After-print best practices


#1

I am an intermediate 3d printer user. I love my new Mooz2 while it is printing.
The quality of the prints is better than any printer Ive owned.

After the print is complete however, the head seems to ALWAYS get clogged. If I let the unit cool down, I always need to disassemble the head and clean out the excess. I have not printed a SINGLE project without needing to clear the head.
Once cleared, the print quality is wonderful.
I don’t WANT to get rid of this printer, but disassembling and cleaning the head after EACH print is not sustainable.

Is there any specific steps I should take once a print is complete? Remove filament? Leave in filament? Extrude a little then remove?
There seems to be very little documentation around this


#2

Hmm - bummer! So after one print is done, the next time you go to print, no filament comes out, is that basically it?

I don’t do anything special after a print and have never had a clog with regular PLA. (Rubberized PLA is a different story…) I’ve even used the Wood PLA with no problems.

I don’t know if this will help, but here’s my startup and shutdown GCode:
— Start:
G21
G90
M82
M107
G28
G1 Z15.0 F3600
G92 E0
G1 F200 E3
G92 E0
G1 F3600

End:
M104 S0
M140 S0
G91
G1 E-1 F300
G1 Z+0.5 E-5 F3600
G28
M84
G90

Good luck!


#3

Thanks for the reply
I doubt it’s the code, I’m using the mooz test files.

However after playing more this weekend, I may have found a workflow that helps.
I leave the filament in the machine after printing. If Im putting away the spool, I’ll cut off a piece to leave in.
(I’m used to backing out the line any time I swap rolls)

Also, when I start up the machine, I’ll turn on the heater and leave it for a good 5 minutes.
I’m used to working a bit faster. I may have just been impatient until now. :slight_smile:


#4

Oh, interesting - yeah, I leave the filament in after every print as well. I know some filament is in there, but it softens the next time I print when the hot end heats up. Is that the piece you’ve been taking out every time?

I don’t give it any special treatment, though - I mean, the next time you go to print, the first thing it does is heat up first the bed and then the hot end of the extruder - so basically, it should do the 5-minute waiting for you.

I also tried what you suggest (pre-heating the nozzle), but I found it leaves a long string hanging down that can get in the way of the first layer of the next print.

So, to test my assumptions:
When I’m done with a print, I do nothing - leave the filament in, let it cool down, etc.
The next time I print (assuming I didn’t change filament), I simply print the next file. The printer automatically heats up the nozzle again, which means the filament that was in the hot end simple comes out in the next print. (That’s why we add that G1 F200 E3 command - it moves to the bottom corner, squirts out a little filament to get things moving smoothly, and THEN begins the print.)

Also, sorry I wasn’t clear - what I meant was that the gcode being generated by Cura / Slicer / whatever you’re using isn’t putting those commands at the front of your gcode - so the gcode they provide might work just fine, but you’re basically unable to generate workable gcode for yourself, was my question.


#5

Thanks for the info.
After more playing around, my clogging issues seem to be solved by allowing it to preheat longer.
It does cause the long string to flow out of the nozzle, but I can live with that :slight_smile:

I’ll try your Gcode anyway, the start of my prints never begin anything like the test/demo files. But that’s another topic/thread.
I do wish I could find a single, central resource for the recommended printer settings within Cura.
I’ve seen a dozen different configurations, spread across forums and youtube.
The official instructions seem incomplete


#6

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