Lesson, don’t leave a makerbot on its own even when it has been printing absolutely fine.
I have had the replicator for a week and have been getting very good results printing my own models, no issues at all.
However, one evening a glitch meant that the extruder didn’t stop after the print had finished and it ended up engulfing the extruder in hardened plastic (ABS). This was not a pleasant sight in the morning.
If this happens to anyone else, don’t panic! It can be resolved. First problem was because the print didn’t finish the build plate was still in a position close to the extruder. You can probably see that the gantry is slightly buckled. I was unable to move the build plate or anything else.
I used a saw and cut away sections of the model to free up the system. this then allowed me to move the build plate away.
Heated up the extruders to 260 degrees C (they are normally set to 230).
Waited for them to reach temperature and and then slowly eased the plastic off the extruder. This took a lot of time, at least an hour, but it is possible.
The ceramic surrounding the right hot end was damaged and will have to be replaced. I had to re level the build plate but apart from that the whole system is back up and running, printing the same model without any issues.
I had a lot of jokes in the office about how the printer had produced a tumour.
Wow that’s a mess! I had the same problem one morning with a CNC milling machine @Louise_Hughes however the damage was not so easily repaired looks like a custom build?
Been there, it’s not fun. I had to search around to find ceramic tape online. Surprising not that easy. When it happened to me MakerBot was out of stock for months
@Sam_De_La_Haye The replicator 2x is standard, the model being built was one of my own. @Edward_Gonzalez_II I am being sent a new ceramic part. In the meantime it is printing ok without it.
@3roomlab The hot end appears to be fine. the ceramic housing around the hot end was the part that was damaged, the plastic bound to it so it snapped off when the plastic was being removed. I am not entirely sure what function the ceramic housing was playing apart from insulation. If you look at the image that shows the left hot end you can see the white ceramic.
we have had both the ceramic insulators on our makerbot at work break off. It prints fine without them, but I wrapped the nozzles in silicone repair tape just to help keep them clean.
looks like a custom build?