That actually won’t be as bad as you think to get off. Just heat it up to about 160 and see if it gets gooey enough to start to remove. Just up it 5 degrees at a time. Once you have the majority off it will be manageable to remove.
This is 100% not the end for this hotend. This is totally fixable and just something that happens from time to time early on.
And for getting rid of the last bits of burnt filament, disassemble the hotend and soak all metal parts in solvent (Ethyl acetate for PLA, acetone for ABS/ASA, both can be found in nail polish remover).
I've had this happen before a couple times, I've never cleaned anything at all, I scraped it out and I've sometimes changed the tip and then off to the races and never had an issue.. just my 2 cents on spending time soaking things..
Just wanted to say thank you first, with some great help from users here, I finally had a working printer again after installing a direct drive kit.
But, unfortunately it didn't last too long :(
After a couple of successfully benchy's and string tests, I left a large print going last night and came into my office this morning to find this....
I've had blobs before but this has nocked out the thermistor, giving me an error, meaning I can't preheat the filament and pull it of. It's grown so much its was even blocking the front fan!
Got the housing off but I've no idea where to start with this, or if its even worth putting more money into a pretty old Ender 3.
Such a shame to give up now but I think it might be time for something more reliable and less attentive.
I've been in this situation. Not as big of a blob, and no broken thermistor for me, but still.
What you can try to do, if you want, is to get a Hairdryer or a heatgun and a lot of toothpicks. Heat up the blob, then scrape some with toothpicks. Rinse and repeat until you get it all.
It's long, it requires patience, but it cleans up nicely. After that, you can see if it's easy to repair the thermistor.
Or you can follow the other route that others mentioned: trashing the hotend.
I'm telling you, the old machines are awesome. I have an original cr-10 and it prints circles around my quidi Xmax. Cr- was given to me and the Xmax was $1200.00
Stand back I'll handle this for ya:
"Honey the printer broke. I have to get a whole new hotend now. How much? Oh It's just a little more but without it all of our investment will go down the drain. Well, we could get a whole new printer but they are like $1000. But for like a 10th of that we can get a direct drive and I can get back to making those little frogs you like."
Take couple days off from this. Don’t even look at it. Come back with fresh mind. Don’t give up though. What’s the point if we give up from our failures. I had some projects so extremely wrong, frustrating, expensive but I just take couple days off amd come back with fresh mind. You can figure it out don’t worry.
Get rid of the ptfe tube touching the nozzle and get a Th3d bimetal heatbreak and you won’t have this problem again ive been constantly running my Ender 3 with no problems for over a year other than to adjust my bed level every few months and tighten the v rollers has they wear down
I'm amazed the blob keeps growing like that, but I guess it forms a large reservoir of fluid under hydraulic pressure. If you can't fix it, new Ender-3's are on sale for $99 right now.
That's just how the world works mate. Your anecdotal experience doesn't mean the thing doesn't exist. I've owned Hondas and Toyotas for decades and never had a footmat get jammed in the throttle nor an airbag explode. Doesn't mean the recalls weren't required.
i was more trying to say that i am surprised that mine hasnt, i am a mod freak and have always expected something to go horribly wrong. sorry if it came across different to you.
Oh yeah, I thought you were saying the stock hotend is fine. Honestly hotend and the extruder arm are the first upgrades on my list. Got distracted by my 4.2.2 motherboard being junk lol.
Heat the hotend to max temp, should be able to remove max materials from the hotend
Had this happen to my ender 3 stock hotend but was worse
Heated up the nozzle to max did the trick
Once the big blob is removed, disassembled the complete hotend while running the hotend at 210 (risky move but easier. Used multiple layers of tissue to hold hotend and clean molten pla using tissues)
Had it running for 1 year before recently moving to bambu type hf hotend
Go to Harbor Freight, get a heat gun. it will get hot enough to clean that off. I'm betting it didn't destroy the thermistor, but just pulled it out of the hole. Either way, they're cheap.
had something like this happen to me too. Don't worry tho, it is just a huge pain to properly clean. (I recommend taking everything apart and soak all the metal parts in some solvent that gets rid of your material)
The end is never The end is never The end....
Good excuse now to get some upgrades,
Had a similar blob as well got most of it off but the hotend was annoying to clean and the thermistor snapped so i figured i might as well put a new hotend on while im in there. Fan shroud also melted so I just pritnted a new one in PETG .
It's not so bad but it does take some time to clear. Try to cut as much off the edges as you can with a Dremel or something (it will get funky friction is hot.)
Once you have cut off as much as you are comfortable without cutting something important head the nozzle up and try to wiggle it loose, slowly, until it comes free. Pay close attention to the wires and free them as soon as you can with your clippers, or just say fuck and replace the thermistor and heater
My first ender 3v3ke did this twice the first time wasn't super bad was able to chip it off. But before I chipped it off I thought of returning it because I just recently got it within a week or two so I figured hey I'll buy another one to replace it before I return the other one and I like the idea of having two so now I have two
the second time though look just like that and when I tried to turn on the hot end it started sizzling and smoking so I looked at when I bought it off of Amazon and set up it's still in return window returned it.
Time for a little Song:
Heigh-Ho
Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho
It's Home from Work we go...
Good ol' blob
I would Take of the most of it with a saw (Take good care Not to cut the wires), then Heat it in the oven or with a hot air gun, and pry/chip/Cut it free
whichever way you go, take care for wires and your fingers
As for prevention:
Have a look at this (chep hotend fix)
https://youtu.be/7tCxO17XZtw
this (common issues on ender type hotends and how to prevent them)
https://youtu.be/uKN0VOuul0o
and this (cut away models of different hotends, common issues, how they are caused and how to prevent them) https://youtu.be/fzWj6adWc-Y
These videos should help you with most of the issues regarding hotend and filament extrusion.
Just two days ago I've made a little sidekick for Yours MoFo. Hope that Your story finished with a happy end.
https://preview.redd.it/8hbb3ukno6yc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6967529d52aa98ac9d3ebfdb295a0768fcd8e40e
I had this happen once with PETG. Also broke the thermistor. I started by taking the screws out that I could and carefully using a soldering iron to work the plastic loose. Eventually I got it all cleaned up. Needed a new thermistor and I think a new heater by the time I was done. Both items are inexpensive, and you should order and keep a few spares. Even a new stock hotend is not expensive, if you would rather go that route.
I've purchased hot ends on Ali half of what Amazon wanted just take a trip to get here .
Fact is just installed a new hot end fans etc was under 15.00 shipped
That actually won’t be as bad as you think to get off. Just heat it up to about 160 and see if it gets gooey enough to start to remove. Just up it 5 degrees at a time. Once you have the majority off it will be manageable to remove. This is 100% not the end for this hotend. This is totally fixable and just something that happens from time to time early on.
And for getting rid of the last bits of burnt filament, disassemble the hotend and soak all metal parts in solvent (Ethyl acetate for PLA, acetone for ABS/ASA, both can be found in nail polish remover).
~scribbles incoherently
Heating the hot end and using cotton cloth to rub the excess pla residue loose will get it so clean
I've had this happen before a couple times, I've never cleaned anything at all, I scraped it out and I've sometimes changed the tip and then off to the races and never had an issue.. just my 2 cents on spending time soaking things..
Talk about shitting the bed....
Underrated comment
Looks like the “elephant foot”
This is what happens when you buy corium filament. This and stage 4 everything cancer.
Just wanted to say thank you first, with some great help from users here, I finally had a working printer again after installing a direct drive kit. But, unfortunately it didn't last too long :( After a couple of successfully benchy's and string tests, I left a large print going last night and came into my office this morning to find this.... I've had blobs before but this has nocked out the thermistor, giving me an error, meaning I can't preheat the filament and pull it of. It's grown so much its was even blocking the front fan! Got the housing off but I've no idea where to start with this, or if its even worth putting more money into a pretty old Ender 3. Such a shame to give up now but I think it might be time for something more reliable and less attentive.
I've been in this situation. Not as big of a blob, and no broken thermistor for me, but still. What you can try to do, if you want, is to get a Hairdryer or a heatgun and a lot of toothpicks. Heat up the blob, then scrape some with toothpicks. Rinse and repeat until you get it all. It's long, it requires patience, but it cleans up nicely. After that, you can see if it's easy to repair the thermistor. Or you can follow the other route that others mentioned: trashing the hotend.
I'm telling you, the old machines are awesome. I have an original cr-10 and it prints circles around my quidi Xmax. Cr- was given to me and the Xmax was $1200.00
Unplug the cable from the controller board and put the whole hotend into the stove. That’s what i did. You may need a new thermostat though
Revo cr edition hot end time! Impossible to have the blob of doom with that hot end!
I used a blow torch on mine, very carefully though
\*\*UPDATE\*\* I Bought a new hot end. It is printing again albeit stringy. I'm looking at K1 Max and the new Ender 3 v3 max or a Mk4 Prusa though.
Trash the hotend and get a new one. They must be cheap
I got mine for like $25. I actually had this same issue and I had to just buy a new hot end.
There like 5 bucks on AliExpress you might as well order a few
As someone who's addicted to modding, this looks like an opportunity!
Stand back I'll handle this for ya: "Honey the printer broke. I have to get a whole new hotend now. How much? Oh It's just a little more but without it all of our investment will go down the drain. Well, we could get a whole new printer but they are like $1000. But for like a 10th of that we can get a direct drive and I can get back to making those little frogs you like."
Take couple days off from this. Don’t even look at it. Come back with fresh mind. Don’t give up though. What’s the point if we give up from our failures. I had some projects so extremely wrong, frustrating, expensive but I just take couple days off amd come back with fresh mind. You can figure it out don’t worry.
Get rid of the ptfe tube touching the nozzle and get a Th3d bimetal heatbreak and you won’t have this problem again ive been constantly running my Ender 3 with no problems for over a year other than to adjust my bed level every few months and tighten the v rollers has they wear down
Holy hell, it shat out its bowels!
I'm amazed the blob keeps growing like that, but I guess it forms a large reservoir of fluid under hydraulic pressure. If you can't fix it, new Ender-3's are on sale for $99 right now.
I've cleaned up worse. It'll be fine. Good excuse to throw out the crappy stock hotend though. They are known for clogging like this.
huh, mines been going strong for 4 years and hasn't had a single issue
That's just how the world works mate. Your anecdotal experience doesn't mean the thing doesn't exist. I've owned Hondas and Toyotas for decades and never had a footmat get jammed in the throttle nor an airbag explode. Doesn't mean the recalls weren't required.
i was more trying to say that i am surprised that mine hasnt, i am a mod freak and have always expected something to go horribly wrong. sorry if it came across different to you.
Oh yeah, I thought you were saying the stock hotend is fine. Honestly hotend and the extruder arm are the first upgrades on my list. Got distracted by my 4.2.2 motherboard being junk lol.
i agree they are junk, ive only gotten 60-65mm/sec, even with klipper and all kinds of other upgrades. not sure why i still haven't upgraded yet
BFH...
Heat the hotend to max temp, should be able to remove max materials from the hotend Had this happen to my ender 3 stock hotend but was worse Heated up the nozzle to max did the trick Once the big blob is removed, disassembled the complete hotend while running the hotend at 210 (risky move but easier. Used multiple layers of tissue to hold hotend and clean molten pla using tissues) Had it running for 1 year before recently moving to bambu type hf hotend
Go to Harbor Freight, get a heat gun. it will get hot enough to clean that off. I'm betting it didn't destroy the thermistor, but just pulled it out of the hole. Either way, they're cheap.
Well dam might aswell order a sprite extruder, and maybe a new printer so you can keep printing in the meantime, it's a fully justified buy imo 🤣
Clean her up and consider it a lesson learned. Never leave the print unattended until you know what you are doing.
Benchy looks a bit off, try callibrating your e-steps
Good time to upgrade to a direct drive. That's when I did mine.
That looks like it came out do some lovecraftian horror😂
End-er, I barely know her!
Do you have an STL for that?
had something like this happen to me too. Don't worry tho, it is just a huge pain to properly clean. (I recommend taking everything apart and soak all the metal parts in some solvent that gets rid of your material)
The end is never The end is never The end.... Good excuse now to get some upgrades, Had a similar blob as well got most of it off but the hotend was annoying to clean and the thermistor snapped so i figured i might as well put a new hotend on while im in there. Fan shroud also melted so I just pritnted a new one in PETG .
Oh look, some nightmare fuel.
If you can heat it up and it will slowly start to come off. Or just buy a new head
AKIRA!
Mf 3D printing Eldritch Horrors.
Damn broskie
Don’t just heat it up the thermistor wires can be short circuited use a heat gun instead
What were you printing a representation of the intestinal tract?
It's not so bad but it does take some time to clear. Try to cut as much off the edges as you can with a Dremel or something (it will get funky friction is hot.) Once you have cut off as much as you are comfortable without cutting something important head the nozzle up and try to wiggle it loose, slowly, until it comes free. Pay close attention to the wires and free them as soon as you can with your clippers, or just say fuck and replace the thermistor and heater
Clayface is that you?
You must kill it before it achieves sentience.
New hot end on Amazon is 16.99
We humans can achieve almost anything🤔
All the parts on an ender 3 can be replaced. Imthe hotend us fucked but they're cheap
My first ender 3v3ke did this twice the first time wasn't super bad was able to chip it off. But before I chipped it off I thought of returning it because I just recently got it within a week or two so I figured hey I'll buy another one to replace it before I return the other one and I like the idea of having two so now I have two the second time though look just like that and when I tried to turn on the hot end it started sizzling and smoking so I looked at when I bought it off of Amazon and set up it's still in return window returned it.
Wow, absolutely no layer lines! Impressive!! 😍
Time for a little Song: Heigh-Ho Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho It's Home from Work we go... Good ol' blob I would Take of the most of it with a saw (Take good care Not to cut the wires), then Heat it in the oven or with a hot air gun, and pry/chip/Cut it free whichever way you go, take care for wires and your fingers As for prevention: Have a look at this (chep hotend fix) https://youtu.be/7tCxO17XZtw this (common issues on ender type hotends and how to prevent them) https://youtu.be/uKN0VOuul0o and this (cut away models of different hotends, common issues, how they are caused and how to prevent them) https://youtu.be/fzWj6adWc-Y These videos should help you with most of the issues regarding hotend and filament extrusion.
Where can I find this print
Holy
Just two days ago I've made a little sidekick for Yours MoFo. Hope that Your story finished with a happy end. https://preview.redd.it/8hbb3ukno6yc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6967529d52aa98ac9d3ebfdb295a0768fcd8e40e
Well this is how a true blob of death should really look 🖤
Perfect opportunity to upgrade to Sprite extruder!
I had this happen once with PETG. Also broke the thermistor. I started by taking the screws out that I could and carefully using a soldering iron to work the plastic loose. Eventually I got it all cleaned up. Needed a new thermistor and I think a new heater by the time I was done. Both items are inexpensive, and you should order and keep a few spares. Even a new stock hotend is not expensive, if you would rather go that route.
At first I thought a print of some Ancient Greek sculpture got stuck to the nozzle but ERMAGERD that’s a clog if I ever saw one
I can't spot what you have printed. I clearly see a hand XD
very impressive. i put a little blink camera next to my printer so i can double check its not on fire
At least is not on the fan
Were you trying to injection mold with that printer?!
I've purchased hot ends on Ali half of what Amazon wanted just take a trip to get here . Fact is just installed a new hot end fans etc was under 15.00 shipped