My three maker of Ender 3. does power on seem to connect to my computer however I can’t seem to send a 3D document through to print.
Can you print directly from the printer using an SD card? Does the levelling work? Do the bed and nozzle heat up? In other words is it a problem with the printer itself or is it a problem with you computer to printer connection. Are you using something like Octoprint to connect your printer and computer?
This video might help you out -
Looks like the simplest way to do this is to use Cura to print directly via USB. Prusa slicer seems to also do it, but I’ve not looked into it. Other slicers require you to use an additional device and software between the computer and the printer.
If you are already using Cura and Cura is not connecting to your printer, Google on “Cura wait bootloader times”. There is a parameter you can change in a Cura Python file to make Cura wait longer for the printer to boot up before trying to connect to the printer.
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I have not tried the USB. Or SD card for the print.
I can’t tell if the nozzle heats up or not.
I will be honest that this is a free one I got from a friend and I am new to 3D printing.
I will some things a try. I know when I connect to the computer it find the 3d printer on my application. But when I send it though it can’t do it.
If I were you I would research the printer and the interface that is usually used. To start I would first go through the printer setup and calibration routines and after those completed successfully I would run a simple test print. Usually I would use a Slicer like Cura and slice a simple STL model using the Ender 3 settings in Cura. I would then put the resulting gcode file on a SD card or USB drive (whatever the printer accepts) and run the print to see how it works.
Once I knew that the printer is working fine I would try a few more complicated models or run some other test prints. I would probably stick with printing directly from the printer first and once I was comfortable with the system I would look at connecting via WIFI (or USB directly to the computer) and would experiment with that. My printers don’t have built in WIFI so I use Octoprint to print directly from my computer over WIFI
Hi.
I would appreciate it if someone could help me, please. I have an Ender s SV3 it was working perfectly fine until today. I went to print an object and nothing is coming out of the nozzle. I previously changed the nozzle but we did so again. My husband took some of it apart and there is absolutely nothing stuck or jammed into the “feeder” or nozzle. The long thin silver poker thing (sorry don’t know the proper names) goes straight through, no obstruction. My 3d printer is approximately 3 months ago. It was working great. I even tried to print another object and it won’t print. I have calibrated it, cleaned the plate and changed the nozzle. Could someone please help me? The closest place around here that works on these is over 3 hours away. Thank you in advance.
@jackimaidon70 What does the printer do when you start a print? Do the fans come on? Do the nozzle and bed warm up? Do the print head and bed move and try to print? Does the printer make any odd sounds, like clicking or grinding, that you’ve not heard before?
If the printer seems to be doing everything but extruding, I would check the tension on the filament feed mechanism.
Google on “ender sv3 feed drive tension adjustment” and you’ll find instructions on how to do this.
I won’t copy all of the instructions I found, but here is a quick thing you can look at - inspect your filament to see if there are indications of a tension problem:
Inspect Filament Marks:
Check the physical appearance of the filament passing through the drive gears to evaluate current grip:
- No marks: Not enough tension (risk of slipping).
- Heavily smashed or indented: Too much tension (risk of deforming filament).
- Faint, subtle marks: Ideal tension.
Hope this helps.
I agree with @jonathanpiasecki
My printers are old school so they are basic extruder and hot end setups no fancy proprietary software. I use Cura to slice my models and then print using Octoprint from my computer or directly using an SD card. I check things like my temps (nozzle and bed), my extruder and my XYZ motors either by controls on the printer UI or using Octoprint. That way I can be sure that all wires are still attached properly and that motors and fans etc. are all working. If your hot end is clear but no filament is coming out it versify that the extruder is working before doing any print. You will probably have to preheat the nozzle to run the extruder. If extruder is turning but nothing is coming out listen to see if your hear any clicking or see the extruder pressure arm moving. That indicates that the filament may be slipping. The tension may be off, you may have something caught in the extruder path or your filament is not fed through and is not fitting into the throat of the hot end. I had one of the bowden connector springs break on me and a small piece of it wedged into the filament. This basically wedged the filament into the bowden connector so it could not move. I had to take it all apart cut out the damaged filament replace the bowden tube and install new bowden connectors. All really cheap parts but its a time consuming job. The other thing you need to check is inside the extruder. If your filament has been slipping the gears that drive it are probably all filled with filament dust that will decrease the hold those gears have on your filament. You should occasionally clean those out to ensure a good friction fit.
Hello,
If your Ender 3 powers on and connects to your computer but won’t print, the issue may be related to the file format or how you’re sending the print job.
Try these steps:
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Use a slicer: Open your 3D model (STL or 3MF) in Cura or Creality Print and generate a G-code file.
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Check printer settings: Select the correct Ender 3 model and printer profile in your slicer.
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Try a microSD card: Save the G-code file to a compatible microSD card, insert it into the printer, and select the file from the printer’s menu.
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Check USB connectivity: If printing directly from your computer, make sure your software supports USB printing and the correct serial port is selected.
Important: An Ender 3 cannot directly print an STL file without converting it into G-code.
One question: Are you trying to print through a USB connection or using a microSD card?
This will help identify the exact issue.
@jackimaidon70 FYI I just realized that you hijacked this thread. You really should open a new thread when you have a different issue that you need help with. The OP was having a different problem and when two issues get linked in the same thread information can be misconstrued or applied incorrectly. The OP was talking about connecting and running a file but your issue was about filament extrusion.
Don’t tell anyone but if a thread is long I may not read the whole thing before responding so any advice given may not be accurate especially if there are multiple issues being described that are not related.
Sometimes the moderators will open a new thread and move the new issue to it if they can.
BTW a few of us seem to do it quite regularly when we start adding in bad jokes 
First of all, I could not figure out HOW to start a NEW thread. Second of all, you need to think about how you speak to people and how you say it. I’ve had a really TEALLY bad two weeks, in and out of the hospital, medical and mental issues coming out my butt. I DID MOT NEED YOUT JUDGMENT ON TOP OF EVERYTHING! It does NOT HURT YOU to be kind and nice to others. You have NO IDEA what others are going through, and when you speak to people like this, it can be EXTREMELY damaging. I DIDN’T HIGHJACK your stupid post. I was desperately seeking answers. I’m a human, and as stated NEW to the whole 3d thing. So kindly fuck off.
Thank you so much for trying to help me. You have no idea how much I truly appreciate it. I’m so new to this, that I don’t really know what to do. Your kind words and messages were very comforting. It just started making a sound, almost like the fan. But the fan works. Then it was printing when the power went out, so everything stopped. I tried to print it again, it started but stopped about 15 minutes in and it just won’t extrude any filament now. It’s weird because there is no blockage, nothing is inside the nozzle, the white tube- nothing. It WILL extrude when prompted to do so. But won’t print. I tried a different file, same result. I saved my files, formatted my sd card and reinstalled the firmware. Still getting the same results. I did take it apart, but not to the filament feed screw. I’m kinda afraid to take that apart. What is your opinion? And thank you so much for answering my questions. You are very kind and helpful.
@jackimaidon70 When you say that the printing stops, do you just mean that the filament stops extruding while the print head and bed continue to move? Or does the whole thing stop?
My answers below assume that just the filament stops extruding while the print head and bed continue to move around.
You mention two things:
It’s weird because there is no blockage, nothing is inside the nozzle, the white tube- nothing.
When you say there is nothing in the white tube, do you mean there is no blockage there? Or do you mean that there is no filament there?
If there is no filament there – if the tube is empty and there is no filament going into the extruder – then the filament broke somewhere in the route between the spool and the extruder. The extruder would use up whatever it could pull into itself, but then the extruder would not extrude anything further after it ran out.
PLA filament can break if it gets brittle. Pull your filament from the machine and inspect maybe a foot or two of the filament. Bend the filament in a few places. Does it flex and bend? Or is it brittle and does it snap? If it snaps, that means that the PLA has absorbed moisture from the air. If there is a lot of moisture, you’ll get lousy print results. But I find that moisture that’s not enough to affect the print can make the filament brittle.
If the filament is brittle it likely has moisture in it and will need to be dried. You can dry filament using the printer’s bed heater. Google on “how to dry PLA on the print bed” and you’ll find information on how to do this.
It just started making a sound, almost like the fan.
The sound I’m wondering about is a slow clicking sound, with a click every half second or so. If it sounds like that, the tension in the drive gears may need to be adjusted. That slow clicking noise is the drive gears slipping on the filament.
Google on “creality ender 3 v3 how to adjust the extruder drive tension” and you’ll find information on how to do this. You’ll need to remove the cover from the print head and then fiddle with the adjustment screw on the side of the extruder. If your extruder without the cover on it looks like this, it’s this screw right here:
About filament – I mentioned everybody’s favorite obsession: drying PLA and keeping it dry! People buy or build all sorts of things to dry filament and store it in a way that keeps it dry. Whether you need that or not depends on how humid your place tends to be. I used to live in southern Ontario which can be quite humid in the summer – and I lived right beside a river! – and never found that I had to dry my filament. I now live in central Saskatchewan which, in theory, is drier than Ontario, but now I sometimes have to dry my filament. I don’t take any special precautions when storing my filament: I just keep it in the bag and box that it came in, with the silica gel pack that came with it in the bag. I’m lazy and don’t even seal the bags – I just fold them over, set the spool in the box so that it sits on the fold, and close the box. That works well for me but your needs may vary. I find that my filament tends to get brittle only when I leave it sitting on the machine for weeks at a time. If you are going to be in the hobby for a while, I do recommend getting some sort of filament dryer – mine is just a single-spool Creality unit that was on sale on Amazon.
Check your filament and your drive tension and let us know what you find.