Trying to get the extruder to extrude
Hi there,
well i assembled the kit, got through the calibrations, then tested the extruder; the filament went through it and threaded beneath; since then nothing goes through. I've tried the supplied needle; that goes upwards inside the nozzle more than half its length, but it doesnt seem to me the nozzle end is the problem. I took out the extruder metal part, and pushed a length of filament down the teflon tube after heating up the hot element to 215 degrees Celsius.
There is a dark mass of (I assume) plastic inside the teflon tube starting just above where the tube meets with the metal body. I thought that preheating to 215 degrees would cause the dark mass inside the tube to melt, and that forcing the filament through the tube and against the dark mass would push it downwards towards the nozzle.
But there was no effect. Just like when the extruder metal part wasn't heated, when heated the dark mass inside the teflon tube refused to budge. So where do I go from here?
I could heat the heading-body to much higher temperatures to melt the dark mass; but I'm worried that could damage the teflon tube or cause the PLA to burn & just create more problems.
Anyone have any advice? I thought the tough part of assembly would be the calibration 🙁
Many thanks,
John