I dun messed up.... 🙁
Recently, I started printing out a violin using Hatchbox wood filament. Although I had success with some pieces by adding a raft and slowing down the first layer speed, I had a little problem with the first layer adhering which ended up with me coming back to large blobs of filament totally surrounding the hotend. I tried to clean it off the best that I could each time, but by the 3rd time I could see little whisps of smoke coming off of the hotend. That was the cue to try and remove the bottom of the hotend so I could make sure it was totally cleaned off. This didn't go as planned.
I took the screw and the little screw-plug-type-thingy out of the bottom of the hotend. Then I started to remove the thermister and the temperature-thingy (technical terms are great, aren't they?). The thermister came out partially, but the temperature-thingy didn't. Instead the wires just broke off. There was much internal cursing at that point (my little nephew was over, so external cursing was not an option). Then I just started to take the whole extruder casing apart. This worked out pretty well until I got to the last part attached to the carriage. The casing fell off of the carriage and the arm on the extruder-cover broke off (I think I can glue it back on). Also somewhere along this whole thing the wires broke off of the thermister. At that point, I was crying on the inside...
Since I'm sure any warranty that I might have doesn't cover stupid stuff the user does, I know that I'll have to buy another hotend. That's fine.
I'm not even sure I have a point here. I just needed to vent somewhere. Thanks for listening. 😉
Thanks,
Greg Remind me to put something witty or profound here sometime in the future. 
Re: I dun messed up.... 🙁
Before you throw money at this, post pictures of what you have left.
You MAY have a "cheaper" option.
I don't want to jump to conclusions without knowing exactly what is left of the METAL hardware, and broken printed plastic parts.
Hi, I'm Sean. I used to work on CNC machines.
I try to not make mistakes, but the decision is YOURS.
Please feel free to donate to my filament/maintance fund.
Re: I dun messed up.... 🙁
Ask and ye shall receive. Those of you who are elderly, under 18, or have weak stomachs may want to look away... 😯 😆
This I'm pretty sure I can just super glue.
This is the main tragedy. And it's still covered in filament...
What do you say... Is it as bad as I'm thinking it is?
Thanks,
Greg Remind me to put something witty or profound here sometime in the future.
Re: I dun messed up.... 🙁
Ask and ye shall receive. Those of you who are elderly, under 18, or have weak stomachs may want to look away... 😯 😆
This I'm pretty sure I can just super glue.
This is the main tragedy. And it's still covered in filament...
What do you say... Is it as bad as I'm thinking it is?
Bad news man. It's done. Totaled... I'll give you 50$ if you mail me the printer. I really just want your PEI sheet...
Nah, I'm looking at *CURRENTLY* 25$ of damage, 45 including shipping from Prusa, or if you buy it off amazon, MUCH cheaper.
Let's see here.
Super glue the plastic part back together. It's not really a "structural" part.
Your temperature thingie. (24v heater cartridge) is toast. I don't really know of people trying to solder these back together, not sure if it's possible.
I can't tell if you got the thermistor out intact or not? (this is the thingie with the small wires) If you broke that, it's another "replace it" part.
Next we have the hot-end assembly. Get ready to blow some $$$ on cool toys, rather than blow serious $$$$$$$$$ on replacing it.
This looks FINE to me. I see NOTHING wrong here. As long as the threads are still good on the heatbreak. (the long machined screw, on the other side of the nozzle)
Here's my advise. Get a butane torch. Don't matter how big, any size is big enough for this, preferrably one that is designed to burn for extended periods of time. (Crafting torch, etc... I mean a big propane torch would work too... or if you are classy like me, a old school gasoline blowtorch... Just don't do that indoors... or near children... or on a windy day... or a hot day... and wear layers, cause they explode... But they are so much fun to use...
Anyway, Hold the Hot-end with a pair of adjustable pliers. Preferably against something metal, and make sure you can hold it FIRMLY, this is gonna get messy. Get your 7mm wrench and a pair of needle nose pliers handy.
Time to light up.
Next you light your torch.
Attempt to heat the nozzle slowly. (not all at once) and once the plastic starts to "flow" and darken, grab hold of the "block" with your adjustable wrench. NOT PLIERS, For the love of all that is holy, do NOT hold stuff with pliers...
And grab hold of the nozzle with your 7mm wrench. Wail on that sucker counter-clockwise. If it's hot enough, it will come loose. 🙂
I would NOT remove the heat-break. So long as you can shove something through it to ensure there are no huge blockages you should be fine.
Next heat it back up again, and push/pull the heater cartridge out... with the needle nose pliers. It's ceramic, so it may be a bit crumbly, and without wires to tug on.... may not be fun.You got plastic gluing it in.
If your thermistor is stuck in there too, you should push//pull it out too.
https://e3d-online.dozuki.com/Guide/Heater+Block+Metal+Assembly/3
Here is an E3D assembly instruction for the hot end block. It's not as complex as it looks... you are just doing this backwards... when it's hot, cause yours is covered in plastic.
Another thing you could do, is soak it in Acetone for a day or two, and basically any PLA/ABS should melt off, or at the least get kinda gooey.
PS: Be careful with this, as Acetone is very much a pyromaniac, and you need to be VERY careful to keep Acetone FAR from fire... Acetone WILL burn your house down if you let it.
Hi, I'm Sean. I used to work on CNC machines.
I try to not make mistakes, but the decision is YOURS.
Please feel free to donate to my filament/maintance fund.
Re: I dun messed up.... 🙁
Another thing you could do, is soak it in Acetone for a day or two, and basically any PLA/ABS should melt off, or at the least get kinda gooey.
PS: Be careful with this, as Acetone is very much a pyromaniac, and you need to be VERY careful to keep Acetone FAR from fire... Acetone WILL burn your house down if you let it.
For the record, PLA does NOT dissolve in acetone.
PLA does dissolve in Tetrahydrofuran (also known as Oxolane). Among its uses is as a solvent, but it's probably not sold in any local hardware store from what I gather. So, unless you have some THF handy, the torch method is probably one of the only good methods available for cleaning the block up. Heat to the melting point then wipe as much off as you can.
Re: I dun messed up.... 🙁
Another thing you could do, is soak it in Acetone for a day or two, and basically any PLA/ABS should melt off, or at the least get kinda gooey.
PS: Be careful with this, as Acetone is very much a pyromaniac, and you need to be VERY careful to keep Acetone FAR from fire... Acetone WILL burn your house down if you let it.
For the record, PLA does NOT dissolve in acetone.
PLA does dissolve in Tetrahydrofuran (also known as Oxolane). Among its uses is as a solvent, but it's probably not sold in any local hardware store from what I gather. So, unless you have some THF handy, the torch method is probably one of the only good methods available for cleaning the block up. Heat to the melting point then wipe as much off as you can.
Oh it reacts. At least the dye in mine does. It gets much softer will double check this tomorrow. (Does not fully dissolve like abs)
I could have sworn it made some pla scraps softer though.
Hi, I'm Sean. I used to work on CNC machines.
I try to not make mistakes, but the decision is YOURS.
Please feel free to donate to my filament/maintance fund.
Re: I dun messed up.... 🙁
Another thing you could do, is soak it in Acetone for a day or two, and basically any PLA/ABS should melt off, or at the least get kinda gooey.
PS: Be careful with this, as Acetone is very much a pyromaniac, and you need to be VERY careful to keep Acetone FAR from fire... Acetone WILL burn your house down if you let it.
For the record, PLA does NOT dissolve in acetone.
PLA does dissolve in Tetrahydrofuran (also known as Oxolane). Among its uses is as a solvent, but it's probably not sold in any local hardware store from what I gather. So, unless you have some THF handy, the torch method is probably one of the only good methods available for cleaning the block up. Heat to the melting point then wipe as much off as you can.
Oh it reacts. At least the dye in mine does. It gets much softer will double check this tomorrow. (Does not fully dissolve like abs)
I could have sworn it made some pla scraps softer though.
There are certain additives in PLA that may react as not all PLA is manufactured the same, but the bulk of PLA is basically organic compounds. It's made from corn starch. This is why it may possibly get gummy or possibly soft, but not fully dissolve... it's not actually the PLA that is reacting with the acetone, it's the additives.