How to Clean a 3d Printer Nozzle Correctly - Useful Tips To Save Money

In this video i'm going to show you two quick methods to clean out a 3d printer nozzle. One can be done with the nozzle still attached to your printer and the other is with the nozzle removed.
There are a few different reasons why you might need to clean your nozzle but a clog or partial clog are the most common. You may simply want to completely remove one colour filament before starting with another colour and don't want to push it all through the nozzle. Either way, these methods will help you do this.

...............................................................................................................................................................
BUY ME A COFFEE
If you're enjoying my content, why not consider supporting the channel by buying me a coffee?
Even very small amounts are greatly appreciated and re-invested into bringing you better content.

...............................................................................................................................................................

Affiliate links (If you purchase something after clicking any of the below links I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. This is a great way to support the channel)

Brass wire brush

Rigger (leather) gloves

Soldering Iron

Nozzle Spanner (6mm Standard Ender 3 v2)

Replacement Nozzles

Ender 3 v2 3d Printer
Amazon

Banggood

[rhysjones]

Extremely helpful. I’m new to the 3D printer scene and I dirtied my tip while messing around and trying to calibrate

[larryfroot]

Detailed help for those inevitable jobs that are widely referred to but seldom tackled by educators. These little tips n tricks videos of yours are a mine of useful information and clarity.

[mikesavad]

I've heated them up and ran a shot of compressed air through the top, most of it usually blows out. You can yank a bunch out doing that. Sometimes if your fast enough you can do that right after you remove it from the hot end. My torch died, but I may use that soldering iron idea, since it was hard to put the torch down and grab the air gun. The real advantage for using air is, you won't hurt the hole.

[DaveDeCoursey]

Great information! I like that using the soldering iron and I'll have to remember that next time I get a clog.

[BeyondPhotography]

Thank you! I happen to have to change a new hotend today!! Ricky drops a video, we click LIKE immediately!!

[kevinp]

That soldering tip iron trick is such a bangin idea. I'll give it a run later this week and see if its any good. Thanks for the help boss!

[hellfighter]

Very useful video, never thought to use my soldering iron like that!

[billbrown]

Thank you. Used soldering iron but still some left. With pliers held nozzle over gas burner while poking the pin nozzle tool through it.

[LibertyEver]

The cold pull is a great technique to clear a partially clogged nozzle. For a fully clogged nozzle, for example, from an hour or more of printing with no filament flow to created a charred plug, it may be possible to heat the nozzle to 240 C on the machine, push and twist a 100 mm long 0.4 mm acupuncture needle to displace enough of the clog to establish some flow in a partially clogged nozzle, and then use the cold pull method to pull out the partial clog.

The soldering iron trick is clever but the only time I'd do that is on a new 3D printer when I wasn't yet able to buy replacement nozzles. Nozzles are inexpensive enough that it's not worth my time and aggravation to try to clean a nozzle with melted filament in the threads or a badly clogged tip. Any nozzle that needs to be removed will be replaced if possible.

[jdulrich]

I had not considered the soldering iron. That's a really good idea.

[J.Severin]

thx, my first clogged nozzle and thx to your video i took me only a few minutes. 😊

[jokesterfr]

Today I used a camping stove to clean up my nozzle. It got cleaned as expected, but I broke it while tightening on the hot-end. High temperature might have changed the brass properties... next time I'll surely opt-in a more secure option as shown in this video.

[Garage]

One trick I've found works pretty well if you just have thin gunk on the outside of the nozzle and lower heater block. Set the temperature to a little past the softening temperature of the filament, like 120C for PLA or 150C for PETG. Then use needle nose pliers, being careful not to gouge any of the metal, and grab some of the filament and pull. It will usually come off in stringy sheets and pull the rest of the nearby filament with it. Might take several little passes obviously, but better than heating it up so much it turns to liquid or trying to pick it off cold.

[PhilTheMeme]

Thank you, the soldering iron technique worked a treat!

[DJDaL]

I've been using a heatgun serveral times even on the same nozzle, and while it works, i think your soldering iron tip is a much better way of doing this. Its also way more energy efficient!

[awjaaa]

oh, man, THANK you! The cold pull worked! It looked just like yours, too.

[Enjoymentboy]

I used to heat them but now I put them in a sealed jar of gel paint stripper. It removes every single trace of plastic and carbon and leaves them looking as good as new. It takes a while though but I just collect them and when I have 6 or more I'll put them in the jar, close it up and walk away for about a week. Come back, rinse them off and I have more nozzles to use.

[IronBalls]

Smart man, thx for the tip! I have a box full of 'wasted' nozzles, maybe even 40 or so and I have a tempcontrolled solderingstation, you just saved me some money :) Liked and subscribed

[GuyNamedMatthew]

Thanks. I'm about 6 months old on 3d printing. Having lots of fun. But this new petg I got keeps clogging. Good tips 👍

[ATP-Flo]

Very helpful. Good idea with the soldering iron!