Frequently Asked Questions

(2) The filament has stripped against the drive gear
During a print, the extruder motor is constantly spinning
trying to push the filament into the nozzle so that your printer can
keep extruding plastic. If you try to print too quickly or you try to
extrude too much plastic, this motor may end up grinding away the
filament until there is nothing left for the drive gear to grab onto.
If your extruder motor is spinning, but the filament is not moving,
then this is likely the cause. Please see the Grinding
Filament section for more details on how to resolve the issue.
(3) The extruder is clogged
If none of the above causes apply to you, then it is very likely
that the extruder is clogged. If this happens in the middle of the
print, you may want to check and make sure that the filament is
clean and that there is no dust on the spool. If enough dust is
attached to the filament, it can cause a clog as it builds up inside
the nozzle. There are several other possible causes for a clogged
extruder, so please see the clogged extruder description in the Not
Extruding at Start of Print section for more details.
(4) Overheated extruder motor driver
The extruder motor has to work incredibly hard during your
print. It is constantly spinning back and forth, pushing and pulling
plastic back and forth. This quick motion requires quite a bit of
current, and if the printer’s electronics do not have sufficient
cooling, it can cause the motor driver electronics to overheat.
These motor drivers typically have a thermal cutoff that will cause
the driver to stop working if the temperature gets too high. If this
happens, the X and Y axis motors will be spinning and moving the