Fixing Goops

Warning

This technique involves working around heated Printcores, which means you are likely to burn your hands if you aren’t careful. We suggest using heat-resistant gloves.

• Heat up both Printcores to 210 C.
• Manually retract the filament in the Bowden tube so it is no longer in the Printcore.
• Gently pull down the front fan housing. Depending on how gooped your printer is, this may pull some of the goop off.

• Remove the screws from the side fan housing.

• Gently disconnect all 4 fan/sensor connectors.
  • Pliers may be useful. Grip loosely and wiggle instead of gripping hard and pulling. It is easy to slip while gripping hard and shear off the wires.

• Remove the fan housing by gently pulling until the goop releases from the Printcores.
• Gently pull the majority of the goop off the heater blocks.
  • Be careful of the wires (highlighted in yellow below) in the Printcore. It is easy to disconnect them or break them in this process, making it much harder to repair the machine and often requiring the replacement of the entire Printcore.
  • Do not tug on goop that is surrounding wires. Instead, gently push the goop towards the heater block, melting the goop.
  • If the wires are broken, an error message will display on the screen.

• Use a combination of pipe cleaners and dental tools to remove all of the goop. Goop will often hide in the plastic ring above the heater block. Remember, it is all hot and can burn you.
• You will know it is clean enough when you can press the Printcore up with pliers and remove it from the head.
• Turn off the power and let the head cool.
• Double check that the Printcore can be removed when cool. If not, you’ll need to reheat them and clean more thoroughly. Any plastic not touching the brass heater block won’t be heated, so you may need to use a heat gun instead.
• Reassemble the head.