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[Solved: wet filament] Help me identify the problem: wet filament, bad z-height, or clogged nozzle? (self.3dprinting)

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by PlutoniumAcid to c/3dprinting

18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

This is a Prusa MINI+ that has worked flawlessly for 3 months. Suddenly the prints won't stick to the bed, the first layer is all messy and I cancel the print before anything worse happens.

The printer has auto bed leveling so I would rule that out.
The plate is cleaned with 70% IPA, so it's not dirty either.
I have tried to adjust the "Live Z Adjust" while printing that first layer, but no setting works well.
Each filament is printed at recommended temps (+/- 215C) and bed is at 60C.
Out of my 5 spools, only 1 works well: RepRapper 3-color PLA. Even the Prusament PLA fails to stick well, and also eSun PLA+, and eSun matte PLA, and Tinmorry TPU.

https://i.imgur.com/MEpK37W.png

Update:

Thank you all for your kind input.
I washed the plate, and cleaned the nozzle (have no spare nozzle).
I also did a fresh Z-test (with this object) using Prusament galaxy silver PLA.
That was successful and showed that my height was already very close to perfect.
Z-test result shows that -1.425 is best. I was off by only 0.025. Image
Started printing an object with eSun matte black PLA but the result was same as in my original photo.
Changed back to the Prusament galaxy silver PLA and the result is perfect. (image)

So it looks like my filament storage is not up to snuff! Good thing that I only have a few spools, so not much is lost.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

My money would be a clogged nozzle. But a better photo (close up) may be helpful. Things I wonder...

Does the filament come out and curl back up during preheat?

Is your heat block messy with residue?

Have you tried a cold pull, or pulling the nozzle and cleaning/replacing it?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

I forgot until looking at your photo that the mini uses a Bowden tube, not direct drive like the MK3S+. Did you replace/switch the nozzle around the time this all started happening? With Bowden tubes, there are a few problems that can arise that you don't see on direct drive. The end of the Bowden tube (that is inside the extruder/hote end assembly) can get deformed or clogged. If you can check that, you may find an issue. Other than that, when swapping nozzles I always had to put the nozzle in part of the way, then push the Bowden in further, then tighten the nozzle.