Expectations for Nozzle Clogs(?)
Another newbie question. After I finished the MK4S I have been printing once or twice a day for about two weeks. Mostly with brand new out of the bag PLA but also some PETG. Standard .4 nozzle that came with the kit.
Yesterday I went to load a filament and I heard a grinding from the extruder gears and the filament wouldn't load. I pulled out the hot end and sure enough there was block about 1mm below the top of the tube. I chatted with support and they said it was a "consumable" and I would probably have to replace it given where the clog was located. I tried everything to clear it, including using a heat gun to heat the top with a 1.5 mm Creality filament pusher down the top and a needle up through bottom. Even tried the nylon cold pull (big mistake). Both ends appeared to be clear but it still would not load filament. I concluded it was toast. Swapped in a .6 which was the only Prusa nozzle I had on hand (waiting for a package from Europe).
The question is how often does type of thing occur with these "high flow" nozzles? $30 + shipping to replace after two weeks of fairly light printing with new filament has got me pretty worried. How many of these should I keep on hand? I am used to the Creality $0.5 nozzles--if they clog its faster to just toss them.
RE: Expectations for Nozzle Clogs(?)
I rarely get cloggs on my MK4, normally when I have been using slightly wet filament - which includes just opened.
But your nozzle is not toast, heat it with a blow torch, I've made one of mine red hot before but you probably do not need to go quite as far. Filament inside will either melt and drip out or burn.