Walked away from a print this morning and came back to a blob being dragged all over the printer.
The blob of pla was in and around the hot end sleave and just everywhere.
Is this salvageable or do I need a replacement hot end?
Printer is a creality k1
How much does a new one cost? This is a PITA to fix, so I would prefer just getting a new one if its not too expensive.
Looks to be about £30 I think. Although looking at the service video I can’t actually get to the screws to remove the hot end because they are covered in pla
Soften the PLA with a lighter and then peel it off. You don’t need a lot of heat for that.
@brillotti @Starfarer yeah for most PLA in general I would recommend+245•C & then brief off the material look up #3DPrinting brush #tool
Made a lot of progress but it is in the screwheads the attach the hot end. Ridiculous
If push comes to shove, you can heat up a screwdriver tip with the lighter, and use that to melt some of the PLA in the screw head enough to unscrew it.
Move the toolhead high off the build plate to give yourself room to work. Set the hot end temperature to somewhere in the filament’s melt range and let it soften a bit. Use needle nose pliers to gently pick away at blobs of filament, making sure not to damage any thermistor or heater core wires in the process. If you want to salvage that hot end, follow-up with a brass wire brush while it’s still hot, otherwise just remove enough goo to access the screws you mentioned.
There’s a massive blob stuck round the thermistor wires that is detached from the hot end. Tried to melt the blob but cant get the middle to heat up.
If the wires do get broken are they easy to replace ?
Can’t say how easy or difficult it is to replace the thermistor. Haven’t had the pleasure.
I don’t know how big “massive” is, but its effects could range from negligible to throwing off vibration compensation/input shaping or worst case being massive enough to cause excessive motion and having the inertia rip the wires apart over time.
Get a new one and then try to salvage this one, and keep it as a hot spare - pun intended.
I’d get a new one at £30