<p>I heated it up and was able to extract some plastic that had gotten jammed in the hot ends opening. </p>

<p>I heated up the hotend by commenting out all the other lines of code in Cura's start and end G-code tabs (must have missed some because the printer moved. I would just unplug the printer when it stopped moving). I used an SD card but it would probably work with USB too. I tried to force the filament in to force the jam out of the hotend, but that did nothing.</p>

<p>I took apart the extruder assembly and discovered that a section of filament that was too wide got stuck in the hotend's entrance. I pulled the filament out using me multitool and put the extruder back together. Hope this helps others with a similar problem.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-09T06:18:07.090Z
Nice that you answered your own question, and certainly glad that you fixed the problem. (Hope your finals went well as well) But this is not really an answer, it is more a comment. If the other answer helped you to solve this please accept it, if not please elaborate your answer and describe what you actually did to warm it up if different from the other answer (e.g. blow torch or heated on the stove, etc.).
0scar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-09T08:51:34.887Z
As @0scar says, please describe how you managed to extract the plastic? Did you do it manually (tweezers, drill bit?), and how did you have to heat the hotend? Did you have to remove the hotend and heat it separately (if so, how and why?) or did you heat it whilst on the printer (and how?)? Did you manage to get the SD card to work, or your USB cable? If so, how did you get either the SD card or USB to work, and what G-codes did you use? A nicely detailed answer could quite possibly help someone else with the same issue, as well as garner more votes. Thanks in advance.
Greenonline
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-02T20:28:29.373Z
+1 - Thank you Brendan for updating your answer.  Hopefully others will see your updated answer and remove their down votes. I'm glad that your exams when well too! Good Luck! :-)
Greenonline
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-02T20:36:45.383Z
Don't forget to mark some of your questions as accepted, using the green tick icon next to the voting buttons, if indeed they have been answered :-)
Greenonline
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-08T23:29:09.347Z
2018-07-02T20:26:47.820Z
2018-07-02T20:26:47.820Z
Brendan Smith
<p>Sure there is. As you use Cura, you can grab any G-code file (you already have) and use it to set hotend temperature (delete the actual printing part from the file) to get something like this:</p>

<pre><code>;FLAVOR:Marlin
;TIME:102
;Filament used: 0.0573674m
;Layer height: 0.2
;Generated with Cura_SteamEngine 3.3.1
; M190 S60 ;-&gt; this sets the bed temperature so we can comment it out
; the next line sets the hotend to 200 degrees Celsius
M104 S200
</code></pre>

<p>As every line that starts with a semi-colon is a comment and is ignored by the printer, <code>M104 S200</code>, would be the only line you need in the printout file.</p>

<p>If you're interested in knowing more - look here: <a href="https://reprap.org/wiki/G-code" rel="nofollow noreferrer">G-codes on reprap wiki</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-07T05:59:58.767Z
I will try that when I get some free time. Might not be for just over a week, though. Gotta prep for finals. Edit: Just wanted to say thanks for the quick response. :)
Brendan Smith
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-10T09:17:22.020Z
@0scar - ...or rather _an_ answer (don't forget that Brendan posted his own answer). Good point though, and the same applies to [his answer](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5062/how-to-make-walls-thicker-using-meshmixer-or-meshlab/5159#5159) to this question, [How to make walls thicker using meshmixer or meshlab](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5062/how-to-make-walls-thicker-using-meshmixer-or-meshlab). However, the OP is probably still under a lot of stress w.r.t. final exams.:-)
Greenonline
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-10T09:21:07.300Z
@greenonline There was no answer when I posted :) But indeed, final actual solutions are very welcome!
0scar
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-06T20:33:45.683Z
2018-06-10T06:18:12.553Z
2018-06-10T06:18:12.553Z
profesor79
<p>My Printrbot simple metal's extruder is jammed and I need to heat it up to unjam it. Unfortunately, the printer does't want to connect to my laptop regardless of the program I'm using (Repetier-Host or Cura 15). </p>

<p>Is there a way to use a micro SD card to heat up the printer hotend but not print anything?</p>

<extruder><hotend><microsd><sd>
How to heat up a Printrbot's hotend using an SD card
Brendan Smith
# How to heat up a Printrbot's hotend using an SD card

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-05-06)

My Printrbot simple metal's extruder is jammed and I need to heat it up to unjam it. Unfortunately, the printer does't want to connect to my laptop regardless of the program I'm using (Repetier-Host or Cura 15).

Is there a way to use a micro SD card to heat up the printer hotend but not print anything?

**Tags:** extruder, hotend, microsd, sd


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-05-06. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Sure there is. As you use Cura, you can grab any G-code file (you already have) and use it to set hotend temperature (delete the actual printing part from the file) to get something like this:

```
;FLAVOR:Marlin
;TIME:102
;Filament used: 0.0573674m
;Layer height: 0.2
;Generated with Cura_SteamEngine 3.3.1
; M190 S60 ;-> this sets the bed temperature so we can comment it out
; the next line sets the hotend to 200 degrees Celsius
M104 S200

```

As every line that starts with a semi-colon is a comment and is ignored by the printer, `M104 S200`, would be the only line you need in the printout file.

If you're interested in knowing more - look here: [G-codes on reprap wiki](https://reprap.org/wiki/G-code)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I will try that when I get some free time. Might not be for just over a week, though. Gotta prep for finals. Edit: Just wanted to say thanks for the quick response. :)  
> **username_2**: @username_1 - ...or rather _an_ answer (don't forget that username_0 posted his own answer). Good point though, and the same applies to [his answer](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5062/how-to-make-walls-thicker-using-meshmixer-or-meshlab/5159#5159) to this question, [How to make walls thicker using meshmixer or meshlab](https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/5062/how-to-make-walls-thicker-using-meshmixer-or-meshlab). However, the OP is probably still under a lot of stress w.r.t. final exams.:-)  
> **username_1**: @username_2 There was no answer when I posted :) But indeed, final actual solutions are very welcome!  

---

### Answer by username_0 on 2018-06-08. Score: 1

I heated it up and was able to extract some plastic that had gotten jammed in the hot ends opening.

I heated up the hotend by commenting out all the other lines of code in Cura's start and end G-code tabs (must have missed some because the printer moved. I would just unplug the printer when it stopped moving). I used an SD card but it would probably work with USB too. I tried to force the filament in to force the jam out of the hotend, but that did nothing.

I took apart the extruder assembly and discovered that a section of filament that was too wide got stuck in the hotend's entrance. I pulled the filament out using me multitool and put the extruder back together. Hope this helps others with a similar problem.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Nice that you answered your own question, and certainly glad that you fixed the problem. (Hope your finals went well as well) But this is not really an answer, it is more a comment. If the other answer helped you to solve this please accept it, if not please elaborate your answer and describe what you actually did to warm it up if different from the other answer (e.g. blow torch or heated on the stove, etc.).  
> **username_2**: As @username_1 says, please describe how you managed to extract the plastic? Did you do it manually (tweezers, drill bit?), and how did you have to heat the hotend? Did you have to remove the hotend and heat it separately (if so, how and why?) or did you heat it whilst on the printer (and how?)? Did you manage to get the SD card to work, or your USB cable? If so, how did you get either the SD card or USB to work, and what G-codes did you use? A nicely detailed answer could quite possibly help someone else with the same issue, as well as garner more votes. Thanks in advance.  
> **username_2**: +1 - Thank you username_0 for updating your answer.  Hopefully others will see your updated answer and remove their down votes. I'm glad that your exams when well too! Good Luck! :-)  
> **username_2**: Don't forget to mark some of your questions as accepted, using the green tick icon next to the voting buttons, if indeed they have been answered :-)  

---

