Walked away from a print this morning and came back to a blob being dragged all over the printer.

The blob of pla was in and around the hot end sleave and just everywhere.

Is this salvageable or do I need a replacement hot end?

Printer is a creality k1

How much does a new one cost? This is a PITA to fix, so I would prefer just getting a new one if its not too expensive.

Looks to be about £30 I think. Although looking at the service video I can't actually get to the screws to remove the hot end because they are covered in pla

Soften the PLA with a lighter and then peel it off. You don't need a lot of heat for that.

I'd get a new one at £30

Move the toolhead high off the build plate to give yourself room to work. Set the hot end temperature to somewhere in the filament's melt range and let it soften a bit. Use needle nose pliers to gently pick away at blobs of filament, making sure not to damage any thermistor or heater core wires in the process. If you want to salvage that hot end, follow-up with a brass wire brush while it's still hot, otherwise just remove enough goo to access the screws you mentioned.

You may be able to just heat up the hotend and remove the plastic with some tweezers, depending on how much of the extruder of covered.

Made a lot of progress but it is in the screwheads the attach the hot end. Ridiculous

There's a massive blob stuck round the thermistor wires that is detached from the hot end. Tried to melt the blob but cant get the middle to heat up.

If the wires do get broken are they easy to replace ?

The pla has been pressed up into the casing. You need to clean that all carefully anyways. If you leave the hotend warm, it will peel off pretty easily. I have done that a couple of times. Something shabby and sharp and something for grabbing like small pliers should do it.

If push comes to shove, you can heat up a screwdriver tip with the lighter, and use that to melt some of the PLA in the screw head enough to unscrew it.

Probably, heat up the hot end and try carefully removing it.

Thinks for the tips

Can't say how easy or difficult it is to replace the thermistor. Haven't had the pleasure.

I don't know how big "massive" is, but its effects could range from negligible to throwing off vibration compensation/input shaping or worst case being massive enough to cause excessive motion and having the inertia rip the wires apart over time.

@brillotti @Starfarer yeah for most PLA in general I would recommend+245•C & then brief off the material look up #3DPrinting brush #tool

I have saved one such hot end that had gotten plastic all over itself by heating it with a gas torch. The PLA burns off. Burned off the coloring on the aluminium too.

Next time I tried it, I melted the hot end.

Might have to save this as a last resort 😅

If you do plan to replace it try the CHCB-OT hotend. Whichever one you end up getting remember to heat it up and screw the nozzle in while hot. I had them leak (between the nozzle and the rest of the hotend) if I didn’t do so.

Get a new one and then try to salvage this one, and keep it as a hot spare - pun intended.

How much time do you have?

I'd start with removing the smurf jizz.

Ethyl Acetate or a similar solvent would strip it off while leaving the ABS parts in tact. Keep it in safe a container and reuse as a cleaning bath whenever you need to blitz your parts.

Chloroform also works but, you know, don't breathe it in.

Does this hot end smell like chloroform to you?

😴

Thanks for the tip

This is the way. I've smurfed so badly the entire sock was covered. Still trucking.

I've heated an xacto knife with a torch to do more precise heating in more delicate areas before.