5. Troubleshooting

Note

This section is under significant re-write.

Things can and will go wrong with even the most expensive 3D printer. It’s just the nature of the beast given the state of today’s consumer-grade print products. These pages are document a variety of common problems and hopefully will help with diagnosing and fixing the most common problem.

Note

These notes are based on my experiences with the Prusa i3 Mk3 and Artillery/Evnovo Sidewinder X1 printers. If you are using a different printer, please verify the hardware details are similar.

Don’t forget Prusa support. One of the benefits of buying a Prusa is the excellent support. Log into the Prusa e-store and contact them via online chat for best results. Their support team is very good.

Prusa technical support is excellent, but you can speed things up by doing some preliminary work before contacting them. I suggest working through this list and at least being able to answer these questions ahead of time. It is also a good idea to have clear pictures of the steps you’ve taken and the results if possible. This will speed up the troubleshooting process and lessen the time you need to spend in chat.

Troubleshooting printer hardware problems

• 5.1. Hotend & nozzle maintenance with cold pulls
  • 5.1.1. Diagnosing partial clogs
  • 5.1.2. Clearing blockages with acupuncture needles and bits
  • 5.1.3. Using cold pulls
  • 5.1.4. Recommended tools
  • 5.1.5. Preparing for the cold pull
  • 5.1.6. Performing the cold pull
  • 5.1.7. Finishing up
• 5.2. Clearing extruder snarls, blockages & nozzle jams

Troubleshooting print problems

• 5.3. Troubleshooting prints
• 5.4. Working with removable supports

Troubleshooting filament problems

• 5.5. Troubleshooting filament

Contact and feedback

You can find me on the Prusa support forums or Reddit where I lurk in many of the 3D printing-related subreddits. I occasionally drop into the Official Prusa 3D discord server where I can be reached as bobstro (bobstro#9830). You can email me directly at projects@ttlexceeded.com.

Last edited on Apr 19, 2021. Last build on Oct 22, 2021.