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Leaking Plastic

Molten plastic leaked out and got all over my nozzle.

Sorry. The easiest thing is to replace it all.

I don’t want to replace it. Do you value your time? It might take enough of your time to make it worth it to just replace it.

Heat it up and take the plastic off. Be careful not to burn yourself. Grab the soft plastic with needle nose pliers.

Be real careful not to harm the fine wires to the thermistor. Your probably going to end up breaking at least one. Replace the thermistor. You can find them on Amazon. The wires to the heating cartridge are stronger, but if you try hard you can break them too.

OK, you either replaced the stuff, replaced the stuff after you failed to get the plastic off, or miracle of miracles got the plastic off. Before you print.

The molten plastic is not held in by the threads of the nozzle or the thing screwed into the heater block. The molten plastic is kept in by the top of the nozzle pushing against the bottom of whatever is above it. This has to be a good seal.

Check the top of the nozzle. If the top is not smooth, replace the nozzle. If a PTFE tube is above the nozzle, check the end. If it is burned at all, probably is a little, cut the end off and be sure the cut is flat and 90º. If you have an all metal hot end check the bottom of the metal tube and if it is not flat, get a new one.

Put the thing above in the block. Screw the nozzle in finger tight. Some threads must show between the nozzle and the block. Very important, heat the hotend to printing temperatures. Now tighten the nozzle. Again, be careful not to burn yourself. The little flat wrench that came with the printer is horrible for this. Get a socket to grab the nozzle. You need to hold the block with pliers or a wrench to keep it from turning. I have seen torque values from 1.5Nm to 3Nm. You might try to contact your manufacturer to see what they recommend. Most people do not measure torque but use the good old make it tight method. When you are all done be sure there are still some threads showing between the nozzle and the block.