I started printing and when I checked on the print (just getting started) I noticed that it had correctly printed the “L” line at the front of the plate, but the actual print had failed and had a spaghetti mess around the hotend. I removed as much filament as I could, then removed the silicone cover and found this:
I am swapping out the hotend to be able to continue printing, but can this hotend be salvaged, or is it a lost cause? Further, I am at a loss as to what might have caused the “spaghetti incident” (GnR anyone?) in the first place, as I had just just the smooth plate the night before with a PETG print without issues.
Absolutely it can be salvaged. It happens to me every couple of months when I’m not paying attention and find a print has come lose off the print bed.
The first thing is to let the filament cool to room temperature. Then it should just crumble off under pressure from your fingers. Then once you get the bulk of it off, put the silicone sock back on and fire up the nozzle and manually heat up the filament to 250C. Then just push filament directly into the PTFE tube manually if the extruder panel isn’t working hard enough. Once you start to see filament flow again, you’re good to go. Easy peasy!!!
The cause is usually when a model comes lose on a plate and you don’t notice that the filament has backed up underneath the sock. As I said, happens to me every couple of months.
There was a rash of encased extruders a couple of months ago and many or most were printing flavors of PETG. It gets “sticky” and can curl around and start extruding up somehow. It’s pretty bizarre. But lots of extruder covers were popped off and the massive lumps some accumulated were big enough to hit parts of the printer enclosure interior bits.
I can’t say for sure but the rash of incidents were all grouped and may have been weather/humidity related. Search and you’ll find all the threads.
Some here recommended “Slice Engineering Plastic Repellent Paint Repels Plastic & Prevents Buildup on the Nozzle”. I found it on Amazon ($15) and grabbed a bottle on other’s testimonials. I can’t vouch for it yet - haven’t used it yet.
Be gentle in removal. You can use the extruder itself to warm the plastic to make it easier to get off. Some use heat guns and hair dryers but be careful you don’t overtemp, warp, or melt printer parts. There’s som fairly delicate wires in there too. People have had to replace temperature sensors and other bits because wires got pulled out removing the glob.
Great info. I suspect my PETG was a bit too moist, I had lots of unexpected stringing and clumping, so I put it back in the dryer this morning before starting this failed PLA print. I will have to keep that in mind.
The same thing happened to me just a few days ago and although I don’t know if this is the “proper method” this is what I did - I unloaded the filament, heated the nozzle to 250 c. and wiped the nozzle clean with microfiber. I discovered a torn sock was the cuprit and printing without it doesn’t work well. I am now twiddling my thumbs waiting for my sock order… At least I can use my A1 Mini.
If you go this route, BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN CLEANING THE NOZZLE. If you are in the USA, please keep in mind that 250 c is almost 500 degrees f.
