Clogged Nozzle
My printer has been printing fine, but the other day it started printing really bad first layers, and gapping consecutive layers. Then night before last, nothing would come out the nozzle. Tried to do a retraction with Octoprint, and filament pulled out with no problem. Then I tried another filament and same thing, nothing would come out. Filament will manually load into the extractor about 3 inches with no problem. Tried the cold pull method, but filament just pulls out with no resistance, can't even feel it melt a little. Bumped up temp to 250 and tried cold pull again, same thing, and even bumped temp to max and tried again, and nothing. I am using PLA by the way. I just used a cheap Harbor Freight inferred handheld sensor and checked the nozzle and block temp, and it reads about 88 degrees F.
So could it be the thermister for the hot end, and if so, why does the printer not show a problem? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. I asked someone on FB if I could just take off the nozzle and check, and they told me yes, but with it hot, and if it was clogged further up the heat break, it would be easier to clean out by manually pushing filament through the tube. But after thinking about it, if I tried that method, there is a great possibility of getting plastic in the threads of the block where the nozzle threads in, and that would not be good.
Any advise or suggestions would greatly be appreciated. I want my printer back in use!!!
RE: Clogged Nozzle
If you heat it up, remove the idler screw, and manually push filment from the top, what happens?
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Clogged Nozzle
@cwbullet
Nothing. Filament goes in about 3 inches and stops. Pull it out after maybe 10 seconds, and end of filament not even warm, so I can’t even do a cold pull. Got ahold of Prusa, and they wanted me to drop the hot end out and change out the PTFE tube and re-install new one, but asked what good that is going to do, if temp is really not getting up to temp, even though it says 215, and he stated “let’s take care of the clog first.
RE: Clogged Nozzle
@buckeye-slicer
That is sound advice. You have a complete jam and might have heat creep. Heat creap can happen if you over heat the hotend above the temperture of the filament being loaded.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Clogged Nozzle
@cwbullet
But I am curious why I am getting a reading of 88 degrees F on my infer red sensor for the nozzle and block? If it is showing 215 on printer display, but only really getting 88 degrees F (which is only 31 degrees C)., that is why there is a blockage, and if temp problems are fixed it would melt and come out nozzle, and could do a cold pull. If temp is not correct on printer, would printer catch the temp problem and show error? I know infer red sensor is a cheap handheld Harbor Freight, but when I check other temps it’s close. When I check heatbed set at 60C it shows about 56C on sensor. When I check fridge that it is set to 37F, it shows 35F, so when hot end is set to 215C, and it reads 30C something doesn’t sound good. Just before all this happened, filament coming out the nozzle was coming out very thin.
RE: Clogged Nozzle
[...] But I am curious why I am getting a reading of 88 degrees F on my infer red sensor for the nozzle and block? If it is showing 215 on printer display, but only really getting 88 degrees F (which is only 31 degrees C).
At this point, I'd log into the online store and contact support via chat. After all, you paid extra for that Prusa support. They can walk you through troubleshooting and help with any replacements.
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
RE: Clogged Nozzle
@buckeye-slicer
I would not trust a Harbor Freight heat gun for this. I agree with Bob, Contact support.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Clogged Nozzle
Thanks guys , took apart and replaced PTFE tube, and was back up and running, but 3 or 4 days later, another jam. Took apart last night and replaced the tube again, this time jammed half way up the tube. Replaced and back together, but afraid to load filament in, because now for some odd reason, I cannot manually load filament without it turning the extruder motor. That is with NO tension from the right side door, because not even screwed in. It's like the gear is too far to the right or something . Everything is put back together without any problems, but even when I push filament down manually, with no power, and then pull it back out, there is enough energy created by pulling it out, that it temporarily lights up the display, and that can't be good.