Reddit mentions of SIQUK 2 Pcs PTFE Teflon Tube (2M) 4 Pcs PC4-M6 Quick Fitting 4 Pcs PC4-M10 Straight Pneumatic Fitting Push to Connect for 3D Printer 1.75mm Filament

That is underextrusion.

you need to do one (or more) of the following:


the hot end hotter. ^1
to print slower. ^1
more tension in the feeder assembly. ^2
to sort out a clog (either full or partial.) ^3
calibrate the E steps and flow rate. ^4




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^1
Not all filaments are made equal, I've had rolls of PLA that print fine fast at 210, then others that will gum up the hot end at speed. The printer takes time getting up to speed so some filaments look fine when printing slow or small models. Long paths show this failure I've had filament refuse to print cleanly unless the hot end is set somewhere on the upper side of 225-235 - going to extremes with temp should only be considered after ruling out a clog e.g. a/b the misbehaving filament with another brand and have the other brand work fine at the lower temps/same speed.

^2

Check that the the screw that holds the extruder arm in place has not been over tightened. (if the extruder arm is hard to move or squeaks when you do move it, it's too tight.) https://i.imgur.com/QcUzo5D.jpg
Take a permanent marker and add some ticks onto the tensioner pulley so you can easily see it as it goes around https://i.imgur.com/RplZsN5.png (keep an eye out for small movements where there is not as much inertia acting on it, if you are not getting movements on those there is an issue.) There are spacers you can print to sort this out https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3464217 (shim the spring with anything you can stuff in there, some folded paper or a thin bit of a failed print will work as a stopgap so you can get the spacers printed)

(this can also be fixed by getting a metal extruder)

^3
(make sure to replace the stock bowden couplers they are crap allow the tube to back out and will cause no end of clogs, something like https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DC594D6/)
Follow this video on how to replace the nozzle paying close attention to the temperature everything is done at and the procedure to make sure the tube is snug with the nozzle. (too loose and you get goo, too tight and you'll squish the bowden tube and get clogs) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRzsGttNMyk
If you need to clean your nozzle (a big bag of 0.4 nozzles is a worthwhile investment and you can find them cheap on amazon) hold the nozzle in pliers and cooking off everything over a gas burner, use cocktail sticks to remove the majority of the gunk, get the rest out with the acupuncture needle the printer came with. - Needless to say this is all very hot and the plastic can catch fire and drip, so do it somewhere or over something non flammable and easy to clean, I do it over a ceramic stove top with gas burners.


^4

https://mattshub.com/2017/04/19/extruder-calibration/

I'd make an addendum to the above instructions, ideally E-steps should be calibrated without filament running to the hot end, and the altered steps would look something like:

hot end at temp
remove filament completely
undo the bowden coupler
insert filament slightly into feeder,
cut filament flush at the hole the bowden coupler was in
extrude, measure, math, set e-steps,
cut filament flush
extrude, measure, math, set e-steps, save settings.

This way completely removes any sort of partial clog, variance in filament diameter size or issues downstream from the feeder assembly.

Do you mean the little blue clips? They've been coming with those for a number of months, but yeah, do yourself a favor and just get some better quality pieces to begin with. This is what I'm using, as an example.

i have an ender 3 pro and after saying no to any upgrades I finally started to see what everyone is talking about 6 months down the road. here is a list of things that you will see a lot of you tubers tell you to replace. the YouTube channel Tomb of 3D Printed Horrors is a great resource for everything about the ender 3.

1. new boden tube and couplings that are alot better to use then stock https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DC594D6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
2. THIS IS A MUST HAVE! a new metal extruder (eliminates a crap ton of extrusion issues) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079JZ374W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
3. Glass bed (best bed adhesion with 0 cleanup) this is optional but does solve a ton of issues down the road https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JKGNB6W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
4. extra nozzles in a variety of sizes (not needed but nice to play with different sizes and to clear any clogs fast you can just replace the nozzle....i run .2, .4, and .8) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JPZ7TNX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
   the YouTube Chanel Tomb of 3D Printed Horrors has a step by step build guide for your ender 3 ( i used it for mine) he will recommend most of this list as well. He also has other videos on the slicer settings you will use for Cura. for D&D models you can use this google doc list https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PemvBH7LC-hm4KoeA8OXVu5_k963Vpmw7kOEA_1tzWs/edit?pli=1#gid=0

Yellow springs are stiffer replacements for the bed levelling springs that are stock. They should help keep the bed level meaning you don't need to adjust it as regularly.

The stock Bowden couplers have a habit of coming disconnected, though I believe in newer machines a clip has been included to alleviate this. It's good to have spares anyway.

A glass bed gives you a nice flat print surface and I don't know what I did before I got mine. Many stock beds are warped making this a necessity.

Comgrow Heat Bed Glass Plate 235... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DSC9TJQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

SIQUK 2 Pieces PTFE Teflon Tube... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DC594D6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I can't find the link for the springs at the moment, will update when I find them.

This is the only upgrade I would recommend to get right away, everything else should be on a as needed basis.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07DC594D6?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

While you're at it, you might as well go for an upgrade. I just upgraded mine and my boden tube no longer slides, which means my retraction works a hell of a lot better.

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https://www.amazon.com/SIQUK-Fitting-Straight-Pneumatic-Filament/dp/B07DC594D6

Thanks for the reply. So far I haven't touched the extruder arm screws so the should be ok but I will check them later tonight.

I have watched the gear and it looks pretty good to my untrained eye. It doesn't appear to be slipping and also doesn't look like its digging in too much. I have had the chance to check out the tube when I was cleaning out the nozzle and hot end and it looks free from any particles.

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I have purchased https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DC594D6/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_1NwwCb51ACY2Q and it should be arriving today. So I will try to use https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3203831 to stop any future issues.

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I will go through the the procedure shown in the video you link and hopefully, this will help.

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All of this as well as Kamilon's should hopefully resolve my issues.

I got this comes with a lot of tube, probably a few feet and a lot of extra couplers, I've had it up to 260 since and haven't had an issue

I changed to a PTFE tube that came with some coupling that e bought, because i didnt like the original couplings. The diference i noticed is that this tube lets the filament flow more freely.

Link to the couplings and tube:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DC594D6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You seem knowledgeable about the couplers... Would these be better than stock? 4 Pieces PC4-M6 Quick Fitting + 4 Pieces PC4-M10 Straight Pneumatic Fitting

Yup. Nothing really changed other then +5 degrees on the hot end. I do have small mods like these

Aluminum Extruder

tube & fittings

Hmmm, maybe I should just go ahead and replace the whole tube and the fittings while I'm at it. That seems to be a highly recommended upgrade.

One day I'll actually get to do some printing of cool things instead of merely trying to get my Ender 3 operational. :/

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Ah! Just learned a mistake in my learning. I had retraction mixed around with what must be Z Hop. I had seen the extruder drive make reverse moves but had not considered this to be retraction. A little confused as to why the profile would come with such a high retraction if this was way too long. (See the large dragon profile https://www.3dprintedtabletop.com/resources/3d-printing-profiles/)

I picked up a replacement bowden tube as recommended for the Ender 3 so will be fitting this soon. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DC594D6?ref_=pe_3187911_248764861_302_E_DDE_dt_1 . I'll also be upgrading the fan sets as my next purchase as well.

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I'll do the following for my next attempt:

• Perform a cold pull to get rid of any existing material.
  
• Run the profile on a string test to check out the retraction (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2080224).
  
• Dial in the (reduce) the retraction settings to get this right
  
• Test again on this model! (I may add z hop to prevent drag during travel.

The couplings I use don't have those clips. These are the ones a lot of people seem to recommend so I don't think that they should give a problem. I tried that trick with using the bowden tube to clear the space but I didn't find any old filament.