I saw a question from a new 3d printer who was asking about their filament not being pushed through, but they were definitely able to see the gears on the extruder turning. It is possible that the filament tensioner at the extruder end is not tight enough and not gripping the filament. The other possibility is a clogged nozzle. If you end up with this condition, an easy way to unclog your nozzle that works 75% of the time is to heat up the nozzle to 260 and then push the filament through by hand. Usually this removes the clog. If this doesn’t work, you will need to unclog it by following the steps in one of my previous posts: https://www.3dprinterrx.com/clogged-nozzle/
Tag: Extruder
Sometimes it’s just the simple things. If your extruder is breaking your filament all the time, there is a tensioner on the back of most extruders to allow you to relieve some pressure. Likewise, if the extruder is not pushing any filament through, just tighten it up a turn or two.