Extruder Jam Clearing Rod

thingiverse

Wanhao offers a similar cleaning rod for 5 dollars. This wheel will allow you to make your own. Buy any 1.6MM-1.7MM piano wire and make your own cleaning rod for much less. This can be used with many printers but is intended for any Wanhao I3/Monoprice Select IIIP. On my Anet A6, I have to remove the extruder motor to use it. Unfortunately, it seems the hot end doesn't have a direct path from the extruder motor to the hot end. It works well at forcing broken filament or jams out of the hot end. I use it together with a flexible drill bit and have had great success. (See parts below.) Nothing is more frustrating than a clogged nozzle, especially for beginners. This thing simplifies clearing jams especially when used together with the flexible drill bits. The bottom of the blue tape marks the point where the rod reaches all the way to the hot end nozzle on my printer. I used tape but you can mark it with a permanent marker or the like. The wheel provided, allow you to bend your own piece of piano wire and make your own tool. The holes allows you to use 2 or more needle nose pliers to bend the wire to conform to a circular shape. The center hole of the wheel is used to bend the corner (between the circle end and the straight rod. See my pictures. If anyone living near Cincinnati Ohio needs piano wire, I still have plenty of extra that I can sell at minimal cost. I recommend a 15-17CM piece of piano wire. 5MM of that will be used for the top bend. The key is to push the filament through quickly and somewhat forcefully. Don't leave the cleaning rod in the hot end for very long to prevent getting the hot filament up near the cold part of the hot end or on the PTFE tube. Parts: Unlike other drill bits that break, flexible drill bits don't, atleast not for me after several uses. Flexible drill bit .4MM size. (Highly Recommended) https://www.amazon.com/3maker-Extruder-Nozzle-Printer-Cleaning/dp/B01EN5B9G6/ref=sr_1_3?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1482036668&sr=1-3&keywords=.4mm+trigorilla Flexible drill bit .3MM size. (Highly Recommended)https://www.amazon.com/3maker-Extruder-Nozzle-Printer-Cleaning/dp/B01EN5B83A/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1482036595&sr=8-5&keywords=.3mm+trigorilla Print Settings Printer: Anet A6 Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: .2 Infill: 50%