On Saturday the whirred to life, all three axes were moving freely, the extuder motor was up and running, and the heater was holding a steady temperature. The plastic started flowing on command and it appeared that we would be printing in no time. Then, approximately 1 minute and 18 seconds into extruder burn in, the plastic stopped flowing, and then panic set in...
Well maybe panic would be too strong a word, but it was a very disheartening sight. After some troubleshooting, it was determined that we'd simply have to take the extruder head apart to find the problem. After a soak in a bath of acetone overnight the head was disassembled to reveal a shaving of PTFE from the insulator in the ABS over the opening of the nozzle. Hopefully everything will fit back together after a good cleaning and we can get back to extruding again.
Tags: 3D Printer, CCCKC, Makerbot