manic gust
Hi everyone,
I’m facing a massive issue with three different Ender 3 Pro machines and I’m at my wits' end. I’ve already replaced almost every component I could think of, but the problem persists across all of them.
The Symptom:
The prints start fine, but starting from the second or third layer, the extruder motor starts clicking (skipping steps) and filament stops extruding. When I pull the filament out, it is clearly "swollen" or "bulged" at the end that was inside the cold zone/heat break.
What I’ve already done/upgraded:
Upgraded to Bi-Metal Heat Breaks (on all machines).
Upgraded to Dual-Gear Extruders.
Replaced the Hotend Fans with new, functional 24V units (wired directly to the power supply).
Calibrated E-Steps: Currently set to values around 105 to 143 depending on the machine’s specific gear grab.
Tried different filament brands: (The issue happens with all of them, including high-quality PLA).
Current Settings:
Temp: I’ve tried ranging from 200°C to 230°C.
Retraction: I was using 5mm - 6mm (Standard Bowden settings), but I'm hearing this might be too high for Bi-Metal.
Combing: Not in skin / Within infill.
Even with the new fans and Bi-Metal throats, the filament seems to be softening too early and creating a plug in the "cold" side of the heat break. Since it’s happening on three separate machines, I suspect it’s a systemic calibration error or a physical assembly mistake I’m repeating.
Has anyone experienced this specific "swollen filament" issue with Bi-Metal upgrades on an Ender 3? Could it be a Z-binding issue masking as an extrusion problem, or is my retraction still too high for this setup?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
flint bear
slim ingot
