Filament leak?
I have molten white filament running out the top of my heating element and down the side. It then drips onto the part creating nightmares. To make things worse it's a charred brown color so it makes the parts unusable cosmetics. Of course that's a secondary issue. This is a machine that has been operating flawlessly for years.
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
RE: Filament leak?
I had the same problem when I overtook responsibility for a MK3 at the office a few years ago. If I remember correctly, what solved it was that all parts just weren't screwed on tightly enough. Maybe your setup has slowly gotten a bit lose due to heat-creep or something, I don't know. But perhaps someone else who has a bit more experience can leave a more helpful comment.
This usually happens after a nozzle change. Either it's wrongly installed or, sometimes, the wrong 'clone' nozzle was installed: There are cheap nozzles available that are about a millimetre too short in the thread. Use genuine E3D nozzles.
See: https://help.prusa3d.com/en/article/changing-or-replacing-the-nozzle-mk2-5s-mk3s-mk3s_2069
Pay particular attention to the diagrams at the bottom of the page.
Cheeri,
RE: Filament leak?
After looking at the link you provided, I can speak in more accurate terms. My printer is leaking between the heat block and the heat sink.
How are those two parts held together?
RE: Filament leak?
The only thing we've done is move it, calibate Z and set first layer hight.
RE: Filament leak?
Edge cases can be triggered by the back pressure from a partial block - but once started it persists even after the block is cleared or clears itself.
Buy a genuine E3D nozzle from Prusa and add a cleanup step to the change procedure.
Cheerio,
RE: Filament leak?
I'd considered that possibility but apparently didn't give it the weight it was due. I'll definitely investigate.
Thank you!