My K1 Max had a bed leveling error and printed for a while with the nozzle pressed into the bed so filament couldn’t come out, causing a bad clog.

I painstakingly stripped the machine down just to get access to the hot end, and the heatsink and heat break are completely fused. (yes I removed grub screw)

The throat seems to be able to spin within the rest of the heat break, I don’t think that’s normal but I’m used to enders and cr10.

What I’ve tried:

  • mini-torch on heat sink, then tried to pull hard out
  • Oven for 1hr at 200F
  • Freezer for 1 hour, THEN torch on heat sink
  • Heated the metal needle thing they provided, and stabbed that through the filament path
  • Tried to heat and remove the nozzle, but it is also completely stuck

I reached out to Creality a week ago and they have not replied.
The heat sink is not even available online, so I am dead in the water until they send me a new heatsink.

Does anyone have any other ideas???

UPDATE!!! (for those who have this in the future)

I finally got it! It took multiple cycles of putting it in my toaster oven at 450F for 20 minutes at a time.

I was able to get the nozzle removed after a couple cycles, which gave me hope.

I did two more cycles, trying to pull them apart each time. Finally it barely started to budge with lots of effort. I saw it was out about 0.5mm. I grabbed my torch and blasted that sucker right at the hole where the grub screw comes out from. Kept heating, pulling, heating pulling. Eventually it slid right out!

Here’s the crazy part. There was 0 filament residue in there when I got it out. I have no idea what was locking it in place. If it simply burned away there would have been carbon residue at least. Both the heat break and heat sink were clean… It’s almost like they JB welded it in place lol

I am so happy I wont be having to wait weeks for Creality to respond, then more weeks for them to ship a new heatsink. Going to use the spare hot-end that came with the printer and get this puppy printing again! Thanks again for the advice @dual_sport_dork

  • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    Clamp the heat sink in a vise, and knock the nozzle assembly out with a punch through the hole in the top? This may or may not be destructive, but it’s possible she’s already fucked anyway. Maybe heat it up first as well, since as you’ve already assessed it may also be glued together with congealed filament.

    It’s may be that the tube that goes through the heat sink to the nozzle is bent from your head crash situation, which would lock it into place quite firmly. Can you rotate it at all, or is it jammed up in that axis as well?

    • 4lan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      GOT IT OUT! Thanks for the advice man. It wasnt the exact solution that worked but gave me hope to try more. Oven at 450F, got nozzle out finally, then torched it heavily until I was able to slide the heat break out. Took a while but I’m so relieved!

        • 4lan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          considering I’m replacing the entire hotend it should be good!

          they provide a spare heater-heatbreak-nozzle assembly in the box (thankfully)

          Now I have to figure out how to put it back together lol. its like 10x as complicated as my Ender3 due to being super compact. It’s like repairing an Audi vs a Toyota lol

      • 4lan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        tried this, but without a vice. Might have to try again since I have practically no other course of action. Cant even buy this heat sink…

        Pro-tip: NEVER buy a printer with proprietary parts

    • 4lan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      I did try sticking a small hex-key in the top hole in the heatsink and hitting with a mallet. It didn’t budge at all. I don’t have a vice though, so maybe I need more leverage to get it out.

      The throat, and heater/nozzle assembly, is able to spin freely. This tells me that the throat and body of the heat break are separated. Yet it they are still connected somehow.

      I am afraid to be too aggressive because if the throat breaks there is nearly no chance of getting the heat break out.

      I saw a reddit post where one guy had luck using a tapping bit, might need to go buy one…

      This is becoming a nightmare. The first printer they sent had a horribly bent/twisted frame. Second one has a bed leveling issue that caused permanent damage to the bed AND made the printer unusable due to a badly-clogged heat break

      edit: forgot to thank you for your time, I appreciate the tips!