First unjam
Hello. I know this has probably been asked and answered 100s of times. So please forgive me for asking for help on something which is so well documented.
I have had my I3 MK2 for quite a while and finally have experienced my first jam. I believe someone tried to print with gcode generated for the MINI and it was trying to print with reduced heat. (I love that my family is using the printer and that it is not just a me thing. ... However now I need to unjam the printer.)
I have heated the head up to 280 and stuck the needle up the nozzle. No luck. The filament is broken off from the top so I can't do a cold pull.
I am assuming I have plastic buildup up past the heatbreak. I found the original instruction booklet so I believe I know how to disassemble the head to get to the hotend, but I am not sure what to do once I get to it. I am assuming I will find a PTFE tube with globbed plastic in it. Should I remove this and then try to drain it in an oven? Is it possible to save the tube?
I saw a video where someone removed their hot end fan to purposely let heat creep past the heatbreak and then did a cold pull, but once I do that I feel like if I ram more filament in it will just make the plastic jam worse.
I am assuming I just need to bite the bullet and take it apart, but I just wanted to hear a go-ahead from someone that this was the correct direction to go in before I take the risk.
RE: First unjam
I was able to resolve the issue. Once I opened the panel with the tension screws I could see there was filament which was still sticking out of the top of the extruder. I heated the head up and was able to pull it out with a set of pliers.