Extruder stops feeding

[Toby]

Success! I removed and cleaned the extruder nozzle and plastic tube and it is working well now.

[laneinator]

Glad you got it resolved!

[userksh]

Hi i have the exact issue, how do you clean them? thanks..

[Toby]

The first thing I did was unload the filament.
I then found a screw driver with a shaft approximately the same width as the distance between the two heaters.
Holding the screw driver shaft between the heaters to stop them from turning, I used (I believe) a 10mm socket wrench to unscrew the nozzle.
It came out easily along with the nylon feeder tube.
I separated them and put them in a bath of acetone for about ten minutes.
To clean out the tube, I used a drill bit, twisting it with my fingers.
I couldn't find any wire fine enough to push through the nozzle but could blow it out after the acetone bath.
Prior to doing all of this, I researched it online and found that some people prefer to get the extruder hot before unscrewing it so the ABS in the assembly wouldn't prevent it from turning, however, it wasn't an issue in my case.

[raysspl]

Depending on the machine, you can also disconnect the extruder & manually do a hard hand push of the filament at a higher temp to clean up any filament jams.

[Nargg]

Something I noticed tonight....

I've printed a hundred models so far, sharing the duties between the left and right extruder somewhat equally. However, I'm now in the same situation where the left extruder has become clogged, so much so that heat and such doesn't fix it. I'm to the point of taking it apart and doing the same job described here and in another thread.

But, I was thinking, why did the left extruder clog, but the right not. I'm sure the right may eventually need service too. But the left seemed to go very early. What's different.... Then it hit me. The heat envelope around the left extruder is very different. Why? Because there is an additional cooling fan strapped to the side of the left extruder. So, I'm thinking that if I remove that fan the results will change. Better or worse? Not sure, but I'll be taking that squirrel cage fan off tomorrow as I clean the left extruder and leaving it off for now. I guess I'll get more results in the weeks and prints to come....