MakerGear Forum

Hi Guys,

Ran into an issue last night with my filament drive gear not turning. Appears to be from extruder getting clogged w/ PLA. I read the other thread on disassembly, and got the nozzle cap off, but wasn't able to remove the filament from the main body of the extruder. Have the cap soaking in some acetone right now for some general cleaning.

I was going to remove the other bolt that screws on the nozzle that runs through the main body of the V4 extruder assembly, but can't remove it without forcing it and don't want to damage it. I tried a guitar string, but it's too flexible to push the PLA out. Tried a paper clip, but it just bent that. Maybe I should try heating it first and then go with the paper clip again? So A) What is the metal bolt thing called that runs through the body of the extruder and B) How the heck do I get his PLA out of it?

My hot bed doesn't seem to have the proper X,Y home settings. When I click home all through Simplify3D, the x/y position is slightly off the hotbed. I know how to adjust the Z position, but haven't figured out how to move the bed horizontally? Is that possible, or is it a calibration setting in Simplify3D?

Lately, I've been having to stop prints quite frequently to try to relevel the bed. Are there any autoleveling hacks to make the process easier. I managed to lose the little wrench used to adjust the Z position, so it's a pain in the butt.

Thanks for any tips.

The other piece that the nozzle screws onto is called the Barrel, (Picture) it is not a bolt and it is (sort of) just press fit in.

The clog is usually in the nozzle so you don't necessarily have to remove the filament from the Barrel to clear the clog. Never try to remove the nozzle with the hotend still mounted though or you will snap the barrel. You are on the right track (soaking in acetone) to clean the nozzle though. (for really bad clogs you might need a blow torch.)

but ....

To clean out the barrel, first remove the hotend assembly from the mount (single screw in the front of mount) hold it with pliers and bring it up to heat (for what ever filament your were running), remove the nozzle, and then just push the filament out of the barrel with one of the little Allen wrenches.

Once you remount the hotend though you will have to reset the z-stop height.


The nozzle doesn't have to be on the bed when homing.

Link for leveling the bed.

1.Yes, with heat.

2.In MG parlance it's called a heater barrel.

3.In S3d, do you have the MG FFF profile selected or just Default, or have you been playing with the starting scripts? That is not how the MG FFF profile homes itself. It should home XYZ at front left, move forward, lift, move right, extrude/prime the nozzle, wipe left, and start printing.

4.If you can't level the bed by manually, you can't handle the autolevel install either. Right now, the autolevel is beyond your skill set, it is not a plug and play affair. See here for bed level basics- viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2783

You seem to not have a grasp on some key beginner concepts. Have you looked at any instruction materials or browsed the Tips forum? Or are you a "manuals are for dummies" type? This stuff is not hard, but it is hard to do right without a proper grounding in the basics.

Start here. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3342

-ahhh, I see Steve posted while I was typing my post.

Well, that was fun.....had a nice explanation all ready to send, and a power surge wiped everything out, and put me on my knees for the last couple of hours. (Man, I've got too many devices connected behind that extremely heavy wooden desk that hubs absolutely had to have.)

Fortunately, no permanent damage to devices. (Thank God for daisy-chained surge protectors and UPS. IMO, you can never have too many. )

Anyway, since Will and Steve have already covered everything brilliantly, I'll just put up the pic that shows how to move the bed along the Y-axis and print head along the X-axis (horizontally) in S3D, since you also asked about that. (And I already had it prepared. )

It's the big buttons in the shape of a rectangle in the middle of the page on the Jog Controls. Works just like the ones for the Z-axis, click on it to jog the bed or print head.

Thanks for the detailed responses guys. Should have thought about using one of the little allen wrenches! Made due by heating a paperclip on my gas stove and running that through the barrel. Worked pretty well. Firing up a test print now to see if everything is back to official likeaboss printing status