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Hotend Clog?

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by JasonSolves, Oct 9, 2013.

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  1. JasonSolves

    JasonSolves New Member

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    Got the printer last night, super excited. Went through all the steps. and got stuck on the manual feed through the hot end. Nothing would come out the hot end. yes I made sure it was hot (190C) and I tried some other things but it just seemed that nothing was going in, I would say that it was not going far enough down, but this is my first time. So with a good night sleep in I (with help) removed the two screws/bolts that hold the hot end in place. and then took out the hex screw from the top of that and took this picture
    [​IMG]

    So, It looks like it is clogged.

    I bought a PLA only model.
    I used the PLA that came with the printer and tested with PLA sourced else ware (both BLUE)
    190C
    I have NEVER printed anything.

    let me know if you need any more info.
    and thanks again tesseract
     
    #1 JasonSolves, Oct 9, 2013
  2. JasonSolves

    JasonSolves New Member

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    Also this is the side of that device (seems that the screw digs in to the top)
    it was VERY hard to remove the bolts
    [​IMG]
     
    #2 JasonSolves, Oct 9, 2013
  3. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    that groove is completely normal Jason it is how it is locked into place yet allow for different hot ends to be used
     
    #3 tesseract, Oct 9, 2013
  4. JasonSolves

    JasonSolves New Member

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    So I fixed it.

    After taking it all apart and using an icepick to open the hole some
    [​IMG]


    Then putting the hex bolt back in and then icepicking it again.

    tested that the filament fits in the hole.

    then I put it back and boom

    [​IMG]

    Now I am having some fun
     
    #4 JasonSolves, Oct 10, 2013
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  5. AutopsyTurvy

    AutopsyTurvy Active Member

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    Wow, besides some initial delamination on those first couple layers, that is a GREAT result - usually on that calibration cube, the top cube is all rounded and mushy but yours is still pretty sharp! So glad you got it working. :)
     
    #5 AutopsyTurvy, Oct 10, 2013
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  6. tonycstech

    tonycstech Active Member

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    my extruder stuck with PLA. I cant get it out no matter what i try. I try to push it out thru with Allen wrench, it comes out very slow and hard as rubber.
    I set the temp to 270 and heated screw driver and shoved it it, still not much came out.
    Does that mean i need new extruder ?
    Have not printed even 1 thing since got the printer, constantly getting clogged up.
     
    #6 tonycstech, Dec 17, 2013
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I wonder if your thermistor is reading the right temp?
     
    #7 mark tomlinson, Dec 17, 2013
  8. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    First of all unless you changed some firmware or got your printer along time ago you can't get the extruder to 270 and if you did and it was the stock hot end then you should probably throw it away as the internal plastic components are probably now melted in to some sort of blob inside the hot end and the chance of getting it cleaned out is nearly zero.

    It could have started out as a clog but if you did get it to 270 and PLA was trapped in there now it is a solid mass of burned plastic.

    The current firmware only allows you to get to 230 so anything above that should not have worked.

    The other things is as mark just said your thermistor may not be reading the correct temp but if it shows 270 as the actual temp then something else is still seriously wrong.

    Going under the assumption you meant 230 as that is the normal max but even that is hard to set as anything above that will trigger the max temp reached code blocks and shut things down normally 225 id what you can get to
    If things are still clogged you may have to follow the online video of replacing the internal PTFE plastic tube and basically tear thet one completely apart to clear it which is a lot of work as teh nozzle and brass block on teh standard extruder are one piece that part alone will probably have to be removed and cleaned seperately using a thin wires and a lot of time and patience.

    A new all metal hot end like the E3D would probably be abetter option
     
    #8 tesseract, Dec 17, 2013
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    FTFY

    :)
     
    #9 mark tomlinson, Dec 17, 2013
  10. tonycstech

    tonycstech Active Member

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    I did 3 print attempts.
    1st started to print and pla went allover the place, so i aborted.
    2nd started to print and slowly but surely it got clogged. At first line was solid, then it turned into droplets and finaly stopped extruding at all.
    I pulled the filament out and replaced it with ABS.
    ABS started to come out but struggling. It was not coming out smooth but then stopped coming out at all and got jammed.
    I took the hot end appart and i found that the white long tube was not there, the tube that could get replaced as shown in the cleaning video by robo3d ream on youtube.
    Perhaps that was the problem ?
    It was getting clogged since 1st run.
     
    #10 tonycstech, Dec 17, 2013
  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Yes, try contacting them and getting it sorted. They can send you the parts.
    Without the PTFE tube the current hot end will not work correctly.

    Or install a replacement (better, all-metal) hot end like the E3D.

    (we are still dealing with the quality control issues I see...bummer)
     
    #11 mark tomlinson, Dec 18, 2013
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