Nozzle Jams on Long Print

[Jules]

Anyone ever try Maker Geeks filament floss for cleaning nozzles?

http://www.makergeeks.com/exflsehounmu. ... 1466431686

Huh! Filament Floss!
I do love clever marketing!

I've never used the MakerGeek version of that, but all that is, is a (very expensive) section of guitar string. The E string is used for cleaning a 0.35 mm nozzle. The B string is used for cleaning a 0.50 mm nozzle.

You can get both (with a bunch of other useless ones unless you are into guitar or garroting) for under $5 on Amazon.

I bought a set and cut the correct strings up into 4 inch sections for use to unclog the nozzle while it's heated. I've only had to use it a couple of times. It works fine if you can keep from burning yourself on the nozzle.
(Using it like floss though, you run the risk of damaging the hole on the nozzle.)

[pyronaught]

I've read about the guitar string thing, I didn't realize that was something you inserted from the filament input side. Sounds like it might be better than inserting one of those fragile drill bits up through the nozzle, which like to break off and make the problem worse.

[Jules]

I insert it from the tip of the nozzle. You don't need to insert it very far, you just need to clear the tip. (Couple of mm). If you have to take the hotend apart, you can use something with a larger diameter to clear the barrel after you take off the nozzle.

Read through this on cold clearing a V4 clog - it's extremely easy. You just have to always remember to take the hotend off before you try to remove the nozzle. The necks on the V4s break very easily.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2942

[pyronaught]

I figured out two of the nozzle jam problems. One was an extruder motor on my oldest printer that has just started failing. With nothing attached to the motor and the gear just spinning in the air it will jam and miss steps. This didn't cause a total jam, but it would go for periods of not extruding and then start up again, causing entire layers to be missed and then a big mess once it started up again. Just need to replace the motor.

The other was a spool holder that was installed upside down. This is the swinging spool holder that uses the plastic arm from the M2, just removed and reattached to a swing arm. I took it off to take measurements for making my cabinet clones and didn't realize I installed it back upside down. When inverted, it causes the spool to slide into the M2 as it tries to fall off the holder (the holder is reversed from it's normal position on the M2) and adds friction so that the extruder motor has to pull extra hard. All it takes is enough extra friction to strip a divot in the filament one time and the job is ruined.

[Jules]

Chuckle! Yeah we would have had a tuff time guessing those!

Glad you got it figured out.