McSterls wrote:thanks Tim, I will look around for cleaning directions.
Cleaning the nozzle:
* Get some Taulman 618, cut about 2 feet off
* Pull the hotend out of the holder, but leave it plugged in
* Heat the hotend to 245C, no fans on it, hanging by the wires
* Grip the hotend (just gently enough to not slide around, do NOT deform it) with pliers
* Shove the Nylon in, apply firm pressure until you get a curl of Nylon out of the hotend
* Set the nozzle temperature to 130C, and
keep applying pressure until the hotend falls to 170C ... this will likely use several more inches of filament, this is expected
* Let the nozzle sit at 130C for 5-6 minutes, then apply reverse tension on the Nylon to remove it from the hotend
* If the Nylon doesn't come out with firm pressure (grip the Nylon with your fingers only -- if you have to wrap it around a finger or use pliers its no longer "firm pressure"), set the hotend temp to 170C and keep pulling while the temp climbs, until it pops out
* Cut the "used" section of Nylon off, and repeat 2-5 more times, until crap stops coming out with the Nylon, and it can be cold-pulled at 130C
Seasoning the nozzle:
* Follow the first few steps of cleaning to have a pliers-held hotend
* Dunk the Nylon in some "boiled linseed oil" (flaxseed, mostly), and while the filament is still wet with oil, plunge the filament to the bottom of the hotend and immediately remove it from the barrel -- do not let the Nylon melt! This should be a half second process
* Plunge the same strand several times with the same oil on it, re-dip the oil every 6-8 plunges, and let the hotend rest 10 seconds between plunges
* After 30-40 dunks of filament, let the hotend sit in free air at 245C for 30 minutes ... put something under it to catch oil drips
* Cool the hotend to 180C and let it sit for 5-6 minutes once it reaches that temperature
* Do the cold-pull process
one time with natural-colored PLA, using 55C as the low temperature and 180C as the hot temperature (instead of 245C and 130C for Nylon)
* Let hotend cool to room temperature
* Reinstall hotend into holder, do a sacrificial print with PLA or ABS (just a cube is fine) to flush the remaining oil out
Maintenance:
* Repeat this process every 10-15kgs of filament you use, or every clog
*
Run a filament wiper -- holy moly this is important ... I use a piece of paper towel folded over several times pinched with a binder clip around the filament before it goes into the guide tube, nothing fancy
* Buy good filament ... good filament is not necessarily expensive (ESun), but expensive filament will probably be good
