. Recently, I faced an issue that led me on a bit of a quest for answers. Strangely, I couldn’t find any existing threads in our forum that addressed the same problem. So, here I am, ready to spill the beans and hopefully help someone out there who might stumble upon this dilemma.
During a faulty print, I found myself in a pickle. A rather sizable “blob” of filament had managed to accumulate under the nozzle and print head.
Why, you ask? Well, the print had detached from the bed mid-process. Yep, it happens.
Now, let’s get to the good part – the solution. The savior came from the Prosa Forum, and I’m excited to pass it on here, just in case someone’s currently in the same boat.
(Extruder blob | Prusa Knowledge Base)
So, here’s the drill:
Abort the Print: Stop the print in its tracks.
Lower the Print Bed: Bring down the print bed.
Access the Nozzle: If possible, remove the front cover for better access.
Cleanup: As per a tip from the Prusa Forum, I gently cleaned the nozzle with a copper brush.
Alternatively you can do it like Rickey Impey showed in his video: (https://youtu.be/TCFOI5kUWQg?si=qVD3Zuhbc3kvKM2M) , by using a cloth to remove the molten filament residue. Keep in mind that the cloth might not be usable afterward.
Here are a couple of things you might want to avoid:
Cold Removal: Trying to remove the filament blob when it’s cold can likely damage the nozzle.
Heat Gun Approach: Using a heat gun to soften the blob is risky business, as it might damage other parts or even belts and guides.
If anyone has more tricks up their sleeve regarding this matter, please feel free to chime in. Sharing is caring, and together we can conquer those 3D printing conundrums!
Lower it down to the build plate and turn on the plate heater as high as it’ll go, too. That’ll speed up how quick the plastic softens. Get it warm enough and it ought to just peel right off.
The few times this has happened to me over the years, I used my fingers rather than pliers. Yeah, you risk getting burned, but you reduce the risk that you’ll “over tweak” the extruder and damage it or the nozzle with the additional leverage pliers provide… Get any last little bit left by wiping down with a thick folded up piece of paper towel after the big chunk’s removed.
That does not sound good.
Than you might have to heat the blob filament with a hot air gun or maybe with a Soldering iron.
You have to be super careful- this might harm your printhead electronics and cables.
Sorry I have no other solution for you.
I printed in PETG for the first time and it went OK but Halfway through the print, the way the filment was coming out changed and it was more rough and now I’m trying to print in PLA and I can’t at all. It just keeps blobing around around the nozzle i’ve tried it, swapping the nozzle off for new one and printing in different size nozzle, and it keeps doing the same thing. Any suggestions?
I got a blob like that once when the model released from the plate. It was stuck to the hot end just moving around thinking it was printing but just turned into a blob. I stopped the print and just pulled it off the nozzle. Not sure how much damage it could have done if left to go to the end.
I have the same problem but my issue is much worse. The filament blob completely encased the print head, the wiring, it’s inside the clamp etc. I’m trying to gingerly use a heat gun on the low setting and wipe and pull off the filament with pliers, a wire brush. Trying to get the print heat to warm up goes to a point and then a light starts flashing on the machine and the temperature just goes back down.
Ha ha - who are we to fight them.
Well, I wish to have see a photo of that blob inside the printhead to give some advice, as I,for other troubleshooting reasons, replaced almost all electronic and cables out of my X1c lately…
are you saying they are bending the rules?