The Biggest Pain In 3D Printing - Hotend Clogs & Jams

[@iandawkins2182]

That was the best video explaining the hot end and clogs and jams I have ever seen on KZbin. Respect Sir !

[@shurmurray]

Wow. I consider myself kinda experienced in 3D printing including print head management with complete reassemble time-to time for various reasons, including clogs/jams. And I think this video is awesome! It even provides some information outside of my previous knowledge.

[@briangunderson3859]

Agreed! I had no idea there was so much involved in the hot-end. Amazing explanation!

[@elvisglazier6358]

I agree. I learned more about hotends in this 10 minutes video than I have learned over the few months I have spent trying to troubleshoot clogs.

[@bmoney8858]

Agreed! just watched 40 videos and finally found this one which solved my problem. Thank you!

[@DarkMatter1919]

"ever seen"??? Are you by any chance the parent of the video producer?

[@barrettjacobsen6614]

I love the 3D printed hot ends - great visual

[@scramsby]

I've just started 3D printing and already had my first clog I think. Been searching around forever for a good explanation and this has been by far the best I've found. Thanks!

[@printed3d772]

One of the best Videos about 3D-printing i have ever seen - and i saw a lot. Congratulations!

[@loomis42]

I watched 3 useless videos before I found this and you helped more in 10 minutes than all those others combined. Thank you sir, I'm back up and running on all my printers.

[@D0WTA]

I know this is 4 years old, but still this is the best I've seen from my extensive searches. You literally saved me on this. I got a clog in the heat break which was causing my prints to stop after about an hour of printing. And, because I took the whole thing apart and fixed that, I have not had an issue with the thermal runaway either. So just by fixing the clog, I have (fingers crossed) fixed the other issue as well. Thank you.

[@acessford101]

6 years in and now at 12 printers, had my first jam today. AWESOME video man.

[@hasagreenlaser4229]

where can i buy this guys luck!?

[@Takeoverytcomments]

[@Fearthesmoke]

@@Takeoverytcommentsyes my brother I resonate with this

[@GazzasStuff]

Brilliant. You're very clear and detailed without any of the waffle. 10/10. Thanks.

[@SusiBiker]

Hi Joe. Clearest descriptions of nozzle/extruder fault vectors I've ever seen. The visuals (prints) nailed it! Nicely done. 👍 (Hope all is well with you. Happy New Year, Susi xx)

[@NudgeAUTTV-d9l]

Still the best explanation 4 years on! Fixed my issue and highlighted the root cause. That being that when it initially became blocked using ABS, the feed gears on the Bowden feed became clogged and the filament was chewed out preventing the filament from being fed into the hot end. simply removing the filament with feed gear marks from the spool ensured the filament made it to the hot end. Increasing the temp also ensured smooth flow from the nozzle with a noticeable increase in extrusion diameter. Cheers!

[@Eggfone]

Good pictures are worth more than 1000 words. These are great pics. Thanks.

[@psuedo-pp9vf]

This was the most explanatory and in depth explanation I have found. I really liked the cross sections that you printed because I have been doing 3D printing for years but never actually knew how the hotends worked. Thank you for making this a available resource for all having this issue!🙏😃

[@LogicalWaste]

loved the cutaway hotend models. Great tool to help explain to new hobbyists. Well Done, Joe!

[@kerryai]

This is not just for hobbyist. Academia research also encounter these issue quiet often. Thank you for your well explanation.

[@stevechopping3021]

I am one year into 3d printing and this video is great and still current it helped me unclog and rebuild my hot end. Thank you

[@DarthBop]

Thank you for your thorough explanation of the problem and process. It is what I needed.

[@Harry-Har]

best breakdown I've seen in awhile. thumbs up .

[@MaxThor10TT]

Nothing more can be said : this video has EVERYTHING. One day, if 3D printing is taught in class, this will be a video shown to the students. Thank You.

[@alecfox3309]

Absolutely perfect explanation. You saved both of my 3d printers which had similar heat creep issues, and going through each of your recommended steps recovered BOTH of them. Thank you!!!!!

[@sboazable]

You saved me from buying and replacing the hot end on a v2 all together. Thank you for the video

[@logantrigg6037]

You could not have been more clear when explaining this annoying issue we have all faced. Super, super helpful

[@johnvodopija]

I needed this detailed explanation of jams and clogs. My printer has started having these problems more and more lately and now I know the “why” and best way to fix and minimise it happening again. A really helpful video. The props were fantastic. Thank you.

[@markusschnepf]

more people should watch this.... i loved it. I do not even have a problem and also knew this before, but this video is so great for beginners with cheap printers/parts. Doing this stuff since years but boy, that is the best video about this topic!

[@B_Lee]

Crisp and clear. Appreciate your effort. Keep going.

[@gypsytreasures7386]

You just help me understand and solve all the issues ive been having as a 3d printing newbie. THANK YOU!

[@cees9314]

Yes, it has been covered a billion times.. But never as clear, comprehensive and insightful as this.. Thank you!

[@floatingchimney]

Absolutely brilliant with that cross section, you saved me many hours trying to understand and fix my blockage!!

[@kurtXhecticXpl]

6:25. Thank you. For 3 months my fans had switched cables ;( you helped me to realize that heat sink fan should kick in at 50 degrees, and not print fan. Ufffff let's start serious printing ;)

[@GreenGuyDIY]

Very good. And thanks for the cut away views. I found a way to keep the Bowden tube from fatiguing the push to connect fitting. I print a washer (of sorts) that has a flat bottom and a rounded chamfer on the bottom, and a hole with a 45 chamfer ID on the top. The rounded chamfer on the bottom helps to fit snug in the heat sink. The 45 chamfer on the top is to ease filament insertion, while the hole is just big enough to pass the expanded filament being unloaded. The PTFE tube is cut flat on both ends and sits between the washer and the nozzle. Now here is the trick in setting it up. Insert the washer and the push to fit connector to the top of the heat-sink. Bottom the push to fit connector and then back off two hex sides (1/3rd turn). Insert the PTFE tubing into the bottom of the heat break. Use the end of the heat break as a cut guide and cut the tube with a good razor blade, making sure to get a clean cut that is flush with the bottom of the heat break tube. Reassemble the hot end as normal saving the tightening of the push to connect fitting for last. Do NOT over tighten. Now insert the Bowden tube into the push to connect fitting. I also use the premium tubing for the heat break and the rest of the tubing can be what ever. Now the retractions will not stress the fitting. There is a flat positive seal between the nozzle and the heat break.

[@absurd207]

Awesome, this helped me. My cooling fan wasing blowing on my hotend. I was changing nozzles, hotends, checking my extruder, finally figured it out. Thanks!

[@h.k.7109]

Excellent description of the "killer-problem" I had this night with my printer after about 3 days of usage. This video is really best help. Now my Ender is working again. Thank you!

[@Jake-bt3fc]

Useful part of the video starts at 3:00

[@MihaiDesigns]

Cool idea to print the extruder block cross-section!

[@GreyGhostR1]

This actually works! To sum up, if you have a micro-swiss or clone, disassemble and reassemble w/thermal paste between the hot block and nozzle, and the heat sink and heat break, but NOT between the heat break and the hot part. It really works!!!! Thank you!!!

[@marksknudson]

2 days into my 3D printing career, I got a clogged nozzle. This video helped me understand the why and how to fix it. Thank you for helping out us newbies.

[@robsnook4512]

lol, old message, but i got all this fun stuff in the first few hours on a used machine. Tons of fun learning how to fix and re build everything

[@suneetasandeep]

Your explained the topic very well..the best part is the cross section model you have printed in order to explain in more practical way..

[@KENISEG]

может быть WRONG, потому что термобарьеры бывают разные (у меня с внутренним бортом в голой части). к тому же трубки тефлоновые разные по качеству. моя прозрачаня сузилась от контакта в горячей частью и стала 1.6мм внутренним диаметром,

[@PrintFinite3D]

After 5 months I finally had to come back to this video and it helped so much, thank you!

[@als1023]

Thank you for an excellent video. I have been happily printing for 1 1/2 years, changed to a Micro Swiss hot end and immediately got a jam. Never had this issue before, I change nozzles regularly so did not need to clean them. I've been reading that linear advance may be helpful if I'm using an all metal hot end, as well. Many thanks for all the helpful posts on this thread!

[@rcdogmanduh4440]

I have to agree, simple no drama and to the point! Explained like I didn't know and now I do! Thanks!

[@soohyeoklee2610]

filament jam on first day in dealing with major frustration on christmas morning here. I hope to follow these tasks and clear my printer out tomorrow. Thanks for the video

[@mfedatto]

AWESOME content! I've been suffering with clogs and jams like every couple of prints. This helped me to fully understand how my hotend should've been assembled, what is probably causing the clogs and jams, and how to fix it properly.

[@PilotSavvy]

This is a very professional and informative video. Thanks for not only showing how to resolve clogging issues but what tools are needed to make the job easier.....the next time.

[@carldraper616]

Thanks, this helped me diagnose "creep" up the hot end that had been annoying me more so long. This was so well explain that immediatly I was able to diagnose my problem. The 3D models where super visual tools. Thank you again!

[@shawnrathbone]

I’ve been printing for a couple years now and still learned something from this. Thanks

[@robguarini4164]

i love you, i was about to buy all new parts because i couldnt figure out the problem. youre the man thank you thank you

[@simonderwent3739]

Great video just helped with filament not feeding halfway through print. feeder was skipping. The pipe needed to be pushed right upto the nozzle which stopped the blockage. awesome thanks

[@founderlvl]

Holy crap! This is a fantastic explanation and I loved the cross section! I absolutely had the last issue just because I didn't know what the inside of the heat sink looked like. Now I both understand what happened (how I was stupid) and was able to fix it in 2 minutes! Can't thank you enough for the video and explaination!

[@PenWinter]

Just had to unclog my hotend and thought I check if I took all the right steps. I must say, this is the best video regarding this topic I've seen so far! Great visual aid, clear explanation and actually showing how it's done. Big kudos!

[@PlenumGaming]

I just had a bit of luck clearing a hotend jam by heating up a small screwdriver until it smoked then sticking it in from the top. When i pulled it out the stuck filament pulled out with it! Ended up being way easier than I expected.

[@paint4pain]

Thanks, this video exactly diagnosed our ender 5 problem, we got the parts, cleaned, and fixed it in an afternoon.

[@pietrocervo-mejia8583]

i love the cross-sections best video ever thank u so much

[@morturn]

At last, a simple straightforward video explaining extruder problems. Big thanks

[@RetroRogersLab]

I'll add one more tip for the Mk10, when seating the PTFE tube leave the nozzle a little loose, push the tube all the way in until it hits the nozzle then tighten the nozzle to ensure a nice tight fit against the PTFE tube. About a half a turn does the trick for me. If you leave the nozzle too loose it will bend the PTFE tube and cause jams so don't over-do it.

[@gerry1337]

Wow that was brilliant. I have been having issues with my Creality hot end and your video has just solved them. I would never have thought to check the PTFE only how tight the nozzle was. Many thanks for a very informative video.

[@VictorLopez-ws4iq]

You are the man. I think you just helped me figure out why a used Ender 3 pro I bought keeps clogging. I've done many cold pulls, replaced the nozzle, and replaced the PTFE tube. You're comment about the heat sink fan not cooling as efficiently as it could tipped me off. When I turn the fan on after it's been off for a few hours the heat sank fan screams like a banshee for at least the 1st minute or two. This has me thinking even when it comes down noise wise it still may not be spinning as fast as it should.

[@gazgadgets]

Nice video. Thanks for your effort. Always good to visualise the problem.

[@339justdoit]

I cant believe it took this long for me to find a good video on clogs, great job and thank you!

[@tomislavkukic1395]

Very nice and clear explanation and down to earth for us none technical. Thank you so much.

[@u9Nails]

I got my 3D printer about a year ago. Sure enough, swapping filaments caused a jam. This video was very helpful! I really liked the cut-away models and they helped me understand better how to take care of the issue. I have to wait for some new Boron Nitride thermal paste to reassemble my hotend. But I was able to remove the jam with the help offered here!

[@Vanessa-wd7ig]

(UPDATE BELOW FIXED) I don't know why I didn't watch this video sooner. I've been looking through scattered information on this topic for over a week now. If I had seen this earlier I would have progressed a lot faster. I keep getting jams mid print. (It's really frustrating when I see one print finish and another fail misprint) But now that I can see what goes on inside the hot end. I believe I should be able to diagnose what's happening. Just throwing out a bunch of solutions to a possible issue is just frustrating and a waste of time. Your video actually showed me and explained what the issues are and how it should actually run. Thank you!!!!

[@Vanessa-wd7ig]

UPDATE: Got it working! Interesting this video helped me realize there wasn't a problem with my hotend. I did trim the bowden tube to make it more flush. However, I was finally able to stop focusing on the hotend and look at the extruder where I found the real culprit... the ridged metal part meant to feed the filament was missing one screw! So I found a spare and tightened. So far so good!!

[@pherz3775]

Great video. I have never had to do the "cold pull" in the 2 years I have been using my MK3s. Because, what I do when I have a hot end clog is use a pushrod I made from my model airplanes. This is a steel wire (aka pushrod) that is 1.5mm in diameter. Depending on how severe my clog is, I either push from the top downward or from the bottom up. In both cases I heat up the hot end to its hottest setting first. When pushing from the bottom, the pushrod becomes hot and the heat helps melt whatever filament is stuck. The whole procedure becomes very intuitive. This system works very well for me.

[@pherz3775]

I forgot to add. I frequently do this after removing the nozzle.

[@middleclasspoor]

Great visuals, they made a very informative video that was easy to follow and understand. I wish I had seen this 2 years ago when I started 3d printing it could of saved me a lot of headaches! Great work Joe!

[@d3w4yn3]

This!!! I needed this!!! Three hot ends later, you've come to rescue me!!! Thank you!!!

[@andymiller6540]

Brilliant! Been struggling for 2 weeks with no filiment on the bed, thought it was a leveling problem. Just pulled a huge clog out of the heatbreak, thank you sir!

[@willpolicarpio3493]

If I may add on the V6 hotend, the jam normally happens on my 3d printer on the ptfe tube after the heatbreak . The heat during the print will soften the teflon tube eventually , then during the retraction the melted plastic will go up there and unable to move back. This is the reason why the higher temp teflon tube is best for this application. My fix for this problem on my bondtech style extruder with v6 hotend is I use 2mm ID aluminum tube with ptfe sleeve on the outside, from the heatbreak to the lower part of the extruder. This fix works for me, no more jams since I made this fix. I also do this fix to my IDEX printer and so far so good. This is now my go to fix for v6 hotend.

[@kaylawitkowski3747]

Thank you for this video. I am new to 3d printing, so when I got the jam in my hotend your video helped me so much to get it unclogged.

[@christophelauga6668]

Excellent idea to do this for the new comers to 3D printing...but ultimately you made it so much educational that even "senior" 3D printer can enjoy it ! Congrats !!

[@arthurdent8091]

Great video. As a printing newbie, it is very welcome. You might want to think about reselling a bunch of those special tools. Thanks again.

[@jazzmaster2201]

Really very good hot end models and discussion. Kudos!

[@joshikun7177]

Hi, Thank you for saving me a ton of time trying to pull the hotend apart, your tip with removing the nozzle and pusching through all the stuff in the heatbreakc really worked wonders.

[@roegenhobby]

I know the video is so old but its really solve my skipping problem by cold pull and clear. Thank you so much for advice

[@henrique.spencer]

Excellent explanation. The first video that really explain how it works.

[@wenn1215]

Love your use of the 3d printed hotends for demostration:)

[@rogergriffith5881]

Great video! Clear and concise. By far the best video on clogs I've found. Thanks for giving me the knowledge and confidence to attack my first clog.

[@Soravia]

For creality spider all metal, I use a small drill bit and drill through the jam.

[@moimeme8827]

very didactic video. please more like this one !!!

[@mghumphrey]

Fantastic video. The cross sectional view of the hot-end was really helpful.

[@alexanderwoolverton2813]

This vid was super helpful and I was able to clear the clog in my system as a result. Thanks! You've earned a sub. Love the 3d printed visual aids too, cool stuff.

[@3DMakerNoob]

Thank you very much :)

[@Theguitarguy972]

Thanks! This helped me take care of my first clog. I didn't even get one thing printed before I had a clog, so I was frustrated. It's all going and I'm a lot happier now! I hadn't seen the concept of pulling the tube out and cleaning from the top which is what ultimately cleared it!

[@LordMardur]

I had a different issue with the Mk10 (Ender 3). The molten filament somehow made its way through the side of the PTFE tube inside the heat break. The leaking filament cooled down (due to contact with the heat sink) and was completely stuck in place. I could not even remove the PTFE tube from the print head. I ended up drilling through the filament from the nozzle side to release pressure, which was stretching the tube against the heat sink. Gladly there were no other issues for several months now.

[@Burborted]

Holy guacamole, this is how you make an educational video. Thousand thanks!

[@patricio001568]

Great video, thanks. The clog i had was so bad that i had to take it all apart, even take the teflon tube out of the throat to properly clean it. Probably easier to just order a couple of spare teflon throats and replace them.

[@kmcderm133]

I love your hotend cutaway models, that really helped your explanation, thanks! :)

[@KimHarderFog]

This explains a problem I had with my printer perfectly! Great explanations

[@rachelmarcotte1408]

thank you! I bought a 3d printer used a while back and just got filament for it and I definitely have a jam. hopefully with this new knowledge I'll be able to finally to do a test print

[@julianandyvonne]

Just what i need a week ago! A great explanation. Keep up the fantastic work. 😊

[@johnagorman]

Fantastic video. What a great explanation. I've used filament printers for 10 years, and never really knew how the hot end and heat break worked

[@ryanmccluskey5885]

Most useful video about nozzle clogs I've seen. Thank you!

[@pmsilvei]

Finally, someone that speaks my language and goes straight to the point! 😎 Nice job 👌🏻

[@johnm7723]

Thank you, that helped alot, now have a good understanding of how and where the blockages occur.

[@budgetpact]

Cleared out my first clog using a video from Creality, but this video really helped me understand everything that's going on. The visuals were fantastic for helping make this digestible and fun to learn about :)

These recommendations are gold for stock Ender 3 Pro parts.

[@deucedeuce1572]

3:30 ... From my experience, having a Dirty nozzle like this is a recipe for having jams and failed prints from the filament getting all balled up. It causes the filament to stick to the nozzle just as easily (or even easier) than it sticks to the part. The nozzle is hotter and with burnt filament on it, filament will stick to it any time it ever touches it. I never got how hotends get this bad in the first place. I Rarely ever clean or change mine and they almost always look brand new. I think the best advice I can give in this is to be careful... but when things are unavoidable and it does start to get dirty, just torch it. Just carefully (and with protective gear, even if I don't wear any) take the nozzle off and put it on a surface that can't burn or mount it in a vise or something safe where it won't drop and burn anything and where the fumes won't be inhaled... then torch it until all the burnt filament bubbles off. It's very fast and it almost instantly unclogs and cleans the nozzle. Sometimes I'll heat it up enough until it glows, because then that makes it as clean as it came from the factory and turns any filament that won't come off into ash. You just DO NOT want to quench the nozzle in water while it's still glowing hot. That will anneal the metal and make it soft, which might (i have no idea) weaken the nozzle and cause it to wear out faster. Being brass and plastic being plastic it probably won't hurt anything to quench/anneal the brass if you do decide to quench it. This method is not recommended for steel and hardened steel nozzles. If you heat them up to glowing, it may make the steel softer than before... and quenching in water might make it brittle. You'd likely have to either refrain from heating it so much that it glows (probably by far the best idea) or you might have to quench the part in OIL to reharden it if it ever is heated until it glows. This will likely still weaken it at-least a little, but it could also make it even harder if it's a cheap nozzle. Quenching a regular steel nozzle in oil might turn it into a hardened steel nozzle though and it might ever so slightly change the dimensions. I don't think it will change the dimensions enough to ever notice a difference of any kind ever... but it's a possibility. Sorry for the super long rant on the subject. I wouldn't have spent this much time explaining it if I didn't consider it to be good advice. I'm no expert though and anything you do is at your won risk. Have some common sense when you do things, especially new things and don't do something unless you're absolutely certain you're competent, knowledgeable and skilled enough to pull it off... and always take every safety precaution. You are responsible for your own actions and the outcomes of those actions.

[@dandam7755]

Thanks Joseph, you saved me hours of pain as I couldn't worked out how to remove the clog from the heat block! But I couldn't find my heat gun, so I used a hair dryer instead. I worked just as good!

[@krzysztofczarnecki8238]

Sometimes to clear out a heatbreak I remove the nozzle, fan and heatsink (in my Anet A6 the extruder heatsink is removable), and turn the hotend on to max temperature, and leave it like that for a few minutes. This works if you either do not have a heat gun, or you can't be bothered to disassemble everything to avoid blowing on plastic parts. So far I only needed to remove the heatbreak twice- one time I overtightened it and it broke off, and once the PTFE inside started to negatively affect prints by being worn out from printing a lot of cheap ABS that needs temperatures between 240 and 255 °C as opposed to 230 which some people seem to recommend.

[@crikycrocky]

Excellent explanation and description of curing the various problems. I would add, make sure that when reassembling heat break, heater block and nozzle, that the nozzle is able to screw up tight to the lower surface of the heat break. You might need to screw the heat break a bit further in to the heater block to achieve this. This will mean that there is a thread or two on the nozzle which is visible below the heater block. If this is not done, melted filament will seep down the threads of the nozzle and corrupt the print.

[@josh8106]

The nylon stretch method worked a charm for me. Thanks!

[@1supermanprime]

still relevant today, worked for me.

[@adhdwoodworking]

Thank you so much, I had a clog right up to the Bowden tube. I really liked the 3d models you used to explain all the parts of the extruder unit. Great video.