First layer looked great then halfway through everything went downhill

[RedKanto]

I really thought I nailed this one. I cleaned the bed, leveled everything and the first layer went down like a dream. For a few minutes I felt like I actually knew what I was doing. Then halfway through the print the extrusion got weird, the nozzle sounded like it was struggling and the part slowly peeled up until the whole thing collapsed. From what I found online it might be early signs of a clog or the filament feeding unevenly. Some people even said tiny bits of dust on the filament can cause things to fall apart once the print gets taller. It is frustrating because nothing in my setup changed. Same printer, same filament, same settings. Before I start pulling my printer apart again I want to know if other people go through this. How does a print start perfect and then fail like it lost motivation halfway through? What ended up being the real issue when it happened to you?

 

[Alan]

Mid print failures are way more common than people admit, especially when the first layer looks perfect and lulls you into thinking you are in the clear. Heat creep, a rough spot on the filament, or uneven tension on the spool can all show up later in the print instead of at the start. It could help to manually pull a few inches of filament through to see if there are snags or diameter changes. Did the printer hesitate at any point or did it go downhill gradually?

 

[Bart_Fatima]

This usually happens to me on longer prints I start after the kids go to bed. The first layer looks amazing and I relax too early. Halfway through the nozzle starts sounding unhappy and things unravel. In my case the filament feeding unevenly as it warmed up was the culprit.