3D Printing Forum

I've been working with 3-d printing for years, using a homebuilt printer. I recently "upgraded" to a Creality3, and it is my first experience with a Bowden-tube printhead.
I need help with filament feed. When I try to print, the extruder feed clicks constantly. I have cleaned everything, replaced the Bowden tube and nozzle, and still I have problems even at very low feed rates.
The default setting in Prusa using the default configuration for the Ender3 is 60. I've tried slowing it down as low as 15 but still the feed keeps skipping. I'm using a G1 E50 command, and after the first couple of mm, it starts skipping. I'm tearing my hair out. Almost ready to replace the extruder with a Creality Sprite direct drive unit I have but don't know if the added weight will cause problems. Please give me some help here. (I'm using Creality EN-PLA filament. I've tried changing the temperatures from 200 to 215 but it seems to make no difference.)

Have you checked the tensioner?
Clicking sounds like there's an issue moving the filament. Where is the clicking? I would imagine from the extruder having difficulty pushing the material.

Is the hobbed gear set screw firmly in place, holding it to the extruder motor? Is it in good condition? Not a groove from wear?

Yes, that was one of the earlier things I looked at. I replaced the plastic tensioner with the metal one from Creality, and the gear and roller are also new. Even increasing the spring tension to the max won't stop the problem. The clicking is definitely coming from the tensioner - you can see the gear "jump" each time. It's also not constant. When I extrude 50mm of filament with G1 E50, the first few mm of filament feeds smoothly, then it begins clicking. It seems as though the hot end is unable to melt the plastic fast enough.

Walt

I'd do some PID Autotune testing of your hot end, just to see if it is struggling to maintain temp

https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html#pid

Id think if the hot end is struggling you might get some temp errors on the controller.