I had a problem with a subject at printing which disconnected from buildtak and connected to the extruder. As a result the extruder is blocked. No filament is coming out of the extruder.
What can I do to resolve this problem?
Just heat it up to 250/270°c and push the filament through by hand.
That should normally do.
And while hot, clean the hot end with a thick cotton cloth to remove the residues of filament stuck to it.
Yep! good idea!
How can I best heat the extruder without using load filament?
You can heat the extruder from the menu on the display
select preheat PLA or ABS
Also possible from within Repetier
You won’t get the Vertex above 250C unless you turn the fans off - not advisable.
PLA will clear well below that. Just pre-heat for PLA using the LCD menu, disengage the hobbed wheel and push carefully upwards. But be careful, if you wobble when pushing you can snap the filament inside the extruder, perhaps at the entrance of the bowden tube and that is frankly a nuisance to sort out.
I think this has happened. What is next?
What happened? You snapped the filament while trying to unblock the nozzle?
Yes. I think this has happened!
[quote=“pannekoek”]Yes. I think this has happened![/quote]Don’t worry, it’s not a crisis. But if you really can’t get at it to pull it free (i.e. it’s broken inside the extruder), then you will have to remove the bowden tube by unscrewing the tube fittings at the extruder and nozzle and pulling it off. Then heat the nozzle as described using the LCD menu, and push the filament very gently through the top hole into the nozzle until your blockage comes free, then pull out. Cool your nozzles and refit the tube. After that you should be able to load some more filament as usual.
I got the advice to unblock the extruder with a drill of 0.3 mm. Is this a proper way ?
Sorry but my wording was not right.
The blocking is not in the extruder but in the nozzle. How can I best unblock the nozzle?
By reading carefully the previous answers?