How to Change Filament Ender 3 : A Step-by-Step Guide

If you own an Ender 3 3D printer, you may find yourself wanting to change filament for various reasons, such as altering colors, trying different materials, or replacing an empty spool.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we'll walk you through the process of changing filament on your Ender 3. The steps are similar for other Ender 3 variants like the Ender 3 V2 , Ender 3 Pro , Ender 3 Max and Ender 3 Neo .

How to Change Filament Ender 3 - 3 Easy Steps

1. Engraving Curved Glass

2. Install the New Filament

3. Purge the Nozzle

How to Change Filament Ender 3 - 3 Easy Steps Step 1: Remove the Old Filament Start by heating up your printer. Navigate through the control settings on your printer's LCD screen to access the temperature settings. Select "Nozzle" temperature and adjust it to the recommended temperature for your specific filament type. You can usually find this information on the spool's label or the manufacturer's website. Wait for the hot end to reach the desired temperature. While the nozzle is heating, squeeze the extruder lever to release the grip on the old filament. Gently withdraw the old filament from the extruder and remove the spool. If you have an Ender 3 V2 or are using an extruder knob, rotate the knob clockwise to remove the filament. If your filament spool has holes on the edge, loop the end of the filament into one of them to secure it for storage.

Step 2: Install the New Filament Take the new filament you want to load and cut a sharp angle on the filament's end. This angled tip will help it enter the extruder smoothly. Feed the new filament into the extruder. Note that filament coming off a circular spool may not be perfectly straight, so gently straighten a two-inch section at the end. To feed the filament, squeeze the extruder arm lever and place the filament between the toothed extruder gear and the idler pulley. While pressing the arm, manually push the filament through by hand. If you have the Ender 3 V2, you can use the extruder knob and rotate it counterclockwise. Continue pushing the new filament until you feel firm resistance, indicating it has reached the nozzle.

Step 3: Purge the Nozzle With the new filament at the nozzle, it's time to feed it through and remove any remnants of the old filament. Click the LCD knob to open the settings menu and scroll to "Move Axis" > "1 mm" > "Extruder." Use the scroll to move the extruder axis by 15 to 20 mm. As you do this, the extruder will start feeding the new filament, purging the old material from the nozzle. You may want to repeat this process several times to ensure all old filament is cleared from the nozzle. The nozzle is thoroughly purged when you observe the new filament color or material flowing smoothly from the nozzle.

How to Change Filament Ender 3 : A Step-by-Step Guide

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