Clogged Nozzle
I finally got my first clogged nozzle twice trying to print the same thing and always seems to happens multiple hours into printing. It seems to be only in the nozzle because when i remove the filament it ejects just fine. I tried doing a cold pull the first time and then it clogged up the second time i tried printing, it seems to just stop printing like the gears still move fine but don't push any filament.
Am i right in thinking im going to have to take the hot end apart just asking before i actually do it in case i dont have to?.
I never had a clog, and so this is just my opinion...
As long only one type of filament is used (i.e. only PLA) and hotend is properly assembled, it's impossible that the clog would occur inside the nozzle. Because nozzle is the hottest part, and everything that might "accumulate" inside, will be melted and come out for sure.
In case of Mini, the only "clog spot" is inside heatbreak. Clog inside heatbreak doesn't mean there's some big chunk of filament sitting somewhere preventing filament to come trough. Actually, filament starts to collect on heatbreak inside cylinder wall, and so the hole becomes smaller and smaller. Where inside heatbreak exactly? It's about there, where PTFE tube ends. Because at that spot, temperatures are just high enough for filament to become soft/sticky, but not high enough for filament to melt.
That's the reason why many decide to upgrade to Bondtech type heatbreak.
Clog inside the nozzle can (will) only happen, when we switch from high temperature filament to lower temperature filament. For example, from PETG to PLA. Why? Because when we eject PETG (240°C) filament, some of it will still remain inside nozzle. And when we load PLA (210°C) filament, those PETG remains won't fully melt to come out from the nozzle. In this case, it would be enough if we clean the nozzle only. But... we still have heatbreak "problem" (as described above).
To prevent clogs to happen inside nozzle when we change filament type, PLA should first be loaded at the same temperature as previous (PETG) filament. In that case, all PETG remains will melt and come out of nozzle. Then we need to eject PLA and load it again -this time at normal (PLA) temperature.
To answer the question: yes, I think you need to disassemble the hotend and take a look inside.
[Mini+] [MK3S+BEAR]