Clog clearing and extruder disassembly: help!

[jsc]

It's not caked solid. I can push the second smallest allen key that came with the M2 (looks like ~1.66 mm point to point) through just fine, just not a piece of filament. It doesn't appear to be melting when heated, either, not really sure what's going on. Hopefully the stripper will make a difference, then I can drill out any remainder with a 2mm drill.

[jimc]

Ok yeah your good. That plastic just breaks down from the heat and just gets stiff. Soak it and drill it. You'll be fine

[jsc]

Success! A few hours soaking in paint stripper and the filament slides through easy without any drilling. Also, my nozzle is cleaner than it's ever been since the first day.

Anyone reading this and thinking "that's nice, but it won't happen to me," I was once as you are. For future reference, you will be wanting the drill bits jimc linked to here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=162
and two 10mm wrenches and one 11mm wrench (stubby ones are cheap at Lowes' or Home Depot)
and that M2 Hotend Assembly page: http://makergear.wikidot.com/m2-hotend-assembly, which you can read backwards from the end as disassembly instructions
and some liquid paint stripper with methylene chloride and/or acetone, depending on if you use PLA or ABS more.

[jsc]

Oh, one last question. As I mentioned, the two dowel pins that hold the PTFE insert in popped out at some point, and now one of them won't stay inserted. How are they supposed to be retained?

[DrRobot]

I managed to get the nozzle off. With Josh's help on IRC, I got the PTFE insert out of the PEEK barrel, but couldn't figure out why it wouldn't seat properly until Josh pointed out that the dirty bit up top wasn't supposed to be there.

ptfe-insert.jpg

plug-removed.jpg

How did you get the PTFE insert out of the PEEK barrel? How to remove the pins? I think my PEEK is clogged the same way as yours, there is a plate of filament accumulated

[PcS]

The pins are more or less a press fit. Interference fit.