Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil  

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

A soft brass brush is good for cleaning the heater block and nozzle, but watch out for the wires. I've started using a strip of stiff corrugated cardboard as the squeegee action is effective and it's a cheap option that unlikely to damage wires. A non-conductive toothpick can be useful for cleaning around wires. 

I haven't used needles or bits since learning how to do a proper cold pull. Far more effective.

The Ruby is overkill and fragile. Check out P3-D Hercules and E3D Nozzle-X for cheaper options if printing abrasives. Thy won't help with bad filament though.

I'd contact Prusa support via chat on the filaments but be prepared to write it off if drying doesn't work. No sense trying to paint with crappy paint.

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

Failures ranging from no filament coming out right at the beginning even I was able to reload filament successfully before that, after 1-3 layers of printing, up to few hours of successful print followed by continue extruder moving even no filament was extruded. Each time I had to try to unload and reload filament several times at higher temperature to get them out. When being extruded, they looked like sticky balls and smelled bad. What should I do first? Put the nozzle in Acetone for a few hours or use 0.4mm needle for 3D printer?

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

Honestly, I'd toss the filament and do some cold pulls. Buy some fresh filament and keep it stored in large freezer bags with a few packets of desiccant. Consider purchasing a dehydrator if you plan on storing filament for long periods, or you start using filaments prone to absorbing moisture (e.g. PETG).

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

It's fairly easy to make larger dry boxes for storing filament using common cheap storage tubs from Home Depot or wherever.  I have two of them, each with several of the silica gel dry-packs and an inexpensive humidity gauge, mounted to the side with a 3d printed bracket of course.  😉

When the humidity starts creeping up, I 'bake' the dry-packs in the oven for a few hours.

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

So just throw away all three boxes of brand new PLA? Supposing that I get the extruder fixed, if I use them again, they will cog the extruder. Then, it is endless troubles.

Upon receiving new filaments, do people usually open the boxes immediately and put them in larger dry boxes or dehydrator? I just trusted the Prusament brand and left them alone in room temperature unopened. Who knows they forgot to put silica in those boxes. I still have about 8 boxes of unopened PETG filaments. Should I just get large dry box or dehydrator ready. Then, open all of them to check if there are silica in it?

Yes, after printing, I put filament spool in large freezer bag with desiccant in it.

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

I wouldn't toss the suspected-wet filament out.  I would try drying it carefully in a warm electric oven or better yet, if you have access to one of those el-cheapo food dehydrators, that would be better.

What I do when I receive a new spool is to inspect it to be sure it's what I ordered (and following this incident I plan on being sure the dessicant pack is in there) and leaving it sealed until I am ready to use it.

For the filaments I use regularly and use up regularly, I'll leave them on a spool rack above the printer.  For those I don't use regularly I'll store in the large dry boxes until I need that particular color/type again.  I'll sometimes transfer mostly-used spools to smaller spools to save space in the dry boxes.  I have a number of remainders of oddball-color Paramount filaments stored that way.

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

Posted by: @peter-c20

So just throw away all three boxes of brand new PLA?

Well no. Try the suggestions to contact Prusa support. Try drying them. If they're still a problem and you can't get a refund, I certainly wouldn't push on with using crappy PLA. Filament does have a shelf life. I've got spools that are 2 years old that are fine with minimal care, but others are more trouble than they're worth after 6 months.

Supposing that I get the extruder fixed, if I use them again, they will cog the extruder. Then, it is endless troubles.

Exactly. "Saving" $60 worth of filament might cause a lot more damage and time wastage. Try a few things, but if it's bad, it's bad. Try another brand if you don't get satisfaction from the manufacturer. Or write it off as one bad experience and try a fresh spool.

Upon receiving new filaments, do people usually open the boxes immediately and put them in larger dry boxes or dehydrator?

No dry box here. I will often dry a spool if it exhibits any stringing or evidence of absorbing moisture. After opening, I put filament in large sealing freezer bags with a couple of desiccant packets. Depending on how long it has been since last use, I'll often toss PETG and other troublesome filaments into the dehydrator before printing just to avoid headaches.

I just trusted the Prusament brand and left them alone in room temperature unopened. Who knows they forgot to put silica in those boxes. I still have about 8 boxes of unopened PETG filaments. Should I just get large dry box or dehydrator ready. Then, open all of them to check if there are silica in it?

I'd definitely get a dehydrator. I find the big dryboxes overkill for PLA & PETG, but that's a personal preference. 

Yes, after printing, I put filament spool in large freezer bag with desiccant in it.

Just keep in mind that desiccant won't dry out a saturated spool.

Of course, you could just have spools from a bad batch. Prusa has good quality control, so contact support with your spool barcode info handy and see what they suggest.

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

We emailed Prusa a week ago. They checked the QR code of one spool and told us that: "I don't think that there's something wrong with the spool but it might be more connected to the filament it self as sometimes with bright filaments you will need to increase the temp by 5/10ºC if you are having under extrusion problems while printing. The reason for this is due to the additives on the Filament to keep the color correct. Also your idler screw might be too tight." We sent them another unboxing video of brand new filament without silica and showed them some failed print photos and videos. They have no comment.

I have used various 3D printers over the past few years and I have never heard of this. I printed the same model using two spools that did not come with a bag of silica. Dark silver certainly is not a bright color. In two tests, they failed at around the same layer height of about 3.7cm. Could this be a coincident? Perhaps when the models are at certain height which might correspond to cog level inside the extruder, they failed? In one test, the dark silver filament also failed to extrude any filament immediately after I uploaded it. The printer just kept printing without any filament coming out.

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

I'm more concerned about the weird smells. PLA normally shouldn't smell much at all, or perhaps a bit sweet while printing.

You last post described more routine problems though, so perhaps the spools are fine. I'd dry them out if possible (PLA can absorb some moisture, even if not as much as PETG) just to eliminate that problem.

If the failures seem to be layer dependent, there's a chance they start to fail at layers where infill starts to print. The Prusa SPEED profiles tend to be overly aggressive with infill speeds. Have you tried a QUALITY profile? In any case, I'd try dialing speeds back to 50% using the front knob and see if the print succeeds. If so, you have a good indication that slicer settings should be able to resolve your issues. If not, it could be mechanical (try a known-good spool) or filament problems.

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

It only smelled very bad when it extruded those clogged sticky PLA. Tried the 2nd spool of PLA that did not come with silica bag. It even gave me a M112 called. Emergency Stop error. As you see, there is a circular mark where the extruder stopped. Is it a burnt mark? If I did not stop immediately and left it alone, would it cause fire?

I don't print under SPEED profile. Always QUALITY profile. I am now testing the printer using PETG. I have brims set to 10 as usual and this is at layer 2. What are those claw-like tracks? I have not seen this before. Shall I let the printer to finish the print or kill the job and try again?

RE: Problems with clogging and recommended brush, nozzle cleaning needle and machine oil

Here is a photo. As you see, there is a white circular. This is the place where the printer had the emergency stop. 

Another question. As you see, on the front right and back left, there are less filaments. Does that mean my build plate is not even?