**8/28 update: The Monoprice rep apologized and said the tape should have been fine, but obviously wasn’t (it was 190 C at the time of printing). They said it wouldn’t void the warranty if I tried to fix it myself, so they suggested I try to replace the tape first. They were willing to replace it, but it could take more than a month. I bought some heat ceramic tape on ebay that looked almost the same, used a paper hole punch to make openings for the nozzle and feeder, the disassembled the thing and replaced the tape using this tute: http://imgur.com/a/Cw0xP
It appears to be printing fine now. Possibly better than before . . .
I left my Monoprice Mini alone for a few hours, and when I came back there was fluff all over the place. It looks like there was some kind of padding around the nozzle, which might have overheated and exploded or maybe was scratched by the print? Can I fix this?? Has this happened to anyone else?
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Looks like your nozzle is too short, replace it with a longer one. Sometimes you will find air bubbles or even pieces of nylon in the filament (cheap ones) and they explode in high temperature right after coming out of the nozzle causing feeding misdirection. Try olive oil, no too much, just rub a bit (5~10 cm) on the filament going in and it should work fine for days.
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PLEASE do not print unattended. It is a good way to burn down your house.
Rewrap kapton around your nozzle heater. It is important.
Other than that, it should not be too broken…
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Yikes!! There wasn’t any warning about that in the instructions, and I know people who leave their printers unattended all the time. Thank you for the warning; you may have prevented a huge catastrophe in the future.
Monoprice suggested thermal insulation tape, but their rep didn’t have any suggestions as to what kind. Would plain kapton work, or is ceramic insulation tape better? The second looks more like the original tape, but I have to special order it.
Again, thanks for your help and the info.
After talking to the representative from Monoprice, it seems like there was a defect in the insulation tape, but I’ll keep your suggestions re: the filament in mind.
Any suggestions about a replacement nozzle? How long is long enough?
Kapton will get you to ~300 deg C which may be too close to your intended temperature (depends what material you are printing).
