HELP extruder clogged

[TomR]

I was doing 3 prints and everything was fine with no problems. For the last one, I started it and watched TV. Didn't check on it and when ready to go to bed looked in on it to remove and this is what I found. How do I start to remove this mess. I turned the extruder on to see if it would soften up but didn't seem to do much. Any help will be great. I will be gone tomorrow so I have a day to think about what to do. I don't want to force anything and break something. Material is Makergear PLA.

[jimc]

its pla so should not be too terribly difficult to remove. turn the hot end on. it might need to sit a little bit for the heat to penetrate that mess and soften it enough to pull it all off of there. dont feel bad. i think most of us have had a big glob of plastic stuck to the hot end at some point.

[insta]

You don't, get a replacement hotend.

MG may take pity on you and sell you one at a discount, or you can get one from a forum member who has converted to the V4 setup.

[TomR]

Right now I am thinking of using a soldering iron to soften up the plastic and get off the big globs and then turn on the hot end and try to finish the job. If I can't do that, then instead of replacing the hot end I may just upgrade to the V4 since I kind of wanted it anyway

[ednisley]

using a soldering iron to soften up the plastic

That's too hot and too small.

PLA softens at relatively low temperatures, so you want to heat the whole mess at once. Use a hair dryer or hot-air gun to produce lower heat over a larger area, take your time, and gently warm it all up.

When it's softened, use gloves and needlenose pliers to remove the gum. If you can't get the plastic off without breaking or dislodging the wires, you'll be in need of a new hot end...

[TomR]

FIXED . First I tried the hair dryer but if just did not heat enough. Heating the extruder to 215 also did not get the PLA hot enough because the glob was just too thick. Next I tried the soldering iron with pliers and that worked by softening a section of the PLA and then using the pliers and soldering iron to remove large pieces one at a time. After the big globs were off, then the heated extruder softened the rest and I was able to remove the rest of the PLA. I did have to cut the black rubber insulation from one side of the heater because the PLA had oozed under it. Will that be a problem that needs to be fixed or OK run it that way? The printer seems to be working fine! Here is an image of the result.