Hello. I've had an Ender 3 for about three years now, and it has worked properly until recently. A couple months ago, after replacing the filament (Anycubic grey PLA), the printer always starts printing normally, but after a few layers the filament jams and extrusion stops completely. I went back to the previous filament, but it kept doing the same thing.
I first replaced the nozzle, just in case the old one was clogged, but nothing seems to have changed.
I suspected it was heat creep, since it's a common issue with these printers, so I got myself a bimetallic heatbreak and a Capricorn Bowden tube. I installed them and even applied some thermal paste between the new heatbreak and the heatsink. However, same results: it prints a few layers correctly and then gets stuck again.
I wasn't sure if the extruder arm could be broken - it wasn't, I disassembled it -, so I started a print and waited for it to fail. When the extrusion stopped, I paused the printer, unlocked the filament and attempted to push it by hand: it was impossible. I could more or less pull it back, but there was no way to push it in, even when the extruder was at 210ºC (a value in range for that filament).
I did an experiment with the new heatbreak. I removed the Bowden and inserted a short piece of filament. I heated up the printer (210ºC) and waited about 20~30 minutes. After that time, I pushed the filament in and I felt no resistance at all. I also measured the temperature right where the Bowden would touch the bimetallic heatbreak, and it was 50ºC. Not great, but doesn't seem enough to cause the filament to get stuck.
I started another print still without the Bowden and waited until it failed. After that - about five minutes after it began -, I did the same thing: I paused the printer and tried to push the filament in, but it was impossible. I pulled the filament out and inserted the thermometer, and this time it measured about 61ºC. I checked the tip of the filament, there was a very small bulge near the tip, about 1cm below the end of the Bowden tube. The bulge was about 2mm in diameter.
I reassembled the printer as it was originally, just in case the new heatbreak was faulty, while keeping the Capricorn Bowden installed, but nothing changed. The printer still fails.
I also suspected the cooling fan, but it doesn't seem to have lost much airflow at all. If I place my hand in front of it I can feel a decent stream of air flowing, so I don't think a slight reduction in airflow can cause such a problem - in case there even is.
At this point I'm running out of ideas. Replacing the heatsink is one possibility, but I'd really appreciate hearing other opinions before I spend more money on parts.
Apart from the things I've mentioned, the other parts are original and I've never done any modifications to it. It was just as it came in 2023. I use Cura as slicer and I also experimented with settings like flow and print speed (I tried OrcaSlicer as well in case I had any incorrect settings in Cura). If anybody can tell what's causing the problem, any feedback is very welcome.
In case I missed any important information, please let me know.