Removing the hotend?
So I recently noticed a buildup of gunk between my heat block and my hotend (The small tube thing everyone says is super fragile), which I'm pretty sure led to a clog. My plan is to take the e3d out and shore it up outside the printer. The problem is that I can't seem to push it forward enough to where I can slide it out. I assume pulling it by the heat block is a terrible idea, but I don't know how else to hold the damn thing. Is there a sure fire way to pull this dang thing out without yanking on the fragile parts?
Re: Removing the hotend?
I too found more gunk on my hotend than I have ever seen.
Couldn't really see it because of the blower duct until I removed it.
I tried wire brushing and scraping it. Yesterday I was convinced I needed to pull the hotend and soak it it something.
When I got ready to start removing the wiring and hotend this morning, I first decided to try to clean it one more time.
I pulled the fan duct and fan, wrapping the fan back through the X carriage belt and raised the extruder to almost max Z.
This time I heated the hotend to 225.
Everything came off quite easily with a brass brush and a special modified small wood chisel I have.
I was so relieved!
I am currently running a print with some white PLA and it so far has no burns so I am sure that was the problem.
What started this effort was that I could not get a print in clear PETg without some burned crud ruining the print.
Looks like that is fixed.
My only question is how long or if the problem will return, and if my hotend is maybe leaking, but for now I am back in business.
Maybe if it stays clean for awhile, I will try a silicone sock.