Pla stuck on nozzle, heater block and fan shroud

[siddharth_patel 0]

I had left the printer online for a print overnight, by morning the print was stuck on the nozzle with PLA coating the entire heater block and also stuck inside the fan shroud.

Looking for suggestions on cleaning it up.

Thanks

[IRobertI 516]

Heat up the nozzle to 180-200C and wipe the block and nozzle clean with a rag. You can use something like a flat head screw driver to scrape any stubborn plastic off. It doesn't have to be clinically clean. I've been meaning to buy a brass wire brush for stuff like this, but I never seem to remember to pick one up when I'm at a hardware store.

For the fan shroud. That's a bit of a pain in the arse. If you have a heat gun you can try using that to soften the plastic so that you can scrape it off. Just be careful that you don't over heat the fans while you're doing this. You can also try using a soldering iron if you have a tip for it that you don't care about.

[neotko 1,417]

I had that once on my umo early days. I did set it to 170-190 and used a air can. In theory it's dangerous since the can says not to get close to fire but either way it worked. The pla flies like Barbapapa/Marshmallows. For the fan I would use indeed a head gun or an air dryer.

[izzy 33]

Lakelands the kitchen supplies company, have a small wire brush for cleaning, comes in a pack of two, I remove the foam at the top and it's a great little brass wire brush for the head.

[valcrow 144]

Try this before going 180C. Heat to 90C, and try to peel the whole thing off. Its MUCH cleaner if you can grab it as a whole skin. Same idea as the atomic pull it's solid enough to peel off, but not so liquidy that it'll stick onto your cloth and block.

I've done this many times, and it works well for cleaning the nozzle exterior as well. 90C is the magic temperature!

[siddharth_patel 0]

Thanks Robert! I did get the nozzle cleaned up using a blunt knife to scrape it.

The fan shroud was a bit easier as the PLA came off as a single piece once heated.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Guest
Forgot the mention the addressee

[stu_le_brew 42]

one additional observation, the gap between the bottom of white teflon coupler and the stainless steel part (with holes round it) is too small it should be 1-2mm, this is adjusted by turning the stainless part with the heater at say 150 degrees - take care its quite fragile

Its not clear from the picture but it could be that filament is coming out between the bottom of the stainless bit and the brass print head block