Failed print. Plastic blob formed around printhead and nozzle. How to remove?
As in topic. My print failed massively and when I returned to the printer, about 30 minutes in, I ran into this disaster.
The blob around the print unit has solidified.
Is there a way to screw parts of it out so I have easy access?
RE: Failed print. Plastic blob formed around printhead and nozzle. How to remove?
I have ever since looked at the manual to replace the nozzle and managed to adjust the print bed to 100mm and remove the top cover (with the vent holes in it) from the printer, so I have full access.
You have a blob of doom. Search for blob of doom to see how others have dealt with them.
Before doing anything, look at pictures of a clean extruder so you know what to expect.
You have probably damaged your fan shroud and will need a replacement.
To remove it:
Raise the nozzle temperature to the printing temperature for the filament in question and allow it to heat for several minutes.
If you are lucky you will be able to prise the blob open - more likely you will need to add heat from outside with a heat gun to aid the softening, sometimes it's worth using a soldering iron to carve chunks off the mass.
Use needle nosed pliers to prise this away; remove it in parts if it won't release.
Once you have the worst removed you decide whether you need to disassemble the extruder to get at all the blob or perhaps you can clean up in situ.
After the cleanup there will be overcooked filament inside the nozzle so at least a purge and probably a cold-pull will be necessary.
The cause was probably poor adhesion; possibly due to a dirty print sheet or sometimes a tall narrow print with a footprint too small to support it.
Cheerio,
RE: Failed print. Plastic blob formed around printhead and nozzle. How to remove?
I was able to remove most after heating the nozzle to 150 and wait a few minutes. The big blob was soft enough for me to remove at least and the small stuff remaining needed some more time. I had a small go with tiny pliers, a small cutting tool and a lot of looking and slightly pushing & pulling. In the end I had the most of it removed.
RE: Failed print. Plastic blob formed around printhead and nozzle. How to remove?
The helpdesk helped me out with tips on how to handle the small stuff that was still remaining and I was able to clean it all the way.
After the heating and cleaning I unloaded the filament, let the nozzle cool down to about 25, then untightend the two thumbscrews, let the nozzle "fall out" ever so slightly and then push it back up till the end and fastened the thumbscrews again.
After which I loaded the filament back in, had it prune a long end and it seemed to have cleared the nozzle almost all by itself.
Just printed another Benchy and it's almost identical to the one from a week ago. All is good again <3
RE: Failed print. Plastic blob formed around printhead and nozzle. How to remove?
A lot of great advice from @diem. I have just one addition: While it's hard to judge from the photos, things don't look so bad for your fan shroud, I think. (The air outlet with two prongs that surround the nozzle.) I would try to remove it as a first step, to avoid damaging it while you work on the blob.
The shroud is held by two screws from the front of the Nextruder, on the left and right side below the fan. Both are visible on your photos and seem accessible. If the "blob of doom" has not flown around the fan shroud anywhere, you should be able to pull it away towards the back after removing the screws.
Note that the shroud it attached to the fan, which is still wired to the Nextruder. If you can't find a convenient place to put or dangle the shroud assembly, you may want to unscrew the side cover of the Nextruder too and unplug the fan.