Dylias
1
Hi guys…
First of all; I’m really stupid.
There, I said it.
So I bought the Wanhao I3 plus a few weeks ago, everything went fine and all the prints went great. But today the fillament just snapped out while starting a print, and after loading it nothing came out of the extruder. So I thought some fillament blocked the extruder so with the drill that came with the printer I went in the extruder (I just did all of this out of instinct, I’m a big noob)
and then It broke. Inside the extruder. Why? Because I’m a complete idiot and didn’t google anything before assuming some random things and doing more stupid random things.
So now I can’t get the drill out of the extruder and I’m to affraid to do anything.
Does anyone know something I can do? Thanks!
Sorry for being so stupid
1 Like
eckerj
2
I’d suggest heating up the hot-end, removing the nozzle, and using an allen wrench to push the filament/drill-bit up from the bottom. You might need to disassemble the extruder to make it easier to extract the filament/drill-bit.
Take a deep breath. You’re fine.
1) you may be able to get the bit out of the nozzle. The printer should have come with a push-rod (looks kind of like a thin metal candy cane)
Heat the nozzle to the printing temperature for the material, and carefully push the rod through the filament loading hole.
2) Worst case scenario: You have to replace your nozzle. This isn’t that bad, you’ll go through lots of nozzles if you print a lot anyway. They’re like between 10-20 bucks.
I took the opportunity, when I changed my nozzle, to upgrade to an all-metal hotend.
You may or may not want to do this, but if you cant get the bit out, order a new nozzle, and follow the instructions for replacing it 
2 Likes
Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself, its all part of the learning curve!
If your lucky and the drill bit went in straight you may just be able to push it straight back out from the top without stripping anything down.
If you got the drill bit, you should also have had a piano wire hook come with the printer that you can push through the feed hole to expel any trapped material.
Heat the machine up and try pushing it all the way through, and hopefully this will expel the drill bit as well, if it doesn’t then you will have to strip down as the previous reply suggests.
1 Like
lol, I’m laughing WITH you, not at you! I used to do that kind of stuff when I started. You’ll learn one way or another. But the printers are fixable. Follow the advice already given but just chill and don’t get freaked out. A few dollars for a nozzle would be worst case I think in this example. Welcome to the club, enjoy the printer.
(edit: I thought you said you had a Prusa MK2 but now I see it’s the Wanhao. Still a good printer)
Honestly dude, it’s fine, it’s a learning process.
Recommend you try to force the bit out by heating the unit up and extruding a bit of filament to see if that helps it come out. If nothing, heat up your unit, disassemble the hotend and remove the nozzle to remove the drill bit and all the pieces of it that are inside. When it’s clean, just put it back together and you’re set.
Hahahaha, you are not alone bro, same thing happened to me on my first clog, but don’t worry, unscrew the 2 screws holding the cooling block on the stepper motor, take the fan off, disconnect the stepper motor from behind gently and take it off also, if there is filament push down the lever down and pull the motor up, now that you have the cooling block clear preheat your extruder to 220 by going into the printing settings and click on the + to 220 then ok, once it heats up if there is some filament sticking out of the cooling block try to pull it out with needlepoint pliers or any type you have, once you pull it out use the piano wire that came with your printer to push down the filament and the broken drill bit, it should all come out, upshot up and down several times till everything comes out, if by any chance it doesn’t come out then with the extruder hot grab the heater block with an adjustable wrench and use a 9mm wrench on the nozzle to loosen it up, once its loose turn off the printer and unscrew it but keep in mind that its hot so be careful, once thats done pull it out, it should come out with the PTFE tube or not, grab the tube and separate it with needlepoint pliers and while holding it stick that piano wire in it till all remaining filament comes out the other end, if you bended that PTFE tube in to an oval shape try bending it back with the pliers, make sure that you can see the nozzle hole clear, if not you are going to have to heat it with a blow torch till the remaining filament comes out, once it’s clear put the PTFE tube back then screw the nozzle but don’t tighten it, preheat your extruder again to 200 then grab the heating block with the adjustable wrench and the nozzle with the 9mm wrench and tighten it, put the extruder motor back the cooling plate and screws but don’t tighten it just yet, grab the piano wire and make sure it doesn’t have any filament residue from cloning it, if it does then use the needlepoint pliers to take it off, then pull the lever down and insert it into the top of the extruder till it hits the bottom, this will ensure that there is a good alignment of the extruder plate with the cooling block, then tighten the fan screws but not too tight that you break the fan, pull down the level and take out the wire and your are done, insert some filament and begin printing again, weeee
1 Like
Just have to take your extruder apart and pull out the pieces. Might as well get used to it now.
Never fails just when you get ready to start a print, something goes wrong or jams up.
Just the way it goes…
Things are going to be okay man! Don’t just feel so guilty about it Showbox download
spandit
10
I’d try heating the extruder up to 220degC (ABS setting) and then manually poking some filament down through it - hopefully you can force the drill bit and any remaining plastic out. If that doesn’t work, take the temperature higher but bear in mind you could damage the Teflon liner.
If it won’t clear, new nozzles aren’t massively expensive and are fairly straightforward to change…
