Extruder completely buggered - help please.
Idiot that I am, working under time pressure, I let the printer at work print overnight. Came to a lifted half-finished print in the corner of the enclosure, and a giant ball of ASA clinging to the extruder as seen in the images.
I tried heating the nozzle to above the printing temp as suggested by help I found online, but the blob is spread beyond the heatblock and to the printed parts (somehow it even bent some of them) and thus forms a connection I'm not able to melt away.
The only path I see to saving the extruder is to get a dremel tool and cut away most of the material, praying that I don't cut into something important, before trying to melt the rest off.
If anyone knows a better way, or has dealt with a simmilar issue, I would greatly appreciate your advice.
Thank you.
RE: Extruder completely buggered - help please.
Idiot that I am, working under time pressure, I let the printer at work print overnight. Came to a lifted half-finished print in the corner of the enclosure, and a giant ball of ASA clinging to the extruder as seen in the images.
I tried heating the nozzle to above the printing temp as suggested by help I found online, but the blob is spread beyond the heatblock and to the printed parts (somehow it even bent some of them) and thus forms a connection I'm not able to melt away.
The only path I see to saving the extruder is to get a dremel tool and cut away most of the material, praying that I don't cut into something important, before trying to melt the rest off.If anyone knows a better way, or has dealt with a simmilar issue, I would greatly appreciate your advice.
Thank you.
Hello and welcome in Prusaforum!
That is, of course, unfortunate. To remove the desaster see here and give it a try:
You might have to help with a hot air gun.
Good luck!
Statt zu klagen, dass wir nicht alles haben, was wir wollen, sollten wir lieber dankbar sein, dass wir nicht alles bekommen, was wir verdienen.
RE: Extruder completely buggered - help please.
We all had this problem, you could try to heat like in the movie, and maybe use a heatgun(to remove paint), but only use it for a short time because your whole printer will melt, all parts are from plastic.
For the future, to avoid this.
Keep bed clean, with dish soap,
first layer 100%, then sticking is as good as it gets.
Watch first layer so you can adjust to get sticking.
And wen 1e layer is finish go to the printer and watch the first layer if it is sticking good and no air bubbles in de 1e layer9not sticking good).
If it should fail you can stop it now, and not next morning as a big ball.
RE: Extruder completely buggered - help please.
I tried heating the nozzle to above the printing temp as suggested by help I found online, but the blob is spread beyond the heatblock and to the printed parts (somehow it even bent some of them) and thus forms a connection I'm not able to melt away.
I have not had one this bad ... yet.
This is one reason that I printed out the extruder parts in black ABS and I keep them in my 'crash kit' in case I ever do have a meltdown like this.
RE: Extruder completely buggered - help please.
I've decided to take a no half-measures approach.
Completely disassembled the extruder and this is what I'm left with. Planning on taking a saw and a heatgun to this monstrosity tomorrow. Hopefully the cables can handle it and I can reuse the heatblock.
RE: Extruder completely buggered - help please.
I am very new here and to 3d printing in general, so please take this with a grain (or more) of salt. I had a similar blob on one of my first prints and got most of it off by heating and pulling it away with pliers, as in the video. However, in the effort, the heat block turned on the heatbreak. I re tightened it as best I could but since then, the printer will print for a while then form blobs and cause crashing. Today, I was finally able to print a couple of things, including a new fan shroud as the original one got melted by the heat block turning, by pausing the print and cleaning the heatblock with a wire brush before resuming. I have ordered new parts for the hotend, and next week will dismantle the extruder and re-assemble the hotend. I have since learned that there is a proper procedure to assembling the hotend. One of the steps involves heating the assembly to around 250 before tightening it. The complete instructions are here. They also mention adjusting the firmware, but I don't understand that yet.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Drinking alcohol can cause memory loss. Or worse, memory loss!
RE: Extruder completely buggered - help please.
Best Blob of Doom advice I ever read was "heat got you into this mess, heat can get you out." Heat it up and slowly work it loose. Don't rush and don't use force. Let the heat work.
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: Extruder completely buggered - help please.
"heat got you into this mess, heat can get you out."
I like that quote.
Since it's all disassembled, I'm wondering if putting it in the oven, on an appropriate surface, of course, would let the plastic melt and slowly ooze away.
RE: Extruder completely buggered - help please.
[...] Since it's all disassembled, I'm wondering if putting it in the oven, on an appropriate surface, of course, would let the plastic melt and slowly ooze away.
I was able to heat mine up as it dangled under the extruder, but a heat gun would work pretty well if everything is torn apart.
I realized too late that a heat gun is going to soften the handle of a brass brush just as easily as the filament though. Don't ask me how.
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