If your Ender 3 is stringing, blobbing, oozing, or the nozzle keeps jamming, it’s likely an issue with over extrusion. In fact, this issue is so common that almost every 3D printer will have it at some point.
If your Ender 3 is having over extrusion issues, it’s likely an easy fix. In most cases, you can check values and settings, correct heat issues, or adjust your slicer. From here, your Ender 3 should stop over extruding.
Signs Of Over Extrusion In Ender 3 (V2/Pro)
Depending on what’s causing the issue, over extrusion can cause a wide number of symptoms. Unfortunately, some of those symptoms can also relate to other issues.
For example, burning filament is a common sign of over extrusion on an Ender 3. At the same time, it can mean your nozzle is too hot.
Symptoms include:
- Burning filament
- Clogging extruder
- Artifacts in print
- Sizing issues
- Oozing filament
- Poor surface quality
- Inconsistent layer height
- Stringing and blobbing filament
- Curling corners
Of course, many of these symptoms can be caused by other issues. In fact, over extrusion itself is a symptom of other problems.
5 Reasons Of Over Extruding Ender 3 (V2/Pro)
Over extrusion can happen for a number of reasons. For example, the most common reason is that the nozzle is too hot.
However, the following 5 reasons include the most likely causes of an over extruding Ender 3 V2 or Pro.
1. High Printing Temperature
If you’re seeing curling corners or every rough corner it probably means that your Ender 3 is over extruding because of heat issues. In fact, the primary reason for 3D printing edges curling up is over extrusion on corners.
Likewise, if your Ender 3 Pro has sudden over extrusion issues, it’s likely because of the temperature.
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If filament is overheated, it will melt too much. This makes it hard for the extruder to control the rate of flow. From there, you get over extrusion, oozing, and burnt filament. Eventually, the burnt filament can result in clogging the extruder as well.
That might mean you’ve switched to a different filament. It might also mean you accidentally increased the heat settings.
Alternatively, you might be having thermometer or hot end issues.
- Check the heat settings for the filament type you’re using.
- Double-check if your Ender 3 is set within those ranges.
- If no, adjust to those ranges if available.
- If yes, adjust to the bottom of those ranges.
- Do a test print.
If that doesn’t solve the issue, you can try recalibrating your hot end. Unfortunately, the hot end is too small to properly test without a thermometer probe.
2. Check Filament Diameter Value In Slicer Settings
If you’re using wider filament than your Ender 3 expects, it could cause over extrusion. Double checking the filament diameter value can give you a good idea if this is an issue.
Creality’s Ender 3 uses 1.75 diameter filament by default. That will remain true unless you upgrade the extruder.
However, even if you have a 1.75 diameter filament, your brand may have a tolerance rating that means it ends up being too big.
You might also have issues if you’ve recently changed your extrusion nozzle. For example, if you’re using a 0.2mm nozzle instead of a 0.4mm nozzle, you have to reduce the “path width” and layer height.
3. Confirm Steps Per Millimeter Value
The Ender 3 uses a default extruder setting of E93. On the other hand, if you’ve set up x128 micro steps during calibration, you need 744.
You can only test this by using a caliper to measure the number of millimeters of filament extruded per x motor steps.
Here, you should preheat the bed, mark the filament at the top of the nozzle, and then set a distance of extrusion via the screen. You can do this by using the G1 E100 F60 command to extrude 100mm of filament.
From there, you can measure the actual amount of filament pushed through. You should repeat this several times to ensure the value is correct. Then, set the E value to that number.
4. Incorrect Nozzle Size Configuration
If you’ve recently or frequently change nozzles, it’s important to ensure you use the same settings. In addition, some non-official versions of slicers may not have fully configured nozzle settings.
For example, some users report that Slic3r PE sometimes doesn’t come configured with extrusion widths based on nozzle sizes. This means you’ll have to do so manually when you set up the nozzle. If you use the slicer as-is, you’ll likely have issues.
However, if you download your slicer from an official source, this is unlikely to be a risk. Still, it’s always a good idea to double-check the configuration when starting with a new slicer or a new extruder.
5. Too High Extrusion Multiplier Value
Your extrusion multiplier should normally be .95. If it’s higher, you will likely get over extrusion issues.
However, you may have increased it because of under extrusion issues. If so, you’ll want to tweak and recalibrate to attempt to find a balance between the two.
How To Fix Common Ender 3 Over Extrusion Issues
If you’re getting peeling issues, curling corners, or other similar problems, there are fixes.
However, you will likely have to troubleshoot to figure out what’s going wrong in the first place.
First Layer Over Extrusion
One common issue is that the first layer of your print is over extruding, but the rest of the print is fine. When this happens, it’s very often a case of the bed being too close or too far away from the nozzle.
For example, if your hot end is dragging through the base layer, it means the bed is too close.
- Level the bed and make sure that you have a 0.3 mm gap between the bed and the extruder at all points. You can do this by performing a multi-point test with a piece of paper. The paper should slide between the extruder and the bed with only slight resistance.
- Check the first layer flow rate/extrusion multiplier. It should normally be set to .95 on an Ender 3 V2 or Pro. However, if you’ve changed your extruder, that may change.
- Check the layer height and initial layer height. Most recommendations suggest using a layer height of 0.20-0.24mm with a speed of 30mm/second.
- Make sure that the wall line width does not exceed the diameter of the filament. Normally, this is 0.44 unless you’ve changed the nozzle.
However, because the bed height is the most likely issue, you should always check that first.
If you still haven’t solved your issues, you may want to check the combing settings in Cura. This feature works to prevent over retractions, however, it may cause your hot end to drag through the first layer if not fully calibrated.
Over Extrusion On Corners
Over extrusion on the corners is one of the most common side effects of over extrusion. However, this issue is almost certainly caused by heat issues.
In addition, the problem might relate to two separate issues. Each depends on whether your print is curling at the corners on the bottom layer or on every corner.
Bottom Layer Curling/Over Extrusion
If the bottom layer and corners are over extruding or warping, the issue is likely with bed adhesion. Here, you can try raising the bed temperature.
In addition, you could improve the layer adhesion. Recalibrating the Z-axis to ensure the nozzle isn’t too far from the bed is also a good solution.
Corner Over Extrusion
If your print is curling at all of the corners, you may be extruding filament too fast or too hot. Here, possible fixes include lowering the extrusion temperature.
You’ll want to check what’s recommended for your filament and then lower by a few degrees each time to test that. You can also increase layer fan speed. Finally, you can slow down the speed of your print.
Any one of these fixes may stop your issue. If you check settings, you can probably get a good idea if settings are off for either extrusion temperature or extrusion speed.
However, if your issue is a problem with calibration of the hot end or the Z-axis, you may have to resolve that first.
Finally, this issue can happen if your stepper motor is failing. If your stepper motor is skipping steps, you’ll see curling and uneven layers throughout. However, the most noticeable issue will likely be on the corners.
Final Thoughts
If your Ender 3 is over extruding, you can likely fix it by updating the settings. However, issues might stem from overheating, your bed being too far from the extruder, or other problems. It’s always a good idea to look at settings first. Then, you can troubleshoot from the most likely issues first.
From there, fixing your over extrusion issues should be a simple matter of running a test print and seeing if the problem is gone. If not, you can always try another fix. Good luck with your printer.
