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I'm considering getting a prusa i3 after my da vinci jr. fiasco, with that said, how easily can I remove/replace the nozzle in order to clean it?

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  • $\begingroup$ "A Prusa i3" doesn't uniquely identify a printer. Also, it's very hard to quantify "easily". It depends on your skill level and what you consider "easy". Could you perhaps formulate a more specific question about swapping nozzles? $\endgroup$
    – Tom van der Zanden
    Commented Dec 13, 2017 at 22:16

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Assuming you have a typical setup: nozzle threaded into heater block, use a socket wrench on the nozzle and any wrench or vise-grip on the block, and unscrew the nozzle. Now, if your system is fully clogged, you may want to heat the head to melt all the residual gunk (which otherwise will strongly resist your unscrewing force). Obviously take care not to burn yourself if removing the nozzle while hot.

Alternatively, don't bother removing the nozzle. Raise the extruder as high (Z-axis) as you can, heat, and use a properly-sized stiff wire to ream out the nozzle. You can use the back end of a microdrill bit. Hot or cold, you can use the drill itself to ream, but be very cautious as you may widen the nozzle itself doing this.

I should add that you may well have gunk in the feeder tube, and that's considerably wider diameter. Remove the nozzle and gently drill out the feeder with a matching drill.

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  • $\begingroup$ so you just unscrew it? $\endgroup$
    – Max
    Commented Dec 15, 2017 at 20:54
  • $\begingroup$ Never try to remove the nozzle if the filament is installed, take out the filament, wait until the residual filament flow alone (2 minutes), then unscrew the nozzle. $\endgroup$
    – Fernando Baltazar
    Commented Dec 20, 2017 at 7:09

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