Just finished assembling my M2. Haven't tried to use it yet.
I've read some of these stories about plugged hot ends. Don't want that.
What's the proper procedure for M2 shutdown, specifically with respect to
filament remaining in the hot end??
There doesn't appear to be any means
of purging the filament from the hot end.
I guess you just shut down the heater
and it all seizes up. For the next session, you warm up the hot end and the
filament flows again.
Any comments?
Thanks.
Bignordique
How to clean hot end when done printing
Re: How to clean hot end when done printing
yeah man thats pretty much it. just shut off the heat or turn the printer off. no need to remove the filament and purge anything out.
Re: How to clean hot end when done printing
You got it. If you're printing with the same stuff again, just leave it in there.
We run (ran?) into problems switching between lots of plastics. There's always a bit of dirt or dust on the plastic, and that would ram into the little bit of goo in the nozzle, and over time it creates a densely-packed wad of dirt and various plastics. This stops sticking to the end of filament which means it stays in the nozzle when you remove the plastic to change it out.
This is where eSUN's cleaner filament come in. The eSUN cleaning stuff is an overall pretty terrible filament from a printing perspective, but these properties make it great for cleaning -- its sticky, it has a huge temperature range (which means it softens at a low temperature but doesn't fully flow until a high temperature), and is cheap. The soft plastic will flow into the various internal shapes of the plastic on the barrel of the hotend, and the stickyness will drag it down to the nozzle where you can eject it through the normal opening. (we like eSUN's normal filament as a community, just don't confuse the cleaner filament with the normal stuff)
The problem comes from debris that won't fit through the nozzle hole. This is where the jams come from, and the only solutions are removal or destruction of the clog. A cold pull with Nylon will drag debris outwards. You basically force Nylon into the hot nozzle so it expands into the internal shapes, then let it cool down. As it does, it contracts, and will tear the debris from the walls of the barrel. You then remove the cooler (I do it at 120C) Nylon out the top feed hole. Rinse and repeat until the Nylon comes out clear. Sometimes a high-B banjo string or high-G guitar string can be shoved up the hot nozzle (with care...) to push clogs upwards and give the Nylon a hole to burrow into, but that doesn't always work.
In some extreme cases you end up with a hardened or packed plug of plastic. At this point, with a V3b, the nozzle is lost and you might as well try the torch. Disassemble the hotend until you end up with the barrel and nozzle assembly, then burn the everloving christ out of it with a torch, until it's a dull red color. Quench it in 70% isopropyl (mind the fire), shove the banjo string into it, and repeat a few times until there's nothing left inside. At this point you can reassemble it and go to a Nylon cold pull. With the V4 nozzle, you unscrew the nozzle from the hotend, torch the brass nozzle itself (it's a lot easier to see when it's clean as just the nozzle), purge through the V4 itself, and reassemble. I've cleaned the V4 several times using up old filament, and it always JustWorks(tm).
We run (ran?) into problems switching between lots of plastics. There's always a bit of dirt or dust on the plastic, and that would ram into the little bit of goo in the nozzle, and over time it creates a densely-packed wad of dirt and various plastics. This stops sticking to the end of filament which means it stays in the nozzle when you remove the plastic to change it out.
This is where eSUN's cleaner filament come in. The eSUN cleaning stuff is an overall pretty terrible filament from a printing perspective, but these properties make it great for cleaning -- its sticky, it has a huge temperature range (which means it softens at a low temperature but doesn't fully flow until a high temperature), and is cheap. The soft plastic will flow into the various internal shapes of the plastic on the barrel of the hotend, and the stickyness will drag it down to the nozzle where you can eject it through the normal opening. (we like eSUN's normal filament as a community, just don't confuse the cleaner filament with the normal stuff)
The problem comes from debris that won't fit through the nozzle hole. This is where the jams come from, and the only solutions are removal or destruction of the clog. A cold pull with Nylon will drag debris outwards. You basically force Nylon into the hot nozzle so it expands into the internal shapes, then let it cool down. As it does, it contracts, and will tear the debris from the walls of the barrel. You then remove the cooler (I do it at 120C) Nylon out the top feed hole. Rinse and repeat until the Nylon comes out clear. Sometimes a high-B banjo string or high-G guitar string can be shoved up the hot nozzle (with care...) to push clogs upwards and give the Nylon a hole to burrow into, but that doesn't always work.
In some extreme cases you end up with a hardened or packed plug of plastic. At this point, with a V3b, the nozzle is lost and you might as well try the torch. Disassemble the hotend until you end up with the barrel and nozzle assembly, then burn the everloving christ out of it with a torch, until it's a dull red color. Quench it in 70% isopropyl (mind the fire), shove the banjo string into it, and repeat a few times until there's nothing left inside. At this point you can reassemble it and go to a Nylon cold pull. With the V4 nozzle, you unscrew the nozzle from the hotend, torch the brass nozzle itself (it's a lot easier to see when it's clean as just the nozzle), purge through the V4 itself, and reassemble. I've cleaned the V4 several times using up old filament, and it always JustWorks(tm).
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org
Re: How to clean hot end when done printing
Also, don't get too nervous about it. I've encountered a number of jams, but I have not yet had a clog in spite of running my printer for two and a half years, and using one hot-end for PLA, PETg, and PET+, including unusual variants like wood and bronze filaments. There may be something in the combination of PLA and ABS in a single nozzle, but I have particular evidence other than reading the posts of people who have problems with intransigent clogs.
When I started working with PETg, I bought a large batch of the cleaning filament, and I use it every time I change filament. It's really quick to just run the cleaning filament through until it runs clear out of the nozzle, then pull it back out. I don't do cold pulls, but then more then once I've had to restart a PETg print because some blob of PLA dropped out in the middle of the first layer.
When I started working with PETg, I bought a large batch of the cleaning filament, and I use it every time I change filament. It's really quick to just run the cleaning filament through until it runs clear out of the nozzle, then pull it back out. I don't do cold pulls, but then more then once I've had to restart a PETg print because some blob of PLA dropped out in the middle of the first layer.
Re: How to clean hot end when done printing
Just got some cleaning filament from esun. I use ABS and PLA with a v4 hot end.
What temperature do you recommend using the cleaning filament at when I clean between materials ?
What temperature do you recommend using the cleaning filament at when I clean between materials ?
Re: How to clean hot end when done printing
I always run it through at the temperature of the filament that was last used. Extrude it very slowly (10mm at a time) until it comes out clear for a while. Then retract it and load up the new filament, take the temperature to whatever is appropriate for the new filament, and extrude (slowly again) until the cleaner filament is all forced out and the new one extrudes clean.JLM wrote:Just got some cleaning filament from esun. I use ABS and PLA with a v4 hot end.
What temperature do you recommend using the cleaning filament at when I clean between materials ?
The cleaning filament deforms very easily, and it has lousy diameter consistency. Adjust the Filament Drive Tension Screw to a very light touch. (It's about a quarter turn looser than PLA.)
Re: How to clean hot end when done printing
Ok great.
Thank you for the instructions. I just tried it today and it seemed to purge out the previous filament just fine.
Thank you for the instructions. I just tried it today and it seemed to purge out the previous filament just fine.
