<p>Heat the extruder up first, then remove the filament. You can remove the filament either by reversing the extruder using a command such as <code>G1 E-100 F200</code>, by using your printer's controls/LCD (if it has one) or simply pull the filament out by hand. To this end, most extruders have a lever that you can push to disengage the drive gear to make it easier to pull the filament out.</p>

<p>You can just heat the extruder up to printing temperature, but a perhaps better approach is a cold-pull, where you heat the extruder up just barely enough to be able to remove the filament (to, say, 120-180°C) and then pull the filament out. This has the advantage of removing more of the old filament and perhaps also taking some debris that may be stuck in the nozzle with it.</p>

<p>Trying to print it all out won't work because once the last bit of filament goes past the drive gear, you won't be able to extrude the rest of it. Feeding in a new bit of filament might push the old filament out, but it could just as easily get jammed.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-09T22:23:54.250Z
Thank You :) I just pulled it out and it looks like there was some threading on the filament, but it made sense after you explained it. Just gotta figure out how to clean out the machine now.
Chris Diel
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-09T07:16:09.793Z
2017-06-09T07:16:09.793Z
Tom van der Zanden
<p>I just printed my first thing, now there's very little filament left in my Monoprice Select Mini v2. </p>

<p>What do I do about it? Yank it out? Try to print out what's left of it and hope it all extrudes safely? </p>

<p>I'm not sure what my next move here is. Is doing either, dangerous to the safety of my machine? I haven't seen any guides or information on this and I'm afraid I'm going to break something.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-30T16:19:18.780Z
This doesn't really answer the question (hence just a comment), but it does complement the process... I keep a couple small prints around (a few different sized small lego bricks - a 1x1 plate takes very little filament) that only use a couple feet of a filament, and will print one of those when a spool is low, to avoid as much waste as possible.
Joel Coehoorn
<filament>
What do I do when I have a little filament left?
Chris Diel
# What do I do when I have a little filament left?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-09)

I just printed my first thing, now there's very little filament left in my Monoprice Select Mini v2.

What do I do about it? Yank it out? Try to print out what's left of it and hope it all extrudes safely?

I'm not sure what my next move here is. Is doing either, dangerous to the safety of my machine? I haven't seen any guides or information on this and I'm afraid I'm going to break something.

**Tags:** filament

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This doesn't really answer the question (hence just a comment), but it does complement the process... I keep a couple small prints around (a few different sized small lego bricks - a 1x1 plate takes very little filament) that only use a couple feet of a filament, and will print one of those when a spool is low, to avoid as much waste as possible.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-06-09. Score: 11 | Accepted answer

Heat the extruder up first, then remove the filament. You can remove the filament either by reversing the extruder using a command such as `G1 E-100 F200`, by using your printer's controls/LCD (if it has one) or simply pull the filament out by hand. To this end, most extruders have a lever that you can push to disengage the drive gear to make it easier to pull the filament out.

You can just heat the extruder up to printing temperature, but a perhaps better approach is a cold-pull, where you heat the extruder up just barely enough to be able to remove the filament (to, say, 120-180°C) and then pull the filament out. This has the advantage of removing more of the old filament and perhaps also taking some debris that may be stuck in the nozzle with it.

Trying to print it all out won't work because once the last bit of filament goes past the drive gear, you won't be able to extrude the rest of it. Feeding in a new bit of filament might push the old filament out, but it could just as easily get jammed.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank You :) I just pulled it out and it looks like there was some threading on the filament, but it made sense after you explained it. Just gotta figure out how to clean out the machine now.  

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