Hello,
My 3D printer has been unused for over a year. It was working OK when I left it unused. Now, maybe unrelated, I have problems with the filament, as it is broken and it doesn’t advance any longer. I tried advancing it with (a newer version of) the Repetier software, customised for the K8200 (the download at Velleman’s site), but this was no success.
What are my options ?
I guess I haven’t been explaining my problem clearly enough. Because I should have specified that the printer (after my re-installation of the Repetier software customised for the K8200 printer) is indeed moving around properly, and it indeed has been printing already.
The problem is not the software nor the communication with the printer, it is the filament being stuck. The print head heats up properly, the bed is warming up properly too. It’s just that the filament was broken during the >1 year standstill (there was only some 20 cm of it left in the print head assembly). So initially, that initial part of the filament was properly moving through (the head), but after the broken part, the next part just didn’t pass (or should I say “grip”) any longer, and the broken piece of filament is blocked in the middle.
Anyway, this being said, I switched that value to the value you indicated (I don’t know what it’s meant for apart from resetting some serial port signal), but it hasn’t solved the trick.
This will take some doing.
If you are using PLA heat the head to 190c.
Hold the pressure bearing back and with a section of PLA push the broken PLA through.
I had to have a lot of light to see down in there to make sure I was pushing it.
The only other thing you can do is disassemble the hot end and remove it that way.
Thank you for your quick reply. Do I find instructions of how to disassemble the hot end ? Can I do this when it’s cold, or does it have to be heated up ? I have to say : already before your reaction I had already tried pushing the filament with another end of filament (with the head manually heated to 190°C), but this wasn’t very succesful, it didn’t move by not even a millimeter…
Use caution while doing this.
You can hurt yourself or the printer.
Raise the Z axis to about 150mm
unplug the printer from the wall
Remove the 2 screws in the picture below (red arrows)
Make sure the wires are secure and let the hot end hang.
Plug the printer in and heat the hotend to 190c.
Either handle the hotend by the isolator guide (blue circle)
or use pliers.
If the filament is poking out the back end after it heats push it in a little then pull it out.
If not use another piece to push it through.
Do not burn yourself (it hurts and is easy to do, Don’t ask how I know LOL)
Thank you very much, Wrong_Way, this was the right way 
However this was, in my case, only the first part of the solution. BUT it was a necessary part, as I realised then that the stuck part wasn’t located in the head itself, but in the part above (where the filament is pushed into the head).
Removing the head like you explained, and noticing the head fluently let the filament flow through, I then saw that the stuck part of filament was still there, i.e. in the upper part. I could then see that this one had been blocking all the rest. Consequently, I could remove that part of filament, and the printer is working again.
Thanks to your input, I not only got too know my printer a little better, but I also have a working printer again 
(I should maybe have followed my son more closely while he had been assembling the printer, some year ago)
Glad to hear it’s up and running again.
I assumed that you built the printer. Sorry about that
If you would like to get to know it better you can find the assembly instructions here.
http://www.k8200.eu/manual/
