now. I've came across so many of these issues over that time and had to figure out and fix them mostly by myself. I wish I had found your channel a lot sooner. I've learned a ton in the few videos I've watch of yours. Thank you so much my friend, your making things a lot easier for me and everyone else with these issues. You know your shit lol.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thank you! :)

[@beezaa]

By far the best Ender 3 guides on KZbin. Keep up the great work!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thank you :)

[@rachelrigdon963]

I've been having extrusion problems for a long time now, replaced my bowden tube and couplers and was so disappointed to STILL be having issues. Turns out it was the guide on the extruder. Thanks so much for finally fixing my problem!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Glad it helped :)

[@foxabilo]

I've spoken with Creality and the 2 extra hot-end screws must not be removed, they are to prevent bending damage to the heat break, they also give additional stability to hot-end and prevent head crashes from destroying the heat break tube.

[@abhijeet_ghosh]

A heat break is a few dollars, and many people (me included) run the hotend without the screws. I have never damaged my heatbreak even when crashing my nozzle into the bed. They are just trying to save their butts.

[@abhijeet_ghosh]

If you properly hot-tighten your nozzle, the heat block should feel immovable without screws.

[@orlandodiciccio2748]

You are the best person in the world for FDM tutorials/guidance. Nobody can get straight to the point and make it simple and easy as you. I’ve followed you for years and i still can’t find anyone on the internet that has been more helpful than you. Thank you

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thank you for posting this, I truly appreciate it :)

[@arminth]

Another video that should be mandatory to watch for every Ender 3 user! Thanks a lot Tom. I would have added extruder steps calibration as it turned out with many people (including myself), they were set too low. Anyways, I just love your extremely competent videos! Please continue!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thanks! Calibrating extruder steps is going to be its own video later on :)

[@KSHDJack]

I’ve been plagued by under extrusion for quite a long time. It has kept me from being able to really enjoy my printer for years. After seeing this video I removed my hotend/ heatsink assy from the carriage, pulled out my boden tube and nozzle, and looked through the heat sink and spotted a gigantic wad of plastic that had formed in the hotend between the nozzle and boden tube. Cleaned it out and now my prints are 1000% better! Thanks for the trouble shooting tips!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Glad it helped!

[@Waltkat]

Great video. Thanks for the tips. I have one suggestion: when you talk about the "cold pull" cleaning, specify that the temperatures you're quoting are for PLA filament. A raw beginner may not know this and try doing it with a material with a higher glass transition temperature such as ABS or PETG and get frustrated that it didn't work.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Good point! I definitely need to do a video on performing cold pulls.

[@signalrk]

Had a sudden under extrusion problem that was quite extreme. I thought I had exhausted every possible solution and was about out of ideas. Then I remembered you talking about heat creep and the cool side of the hot end. The only thing left that I hadn’t eliminated was the hot end heat sink fan. A small piece of melted filament was lodged deep in the fan that only came out after aggressively blowing out the fan. The fan was running just under normal speed due to the debris and it was creating a situation in which the filament was melting in the bowden tube in the heat sink area. With the fan fixed the extrusion issue was completely resolved. I was amazed at the dramatic difference in results due to a slightly slower fan speed. Thanks for all the great resources!

[@gellosan]

Thanks I had a jam blob accident and since then I've had stringing and under extrusion. Your videos have greatly helped to figure out how to get my printer back to working order.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Glad they helped you! :)

[@sonnydavis5070]

I am thoroughly impressed. Being fairly new to 3D printing, I had some minor under extrusion issues. After days of video watching and forum reading, I was lucky enough to come across your video. This one 20 minute video taught me more about my issue than all of my other research combined. Thank you for a very informative and detailed video!

[@nicholasjacobs1967]

Without a doubt the most informative succinctly presented video for troubleshooting under extrusion I have ever seen. Thank you very much. Well done.

[@SirKevinthefirst]

I never in a million years would have guessed it's my extruder lever. You saved me from having to go back to the drawing board again. Pulled it off and saw that it was also cracked. Not just warn through

[@ericsteel7643]

Great Video , one of the most informative I have run across. Forget what these ARM CHAIR QUARTERBACKS say. They are not the ones taking the time to produce these informative videos. It's way more easier to be a critic behind a computer screen than actually take the time to produce what you have done. Kudos !!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thank you :)

[@failswithtails]

Much appreciated - the video is so clear and thorough. My Ender 5 started misbehaving about 5 hours into an 12-hour print, and I couldn't figure out why. My current guess now is that I forgot to check for filament tangles at the start of a new spool. I was able to unwind/rewind a bunch of the spool to fix the new ongoing print, but I'll have to go in and properly resolve tangles afterwards.

[@paulapart5110]

Wow this is by far the clearest, most thorough explanation of under extrusion and its many causes. Thank you so much!

[@stuffnthings4106]

thank you! the "end of spool" issue described something that I've been seeing and never put 2+2 together.

[@originalreboot]

Ender 3, v1 You saved me. Between this video and a bit more digging I nailed it. I'm back to printing. I have been having issues since getting a glass bed, but maybe it wasn't the glass bed after all because I hit a point where my nozzle just wasn't extruding anymore. I was out of hope. Putting my original/stock bed cover back on did not fix the issue. -Disconnected Boden tubes on both ends, removed visible clog, sprayed air through it. -Heated up the nozzle, removed it, pushed a small Allen key through the top and sure enough POP a big chunk came out of the heat sync/nozzle end (with nozzle removed). -Put in a new nozzle to not take any chances -Used a tooth brush to brush the gear that feeds in the filament (with isopropyl alcohol for good measure!) ...Still no printing -Final step, I added 3 small washers between the spring and screw on the extruder. Photo of washers installed --> imgur.com/T2xA9E9 Next steps, I ordered a replacement aluminum extruder assembly and new connectors for the boden tube. I suspect that once I replace those I'll be beyond back in business and will hopefully future proof against this happening again. Thank you for this amazing video.

[@freman007]

I have an Ender 3 Pro that I bought secondhand from a 3D printing company, so a lot of your modifications have already been done. I am having a bit of an issue with getting it printing properly though, hence why I'm here.

[@TheJackfunk]

I want to thank you for these videos. I have been having under-extrusion issues with my ender3 for months. Printer was not functioning. I tried a bunch of tips I found online, then watched your vid. You recommended replacing the feed mechanism, so I bought the one you linked to. It came in today. When I removed the old one, I found that the arm with the feeder pulley was cracked on the feed gear side. The pulley stayed in place, but could not maintain tension. I hooked up the new part, leveled the bed, and am successfully printing. Thanks!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Great!

[@vermillionde]

I don't normally comment on videos but I had under extrusion going on 3 weeks. Yours was the only video that covered all the possible causes in a comprehensive way and helped me find the issue (gap between the bowden tube and nozzle). Thanks for getting me up and running again.

[@BLBlackDragon]

Updated option to the problem with heat creep: Replace your print head with a Micro Swiss All-Metal head. It doesn't have the screws that transfer additional heat, and the heat break is make from titanium, which has better thermal isolation. Overall solid video. Keep them coming.

[@blackwolfecc]

Ender 3 is my first 3D printer and I went through each of those issues. I actually found a few of those issues lead right into another issue. It took me a couple of weeks to realize the filament gear wasn’t making complete contact and was slipping, the spring just wasn’t strong enough. Replaced that whole system with an all metal system. Ruined my first nozzle with in the first month before I got a consistent extrusion rate (at least enough to actually calibrate). I’ve got it running now ok. I haven’t really found a slicer I’m comfortable with. I switch back and forth between Cura and S3d. But it was your Cura profiles that really resolved a few slicing issues I was having (or better way of putting it, a lack of understanding). Great video, thank you!!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thanks! :)

[@jasonmarquette]

I can't thank you enough. I'm new to 3D printing, purchased an Ender 3 Pro a couple months ago. Long story short I was having layer separation issues and other difficult to diagnose issues. I had narrowed it down to extrusion, but couldn't put my finger on it. Your video was invaluable, as my extruder mount had a hairline crack only visible from the underside after I decided to replace it with an aluminum one, per your comments. This coupled with a glass bed improved my prints better than factory. I couldn't be happier. Thank you!

[@hilum17]

Your videos are consistently full of all the information I'm looking for without any filler. I will be referencing these videos for years to come. Thank you so much!!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Glad they helped you :)

[@SilverthornQC]

Sir, you are a master at this. When I bought my Ender-3 I promised myself not to mess around with upgrades and stuff. Just had an under-extrusion problem with it and your video is the best resource (by far) that I have found to help me. Based on your advice I upgraded the Bowden tube couplers and the extruder. In the end I think it was just tangled PLA that caused the problem but I am quite happy that I managed to do all this by myself with your videos and am confident it will save me problems in the long run. I hereby name thee Knight of Clear Explanations.

[@captainmoose1388]

I'm so glad I found this video. I recently came across some printing issues, and I've tried re-leveling the bed and unclogging the nozzle, but now I finally know that the issue is under-extrusion. I thought I was going insane when I had spent 20-40 minutes leveling the bed, then seeing that the nozzle is trying to print in mid air. This has relieved so much stress for myself.

[@aaroneslinger7968]

I had both happen with my Ender 3. Cura defaulted to 3mm as well as my extruder wasn't feeding through what it should have been. I had to up my feed multiplier to 123%. After that she prints like a charm. Wish this video had been out 2 weeks ago! Will help others though. Thanks for doing these videos.

[@duckforceone]

So my Ender 3 is about to arrive in some days or week... and something that cheap and modular would normally have me worried. But knowing there are people like you out there, making these awesome videos and doing so much support on facebook and reddit, i'm not afraid of stepping into this, knowing you guys have us new users back.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thanks!

[@mbunds]

As a rank beginner in 3D printing, I think you will be VERY happy with your Ender 3, and as you said, having channels like this one will get you set up fast with no guessing.

[@Aissur91]

To be honest, I kinda wanted these techniques to not work - especially the 90*c filament trick - to pull out gunk and burned filament from the inside of the heating block. Why?... because they are tedious - especially if you do a lot of printing. Unfortunately, the 90*c filament trick fixed my “under-extrusion” issue - so lol - I have to do it now about every 6 to 8 prints to fix “under-extrusion”. Although, since my 3D printer is a Geeetech A20M, and I am using ABS - I have to amp my temperature to 100*c to remove debris from the top of the heating block - using this filament technique. Now, when I remove the nozzle, I have to amp my temperature to 120*c - to remove debris from the bottom of the heating block - using a filament. As tedious as your trouble shooting might be - it worked for me - so thank you so much!!! Now I have to figure out how to fix under-extrusion on my “Qidi” X-MAX 3D printer - extruder on that one is attached to a heating block - so one piece. “Filament-pulling” technique will not work on that one. Thanks again!

[@CulturedRuffian]

The heat creep from too high temperatures was an eye opener. Thanks!

[@Dlutheran]

👍

[@topomaestria9461]

Thanks a lot! This guide really helped me get my Ender 3 going again, and I will definitely get the aluminum parts for the printer as well.

[@florintrifan935]

Thank you, Sir. You have a very clear diction, pronounciation and lack of accent so that foreigners like me can easily understand even at very low sound volume. You can see for yourself that automatic subtitles identify 100% your words. This is quite rare on youtube, believe me. Seems like nothing, but it's not, a lot of youtubers have like 75, 80% of their words identified by the automatic subtitle service. This should be a warning sign for them to work on their pronounciation or accent because really voice recognition software is full of artificial intelligence, trained with various accents and pronounciations so that to understand as much as possible,. If automatic subtitles cannot cope, than probably the target audience would be very much restricted to natives only, or worse, from that specific region of the country or neighborhood. I enjoy your presentations as they have a very good balance of informative, usefull content presented in a logic manner.

[@MarkZula]

I just wanted to say that I had put probably a work week into a 3d printer I received second hand. I hadn't gotten anything out of it. Constant under extrusion. This video fixed it for me. I still have some tweaking to do but my prints are perfectly table ready now. Thank you.

[@AquilesEduardo]

Very useful and interesting tips, I learned to understand better the melt process in this type of printers, thanks a lot

[@TalismancerM]

LOL...I literally ran into the printer room to up the temp by 5 degrees at the beginning of the video! Cheers Tom!

[@porkypine1888]

PLA wasn't sticking to the bed (was coming out too solid). Cleaned the bed with an alcohol solvent, levelled the bed and increased the end temperature by 10 degrees. Worked. TY.

[@jedi771]

Freakin awesome video! I just fixed my printer with your excellent help. I have replaced my nozzle, bowden tube and completely disassembled my extruder assy, and it turned out to be a filament plug in the hot end under the slipped bowden tube due to the cheap connector. Thank you so much! I'm very much a fan of your style of video. No bs music and jokes or missing detail. thumbs up and subscribe brother!

[@rbkay78]

Great video, definitely put me on the right track for fixing my problem, even though it wasn't specifically mentioned. I eventually found that the plastic extruder backing holding the filament guide/roller/bearing had cracked. That caused a lack of pressure against the filament, so I replaced with the metal extruder, works like a champ now. All that said, I'll be returning to your channel for any future print problems, thanks!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thanks for watching!

[@lllOXKlll]

every once in a while... i gotta get back to the Tomb of 3D Printed Horrors to fix my underextrusion problems... and it always works!

[@Griffin12536]

I’ve been at my wits end trying to trouble shoot the problems I was seeing. Everything I changed seemed to only make it worse. Really kinda fell out of love with the hobby and then I watch this. Checked my stock ender 3 extruder for wear and there’s a big groove in the hole. Swapped it out for a metal one and, not an exaggeration, all my problems were solved. Thank you good sir

[@cocheese805]

Huge thanks for this great video! It led me to the solution to my underextrusion issue. I appreciate that you start with "how to identify underextrusion" -- it's so easy to misdiagnose the problem and waste time debugging the wrong thing. For me the issue ended up being as simple as increasing the print temperature on my old spook. A great suggestion that I didn't see anywhere else! This was after I had disassembled the hot end like a dozen times. Thanks again!

[@jonnyBgood3]

Your presentation of the subject is very easy to digest, no waffle and to the point, excellent.

[@glennrudolph]

Wow this is probably the best video I have ever seen on KZbin. Good volume, good content, clear instructions, etc. This is basically perfect.

[@suekendall1482]

Thank you so much for your clear explanations of what is happening when under extrusion strikes. Without your help I don't think I would have ever got my 3D printer to work again (not an ender 3 but other make) you have really helped me, I am forever in your debt.

[@vishalramadoss668]

The clarity of the technical assistance was really impressive and helped me. Excellent and concise. Thanks.

[@AmbuBadger]

I know this is a 3yo video, but I appreciate it. Being in Hawaii, filament sucking up moisture is definitely an issue. Thanks for posting this.

[@BsrlinMAZ]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and tips. I am brand new to 3D printing (so new that my first ever printer is still en-route and yet to be delivered, ha-ha), so I am searching for every scrap of information I can find so as to prepare myself as I begin my journey down this 'rabbit-hole'...I've subscribed to your channel, and am working my way through your videos, and am thankful for the time and effort you have put into creating them. Your explanations and way of speaking is helpful to me as I find that you are not presuming that a viewer has a lot of prior knowledge, and so I, as a complete beginner, can understand and grasp the concepts. And thankfully you do not have annoying music and special affects which so many u-tube "wanna-be's" use...that in and of itself makes your channel stand-out above others in my opinion. Thank you again for the time and effort you've put into all these videos...I am learning a lot and am grateful. 👍

[@octimus2000]

Damn, you are an underrated channel. You are at a Thomas Salander level if not above.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thank you :)

[@MrSshagster]

So much I learned on my own and you hit it all in 20 minutes! Still picked up good tips

[@zozoartstudio4727]

Using most of these tips for my Ender 6 Corexy. This has been extremely helpful to diagnose my problem. (Bowden connection, going to change my heatbreak and Bowden clips and Bowden tube)

[@ilco31]

just looked at the plastic version of the extruder on my printer -and saw the hole -replaced it with a metal version and saw inprovement imidielty - tnx for reminding me -i needed upgrade my extruder

[@scotttalkowski691]

Thank you for the information, been printing for a few years and have multiple printers and sometimes it's good to just watch a refresher every once in awhile. One thing that I have not yet tried but was suggested by Joel the 3D Printing Nerd was to have some Nylon filament handy, even if you are not actively printing with it. But to use this when you perform a cold pull, the Nylon is flexible and and needs a bit higher temperature to reach the melting point, but supposedly can reach all of the areas inside of the nozzle easier and should pull more material/debris out with it (if there is any in there). Worth a try. Thank you again for sharing.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thanks for the tip on the nylon, I will definitely try that! :)

[@scotttalkowski691]

Must give credit where credit is due (took a while to find since he has sooooo many videos LOL). kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3jXaZaki65-jZo

[@metalrock720]

I have been scouring the internet and asking a million people what my problem could be. In your video you mentioned I can ask a question in the comments here. Idk if you will see this but I will give it a shot (I also posted on the dragonlock fb page you alluded to with pictures): I am consistently having this problem with any board game inserts I make on my ender 3 has a pretty good first layer but then turns into a contorted mess after I come back to it on the bottom of the print. It looks like over or under extrusion where there are like bubbles on the bottom of the print. I have tried an endless amount of possible solutions and it is suprising because it doesn't seem to be a problem clear enough that people can easily identify it and I can fix it. I have tried adjusting nozzle temp, adjusting esteps and flow, clearing the nozzle with a silver rod, using a glass bed, using the solid yellow springs and most importantly leveling the bed. I did leveling tests and it showed a smooth surface so unless I need to level some more, idk why this keeps happening. I'm going to try and change my filament next but if that doesn't work I really don't know whats wrong and maybe I have to contact customer support to say my printer just straight up isn't working right. It has been quite frustrating and been looking for any help from anybody who may have experienced this before. I tried a bunch of your techniques and I just can't pin this issue down because I can't tell what it really is and what is causing it.

[@Reathety]

This answered a lot of questions that I had and a lot of questions I didn't know I had. Thanks for the great content.

[@WiseGuyHistory]

My Ender 3 Pro is arriving this week [my first 3D printer] and I've watched a ton of videos to help prepare me. Your style of presentation is one of the best I've seen. Very clear, very knowledgeable, and presented [with the help of close-ups and examples] in such an easy to grasp manner. THANK YOU!

[@maximuschapman3852]

This is old but wow that's dedication

[@brentfox7068]

I ran into a problem and I've found that your videos have been very helpful in solving it. Clear and concise. Thank you. Subscribed.

[@EnriqueFerrer427]

You pretty much saved my life yesterday as I spent HOURS troubleshooting my CR10S Pro. Thank you!!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Glad it helped! :)

[@FaTeDev_com]

The tube backing up in hot head was my issue, there was crap in there and was giving really bad prints. So I've cleaned it out entirely which took some doing top to bottom, refitted with the tube better positioned and a full bed re-level for good measure. No more printing more problems :) Thank you

[@bigalcartwright]

Great to see and hear someone who actually thinks before they start their camera. Thank you. Very helpful.

[@rchokelal]

I am having this issue after 4 months of great prints. The last description was exactly what my filament is doing; thin and wants to curl.

[@rchokelal]

Did the cold pull and also adjusted my bed. Able to print again. I mave have a bit more blockage but not 100% certain as my filament is starting to tangle as it gets to the end of the spool. I may reel-to-reel it and see if I can fix that filament. BUt your recommendations were spot on.

[@grinerpolevault]

This video was immensely helpful! The material was presented clearly and concisely without (as another poster stated) a lot of KZbin "antics". Very professional. Thanks! I would add to others who are trying to troubleshoot this problem - I finally discovered that the filament guide lever (the one with the roller and spring attached) on my CR10s, WAS CRACKED! The plastic had cracked where the roller was attached to it so that the roller itself, HID the failure. The result was that every time I did something to stiffen the spring and apply more pressure to the filament "pinch" ... it would seem to work for a bit but the crack would flex giving me variable pressure and VERY inconsistent results. I now have an aluminum guide block to install :) BTW - when I removed the OEM plastic lever and examined it closely, the "guide hole" had become triangle shaped as you mentioned in your video. Impressive, considering I have run only a little more than two rolls of filament through it!

[@Reconracer96]

Thanks for the info! On my Ender 3V2 it is only 1 month old and having an under extrusion problem and mine was a broken tension arm. It broke at the bearing screw if anyone’s still having the problem after all your great tips!

[@ridgid859]

I came here to make a Lester joke, but stayed for the best 3d printing tutorial I've seen. Thank you! I was getting beyond frustrated with my E 5+

[@danielcouvillion9219]

Omg omg omg. You just nailed my issue at 5:30... I didn't even think! Omg. I updated and installed my microswiss direct drive at the same time. Then boom! I can't for the life of me figure out why I have crazy even gapping between lines. New high end nozzle and everything thoroughly inspected... All but my software setting. I checked the basic settings but NEVER would have thought to check the profile filament size.. omg I'm so fking stupid! 2 weeks I have been fighting this. Thanks!

[@eXifreXi]

2 Years later, the "Filament Diameter" hint helped me. Anycubic's Nozzle or rather the Filament has a diameter of 1.75mm. Cura was set to 2.85mm by default. Not sure that solved my problem fully yet (restarted my test print to see the difference), but it was 100% something I would have overlooked, as no setup tutorials was listing the Extruder settings or even showing them. First few lines on the bed already look better!

[@eXifreXi]

Okay, just the bottom of the test print I restarted is already looking 10000000% better. It's literally solid now (yeah I know, 100% infill is not needed, this is just for testing stuff out).

[@roadstar499]

you hit of a lot of good points with this... when i first got a ender 6 months ago very little of this made sense...now after owning 2 printers and having so many issues ,it all makes perfect sense to me..

[@daveoutlaw9890]

You are a talented teacher my friend ..thanks for this . It made it easier for me to explain to my students and is a great lesson

[@patspeth57]

Tom, Thank you for this wonderful video! It was just what I needed in order to fix my Ender 3. As a person new to 3D printing I appreciate all the diagrams, close up photos, and extra tips. I followed your other videos for the details on the extruder upgrade, cleaning out filament clogs, replacing the nozzle, replacing Bowden tube and Bowden tube couplers. You're the Best!!

[@nickrowan]

Another super useful vid. I've been having some extrusion issues on my Ender 3 after a retraction so I'll try some of these suggestions. Also, after your last video on mini's I managed to print my first successful mini!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Awesome! We have a 'part 2' for our printing minis video coming in November :)

[@alexandraandres3430]

YOU ARE A LIFESAVER!! This is the best video I've seen on under extrusion and everything is explained so well! Thank you so much!!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Glad it helped :)

[@13thwitness81]

long time listener, first time caller. thank you for existing, sensei.

[@barkingbriar]

Thank you so much! Living in Florida definitely added moisture to my filament but on top of that I'm about 3/4ths through my roll and the gear was having a hard time getting that tight wind to pull through. I upped about ten degrees and unrolled my filament a bit. I'm going to need to babysit this roll until it's end but plan on doing a few upgrades soon that will hopefully help on the pull.

[@karlanm925]

Thanks for the tip. Prints were working fine for a long while. Had 7mm extrusion so I thought this may have been it. But previous printing sessions were fine. Noticed it was right after retraction. It wasn't melting fast enough (lots of humidity lately). Added 10 (then changed to 5) degrees more and that allowed it melt quick enough upon reextrusion.

[@GeeWhizRS]

Useful video thanks. A problem with under extrusion I had that wasn't covered here (new Ender 5 Pro) was extruder adjustment was set too tight so that the filament was being squashed/distorted such that it was causing resistance on the inside of the Bowden tube (Capricorn). With the adjustment screw fully wound back it's working okay. To alleviate this, I plan on replacing the Capricorn Bowden tube with a standard 2mm ID tube and using the Capricorn tube as a shortened piece adjacent to the nozzle/heatsink up to the push-in fitting only.

[@elijahjns81]

I'm super impressed with this video. I'm having a lot of this issue. I'll try what you've shown. I made a 74 hours print that I like a lot but it has under extrusion issues. It's great but it could have better. Thanks!

[@NlTESHADE]

Plagued by Extrusion issues for days, turned out to be that cura had the wrong size filament setting. You are than man, prints now smoother than ever.

[@eric.c1131]

the most informative and knowledgeable 3D printer video I've ever seen. Thanks a ton. If there is a small window simultaneously zooming which part you are describing , will be much better. Just my 2 cents.

[@padarrc9279]

Dude this video is absolutely amazing, you give so many solutions, and you speak in a great manner thats clear.

[@geofferyshanen7758]

Howdy, great video! I really appreciate your material. I have a CR10S pro. I am having issues with the brim of a print only laying down filament on half of the rectangle. I have used both auto leveling and manually checked leveling with a bullet level. I have checked tramming of the X gantry and also cleaned and replaced the nozzle. I have printed the present spool of 1.75 mm filament on other prints and do not experience this issue using the same temps and speeds. I also have experienced one corner of a print lifting from the bed slightly causing a failure. My CR10S is about three years old but has not seen much use. Thanks again!

[@keplernova5425]

This man has helped me more than micro center ever did

[@spike2439]

Thank you for the detailed run through of the most common possibilities of under extrusion. This will help me diagnose and hopefully resolve my issue.

[@tuckerdunbar7100]

Thank you! I've been having unknown underextrusion since I moved computers and found out that cura changed the default to 3mm! I was so mad but also relieved it was such a simple fix

[@roadstar499]

yes... i never even thought of that... not sure what my files defaults really are... i sliced them months ago and currently have no cura or pc only chromebook.

[@Luke-kq8hy]

My printer is running right now and i think you helped me fix all the under extrusions problems I was having. Thank you soon much x

[@franklinb5082]

The best explanation of potential issues that I have seen so far.

[@justinkorbmacher5304]

This actually is a very informative video. Great job, the PTFE tube not close enough to the nozzle was the problem in my case. It caused underextrusion and another problem, the filament started to build up in de heat block. Because of this friction the extruder gear started to slip, resulting in even more underextrusion.

[@Trueflights]

There is a metal insert on the plastic filament guide on the extruder now. It negates the wear issue you mentioned with the stock plastic extruder. Strangely enough, there's is an adjustable sping on the original plastic extruder, but on the nice metal replacement part, there is not.

[@Nifty-Stuff]

Wow, I thought I knew most reasons for under Extrusion, but you really did an excellent job covering everything! This video made me subscribe to your channel!

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Thanks for subscribing! :)

[@edholmes9939]

One of the most informative videos I've watched out of dozens. Clean, clear, and detailed. Thank you - Parts ordered through Amazon link above.

[@Traveltech360]

Thanks for this video I updated my Cura to 5.2 from 4.0 and like you said the filament size was listed as 2.85 in my slicer I was getting a dotted line and no filament would pass the nozzle changed it to 1.75 problem cured. Thanks man just subbed your channel.

[@nickrowan]

14:14 Just a note, it's been cleared up that the screws are supposed to be there and should not be removed. CHEP covered it in one of his videos and Naomi Wu also checked with Creality directly.

[@theoldhobbit3640]

A new sub........ I am looking to get my first printer and believe me when I say, I know nothing about 3D printing. The Ender3 is on my radar and within my initial budget so your videos are a huge help, even before I get my printer. Thank you so much for your presentations and be rest assured, they are very much appreciated.

[@winehand]

thanks for this, I had some issues that had no solution on forums - your explanations on each potential cause were easy to follow and narrowed my faultfinding so as to fix my under extrusion problem. thanks for clear and precise comments and suggestions.

[@jvinsnes]

oh thank you so much! you were the only one mentioning the bowden tube seperating from the nozzle, which was the case for me! i have been having trouble with this ever since i bought my cr10s a year ago, but now, i finally got it fixed!

[@RetroMaticGamer]

I don't see the point in doing a cold pull. If you think your nozzle is clogged, it's a 25-cent part - just replace it. It's much less hassle. That said, the REST of these tips are PRICELESS. I'm working my way through them fixing my Ender 3 right now. Found the damage on my plastic extruder level (been using it for 3 years with no idea). Ordered replacement, hoping that's it. When I tear it down to install it, I'll give my Bowden tube a cleaning, too (NOT a $1 part - currently goes for $9-20 on amazon) and work my way back through this list.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Cold pulls are ideal when you do not have the time to tear the hot end apart and clean (or do not have parts on hand.)

[@AndrewWorkshop]

Thanks this helped me solve my issue of under extrusion, the tube was clogged where it meets the nozzle, just like how you explained.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Great!

[@joshuagarza7884]

4 days of tinkering.....5 min into ur vid. Now it works

[@six5ths]

Thanks for all you do for the community. Just wanted to say, I had nothing but problems when I took out my Ender 3 installation screws . Its possible I did something wrong, or something is wrong with some threading, but my nozzle kept dropping down and scoring my bed. I was going crazy trying to figure it out, but once I put them back in, everything was fine.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

So far, I have had no reason to remove them, and I am definitely of the mind 'if it isn't broke don't fix it.' My Ender 3s print better quality than my Prusa Mk2/3s, so I don't want to mess with them.

[@six5ths]

So, according to CHEP, Creality says those screws are supposed to stay kzbin.info/www/bejne/m36Qo32Nd9qKntk. Makes sense.

[@Tombof3DPrintedHorrors]

Just found out what the story is with the screws. Originally they were intended for factory use only to align parts, then Creality found that the grub screw holding the heat break in wasn't going to hold it tight enough, so their 'fix' was to leave the screws in place for added stability. Luckily they don't transfer enough heat to the heat sink to cause an issue. So yes, they need to be left in despite potential additional heat creep.

[@MrElasky123]

Great vid, thanks for the help. I have one thing to add to check. Now, I’m not new to printing and have four printers. My ender 3 developed under extrusion and was pulling my hair out trying to figure it out. I went through all the norm checks like in your vid. Nothing fixed it. I keep going back to check for clogs and every time I did I put a brand new nozzle on. Still under extrusion. I was having to turn up flow to even get it to kinda print. Finally I took another new nozzle from my bag of new nozzles and tried to stick my wire nozzle cleaner through it and low and behold my new nozzle are all defective. They say on them they are .04 but not a change. Looks like .01 at the most. So hope this also helps someone out. Cheers