3d printing - My filament might be tangled or something else is happening...

[2DPrinter]

I am pretty new to 3d printing. 

Okay so my Monoprice Select Mini Pro printer keeps making a weird nose and the filament keeps making a sudden jab inwards or outwards or something. 

I attached a video of it. 
It has done this a few times and the filament is all weird when extruded and kinda burns or sticks onto the build plate. When it did this this time it literally did not extrude anything while I was trying to print something. 
And a picture after I took the filament out. I am no expert but it almost looks tangled? Is that my problem here or is it something else? 

[Drakorex]

It looks like your extrude is not having an easy time trying to feed like it is too loose, hot end is too cold, the bed is too close, or the feed rate is too fast.

[it_dont_work]

That's a retraction (gcode pulls fillasment out to move the print head) normal part of printing, though that slipping is not, check your extruder gear is aligned with the fillament path. I would though try to move the spool to a better angle for the extruder to use, above and inline would be best, the filament path on the mono mini is kinda crap. 

 

Also just like welding wire in a mig, never let tension off the roll, it will tangle. pull tension taught but not tight on the roll and burn a couple wraps until its even again. 

 

EDIT: also how fast are you trying to print? 

[tikker]

45 minutes ago, 2DPrinter said:

I am no expert but it almost looks tangled?

Did you let go of the filament while mounting the spool? That's how you get tangles. It might also just have unwound a bit, but nog actually tangled. In any case when handling the filament (loading, changing) NEVER let go of the end. Always secure it to the spool or in the extruder to prevent tangles.

 

The sound in your video is from the stepper slipping / skipping and indicates the extruder can't push the filament through. You either 1) have a clogged extruder or 2) are too close to the bed.

 

Number 1 is easy to check by raising the extruder up and trying to extrude some filament manually from the menu (assuming it has one, haven't used this particular printer).

[2DPrinter]

59 minutes ago, it_dont_work said:

That's a retraction (gcode pulls fillasment out to move the print head) normal part of printing, though that slipping is not, check your extruder gear is aligned with the fillament path. I would though try to move the spool to a better angle for the extruder to use, above and inline would be best, the filament path on the mono mini is kinda crap. 

 

Also just like welding wire in a mig, never let tension off the roll, it will tangle. pull tension taught but not tight on the roll and burn a couple wraps until its even again. 

 

EDIT: also how fast are you trying to print? 

Lol I don't really understand too much of the technical terms you are using, but I can tell you I am printing at 55mm/s which shouldn't be a problem I think.

Thank you for your help btw! 

[2DPrinter]

49 minutes ago, tikker said:

Did you let go of the filament while mounting the spool? That's how you get tangles. It might also just have unwound a bit, but nog actually tangled. In any case when handling the filament (loading, changing) NEVER let go of the end. Always secure it to the spool or in the extruder to prevent tangles.

 

The sound in your video is from the stepper slipping / skipping and indicates the extruder can't push the filament through. You either 1) have a clogged extruder or 2) are too close to the bed.

 

Number 1 is easy to check by raising the extruder up and trying to extrude some filament manually from the menu (assuming it has one, haven't used this particular printer).

Ohhhh. I might have let go of the filament while mounting, but don't remember. 

I don't think I clogged the extruder because I have manually extruded today and filament comes out. 

Too close to the bed? How would I know if it was too close to the bed and why is this an issue? 
Thanks so much for your help! 

[tikker]

11 hours ago, 2DPrinter said:

Ohhhh. I might have let go of the filament while mounting, but don't remember. 

I don't think I clogged the extruder because I have manually extruded today and filament comes out. 

Too close to the bed? How would I know if it was too close to the bed and why is this an issue? 
Thanks so much for your help! 

If the nozzle is too close to the bed the plastic has nowhere to go. It's like opening a faucet and blocking the part the water comes out with your hand. First check if the spool is tangled: try pulling at the filament to see if it rolls and can be fed to the extruder and check if it's snagged in a tangle anywhere. If it is tangled, you'll have to unwind the spool until you can untangle it and rewind it aftewards.

 

For distance to the bed see if you can get a piece of paper in between the nozzle and the bed and feel slight resistance. If it's too close it will also seem as if no plastic is coming out, but I would first check if the filament isn't tangled.

[2DPrinter]

15 hours ago, tikker said:

If the nozzle is too close to the bed the plastic has nowhere to go. It's like opening a faucet and blocking the part the water comes out with your hand. First check if the spool is tangled: try pulling at the filament to see if it rolls and can be fed to the extruder and check if it's snagged in a tangle anywhere. If it is tangled, you'll have to unwind the spool until you can untangle it and rewind it aftewards.

 

For distance to the bed see if you can get a piece of paper in between the nozzle and the bed and feel slight resistance. If it's too close it will also seem as if no plastic is coming out, but I would first check if the filament isn't tangled.

Okay thanks. 
My printer has auto bed leveling. Would I have to do that piece of paper thing still or no? 

[tikker]

5 hours ago, 2DPrinter said:

Okay thanks. 
My printer has auto bed leveling. Would I have to do that piece of paper thing still or no? 

Yes. Auto bed leveling is just to take out remaining imperfections, not to level the bed for you. First you manually level the bed by moving the nozzle to each corner and adjusting the screw under the bed at that location. Once that's done you can run a bed leveling print to do some live adjustments if you want. When you've finished manually leveling the bed, then you run auto bed leveling.