What if anything do you guys use to clean your nozzles before and after a print. I just had my first clog, and the culprit was a buildup on the nozzle.
So im thinking brass brush to clean it, what do you think?
I haven’t done too much yet, but yes a brush to clean the nozzle after prints is ideal. Other than that, I just make sure that everything is assembled properly (that was causing problems for me)
I don’t clean mine very often. I’ll go from print to print without cleaning it.
If I get a clog I try one of those cleaning needles first, if it doesn’t help I just swap the nozzle.
I’ve found all of my recent clogs have been clogs right were the bowden tube (mine is capricorn) seats against the nozzle on both the mk8 & v6 style hotend. That first 5mm of bowden tube likes to clog up on me, I think I have some heat creep issues…
If I see any build up, I heat the nozzle to temp and wipe with a paper towel.
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I use damp paper towel on blobs of the outside of the nozzle. Clogs inside the nozzle I tend to replace it. Unless it is in great shape. I find brass wears quickly. Worn out nozzles print really poorly.
So far, I’ve just been replacing nozzles, but that’s very seldom. usually, I just go from one print to the next without cleaning. I’ve had two blobs and one clog due to heat creep. The blobs just involved heating the hotend 10C above normal and wiping it down with a metal brush (gently, with the heater and thermistor wires in mind). The clog prompted me to replace the bowden tube.
So my temp was a little high, and I iron my top layers, I was getting a thin skin over the out side of the nozzle, my solution (which worked awesome) was to heat the end and use a pin to clear the tip (gently of course) and use a brass brush on the brass head (also gently) to clear the skin. Worked like a charm, the next two parts printed beautifully
I also used brushes, but I had a concern that, given that this has to be done with the power on, a brass or steel brush might short the heater and hence, power supply, so I avoided that side of the heater block. I used a nylon brush to clean around the heater, but, of course, that ruins the nylon brush and cleaning the brass brush was a pain.
I can’t help but wonder if there’s a better way that doesn’t involve ruining a tool (the brush).
I also use a brass brush but I usually have the block out and use a hot air gun. I change nozzles fairly often, typically I use the same filament brand for most of what I do so when it starts stringing I change the nozzle. The stringing always (so far) has gone away.
I stay below the nylon sock, so im not near the wire contacts, and so far my nozzle is still in good shape, but I haven’t ramped up production to a high state yet, although this cleaning did help with stringing