What, if Anything, Dissolves Ultimaker Breakaway Material

[Corlin 0]

I have completed many prints using PLA/Breakaway and they all worked well. Some required the use of dental tools and tweezers to get all the residual Breakaway off the print but in the end they turned out great.  I did a part last night and 95% of the Breakaway was relatively easily removed.  I have 4 small openings that are plugged with Breakaway and they are proving very difficult to get out.  I have tried very small picks and other tools but it will not come out.  I am also in danger of marring the PLA part in the process. I tried putting the part in the freezer as well as soaking it in water and then working on it but that did not help.

 

So, does a chemical or procedure exist that will remove the Breakaway material but not harm the PLA.  I could just re-print the part using PLA and PVA and it would likely be fine, but I do prefer the Breakaway material to PVA and if I can salvage this 22 hour print I would like to do that.  I could also Dremel it out but that is also a little risky.

 

Thanks

[mattgriffin 28]

I haven't seen an example where people have been dissolving away Breakaway Material, but it might help to note that there is a mix of PLA and TPU in this material. So the solvents like acetone and MEK would probably work BUT they would likely scar the PLA and needs some serious ventilation for you. It might work best to try a twisting action, should you be able to grip it, to dislodge it from the PLA so you can try to squeeze it out of tight openings. I'll keep my eyes out for tricks for trapped Breakway!

[geert_2 558]

Or else, try to drill a small hole in the break away material. Manually, so you have good feeling, and you don't heat and melt the PLA. Then screw a wood screw in the hole, and then carefully wiggle, rotate, and pull on the wood screw. So you use the screw as a long lever. We have used this method to remove broken plastic screws from their holes. If you are not sure, try the method on a small test piece first.

 

If you have one, you could also use a screw extraction kit, which specially designed to remove such broken parts (screws) in small holes.

 

[Brulti 177]

As I understand it, Breakaway isn't made to be dissolved like PVA, and is meant to be use for parts that have a fairly simple geometry and no internal  cavities, or small holes like yours.