I had my first jam tonight. It was on the primary extruder on my flexi-dualie squirting standard ABS. To get the nozzle off, I had to use a crescent wrench to hole the heater block while I unscrewed the nozzle.
After poking and proding and soaking in acetone, I finally got it cleared out. Some dark brown, nearly black stuff was inside the extrusion chamber of the nozzle. Caked on good. Bit of poking with the pick included with the taz and I got it clean.
Then I decided I might as well clean out the flexi while I had the head off. The nozzle came right off! Way easier than the primary. I didn’t think much of it until I decided to put the nozzle back on the primary. I can’t. Its threads are buggered something fierce.
As you can see the flexistruder has nice clean threads and I can hand screw the nozzle back on. The main extruder’s threads are buggered and I can’t even get the damn nozzle started. I have no idea how yall got it on in the first place!
Looks and sounds like the threads are messed up. Check and see if both nozzles will screw onto either extruder. If one of the nozzles won’t go onto either extruder, then that nozzle is bad. If one extruder won’t take either nozzle, then that extruder has a bad threaded extension. Be careful when trying this, one could easily ruin a good parts by forcing a bad part into/onto it. In all reality, it is most likely that the primary has a bad threaded extension AND bad nozzle.
The extruder that can be seen in the first picture really looks like the threaded extension is ruined. I can’t imaging the nozzle that came off of it were in good shape.
I hate to say it but those aluminum threads are so easy to screw up that I ended up buying a new hotend and just vowed to never take the nozzle off ever again. That was before I got the new hexagon hotend which apparently the nozzle can’t be removed, at least not from what I can tell.
The nozzle from the flexi (.5) won’t start on the primary hot end’s shaft. Nor will the primary nozzle (.35) screw on the flexi’s shaft. Already tried that. Why I photo’d both the nozzles and the shafts. I am not about to force it. Thing is, it came off like a bear, I mean i really had to crank on it to get it off so I think it went on that way before it got to me. The flexi’s nozzle took a little umph to break it free then it almost could be unscrewed by hand.
The nozzle for the flexi easily threads onto its own shaft.
Had to clean the hex nozzle today It was a bugger to get loose but after I cleaned it and then used a brass brush to clean out the nozzle threads, it too screwed back in by hand and its been printing nearly all day just fine.
I would like to get the dualie back online again. So what should I do? Contact Lulz supprt? Sux I tell ya. I don’t relish breaking down the budda. I hear its finicky to get back together without breaking the wood parts. Thankfully I can laser new ones easy enough.
I have a bag of damaged extruder extensions, and I can tell you you have a lot of parts to replace to fix a damaged extension like you have. The PTFE tape under the heater block pretty much welds it to the threaded extension, or at least the ones I have tried to take apart fully. If it is very hard to unscrew the nozzle at the proper temp for what you used before the clog, then contact them.
It was a bugger to get loose but after I cleaned it and then used a brass brush to clean out the nozzle threads, it too screwed back in by hand and its been printing nearly all day just fine.