Installed a new 30mm nozzle and its a mess!

[wisdomknight]

Okay, this is going to take me a while to type up, so if you want to take a break for lunch - now would be the time to do it.

Before you do, one of the things that I'm going to recommend is that you go order a spare hotend now.

We will likely be able to get that one running again, but no guarantees, and if you need it for business, you should have a spare on hand anyway. (ordering it now will just get it here sooner in case what I have in mind doesn't work.)

I'll explain what I think happened, and what steps to take next, but ordering the spare is step 1.

Ok will do it now

[sthone]

I have had clogs like this before where it is in the barrel and not the nozzle.

Remove the nozzle (****take the hotend off the printer to do this.****)
(You can do some of these steps with the hot end mounted in the printer but you need to remove the filament drive.)

You'll need to Heat up the hot end, (at least to 230° seeing as you've run ABS before.)
If the hot end is off the printer Pull the Fiberglass insulation piece off and hold the block with a pair of pliers. (be careful not to over stress the wires.)

Push a small Allen wrench through from the top and push all the crap out. (You may have to push pretty hard which is easier to do if the hot end is mounted, there is less chance of stressing the wires.)
After mount it back in the printer (if it's not already) without the nozzle and run a good amount of filament through it to purge all the missed crap. (this is were the cleaning filament comes in handly but your PLA will work fine for now but drop the temp to 215°.)
After that remove the hot end from the printer reinstall the nozzle, remount it, reset your z height, and you should be good to go.

Few other tips....

Get some cleaning filament and if you're using this for business definitely get a few extra hot ends and nozzles.

[wisdomknight]

btw is there a way to know how I ruined it? I only needed a nozzle and I tried to replace it...how did I manage to do this. So I dont keep ruining these hotends?

[sthone]

It's probably not ruined....

When you changed the nozzle the new nozzle has nothing in it so maybe a piece of old crusty abs or burnt PLA dislodged out of the barrel of the hot end into the void space in the new nozzle clogging it right off the bat.

It happens which is why we run cleaning filament in between filament switches.

It doesn't hurt to run a dust whipper on your filament either... dust can clog a nozzle pretty quickly. There are several to pick from on Thingiverse or you can use this simple method.

[Jules]

I see Steve beat me to it! (Chuckle!)

Here’s what happens when filament goes through that barrel – it melts and coats the inside of the barrel with a lining of plastic. Even if you retract the filament out of the top, it leaves a coating behind, clinging to the walls.

When the nozzle and barrel cool, the plastic sets up and it narrows the diameter that the next filament strand has to get through.

That’s not a problem if you are printing something that melts at the same temperature as the last filament you printed. If you printed PLA before, and you are printing PLA now, they both melt at the same temperature, so the stuff that has cooled on the inside of that barrel just melts and flows on out the next time you heat up the extruder.

But if you extruded ABS through the barrel, and it left a coating behind on the walls, and you don’t clean that coating off with cleaning filament before you try to print PLA, that coating stays right where it is, because ABS needs a higher temperature to melt it. So it reduces the diameter of the hole, and the PLA either gets stuck going in, or you wind up with wavy lines in your prints from under-extrusion. The machine is having to work awfully hard to force the PLA through the smaller hole too.

Eventually the build-up just gets to be too much, or the ABS sloughs off and blocks the nozzle entirely.

Then when you try to start forcing in PLA, it starts backing up – there’s no way it can go forward.

Bottom line…I agree with Steve and think you’ve got an ABS or ABS/PLA blockage in your barrel. That looks like gray filament coming out of the bottom of the barrel, and black at the top.

1. Put the black cloth cover back on the hotend, but do not put the nozzle back on it.

2. Reconnect the hotend to the wires and seat it in the clamp, without the nozzle on it.

3. Heat it up to about 220° and see if you can ooze some of the PLA out of the barrel. Give it five minutes or so after it comes up to temperature.

4. Increase the temperature to about 245° and let it sit at that temp for a few more minutes and see if a big wad of gray stuff leaks out.

5. If not, stick a large bore needle up into the bottom of the hotend – and swirl it around a bit, or use a small drill bit. Anything small enough to go into the opening. Be careful its hot. Hold the needle with a pair of pliers.

6. Then turn everything off, let it cool. Take the hotend off, hold it up to the light and see if it is clear all the way through.

7. Put the nozzle back on, reload the hotend, see if you can feed some filament through with the Jog Controls and reset your Starting Height.

[wisdomknight]

Thank you all so much....Im trying what you guys both recommended right now.

I just put an order in for the Extra Parts Set, another nozzle, and an extra glass bed.
It didnt give me a shipping option just one choice.
How how is shipping normally?

[sthone]

The small parts orders usually ship USPS Priority Mail.

[wisdomknight]

The small parts orders usually ship USPS Priority Mail.

thank you

[Jules]

And don't forget to go buy some cleaning filament as well. (It keeps this from happening.)

https://www.amazon.com/CLEANING-Filamen ... g+filament

[wisdomknight]

I see Steve beat me to it! (Chuckle!)
6. Then turn everything off, let it cool. Take the hotend off, hold it up to the light and see if it is clear all the way through.

7. Put the nozzle back on, reload the hotend, see if you can feed some filament through with the Jog Controls and reset your Starting Height.

Ok Jules I did everything you said and I cannot see through the hole still.

Should I still bother trying to feed filament through via the nozzle?