Strange clicking?

My Original has started “clicking” while printing. It’s the print head, not the bed. It happens approximately every 2 seconds while filament is feeding, and does not occur during travel. See attached video (bottom).

If I put my finger on the filament, I can feel it jerk. It feels like a very fast retract-unretract movement, but I’m not positive. I do have retraction enabled for this print, but this has happened on other prints that did not have retraction enabled.

This just started a few prints ago. Previously, I turned the machine off and back on, and it went away. But I power cycled it about 5 times for this print, and it happened all 5 times. It also seems like the first layer is very thin. It should be 0.16mm, which I expect to be able to catch a thumbnail on. This first layer is so thin, I can only feel it as texture on the bed. But I’m not seeing the print texture that indicates the head is too close to the bed, so :man_shrugging:

The clicking seems to be less frequent on layer 2. I added a sharpie mark, and I don’t see it retract/unretract when it clicks. I do see it retract/unretract when it travels.

By the time I finished typing the post up, the clicking had stopped. I stopped the print and restarted, and it’s printing fine this time. With a visible first layer.

Filament stopped feeding after a bit, and the feeder gear ground a notch. But cleaning filament pushes through with the normal amount of resistance.

A thumbscrew was loose, causing it to print too close to the bed.

This is the first time I’ve had a loose bed cause it to fail this way. Usually I get some lifting putting down the first layer.

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