When changing the filament today there seemed to be a clog. As I looked deeper I found some signs of oozing on the backside of the silicon sock as well as some on the front at the joint between the sock and heat sink. (Excuse me and correct me if I am not using the right terms.)
This explains the random drops of goo on my prints from time to time. I might have 10 to 15 hours on it by now, so it’s not been used too much. My question is what’s wrong and what should I do to fix it? Where is the leak coming from? Would this be some kind of warranty issue? If so, how does that work? Would I send this to the info@sovol3d.com email address, or is this the right place to address it. I’m in detox from the Bambu world so I’m on a learning curve here. Thanks for any help anyone can give.
VERY very hard to draw any firm conclusions from your photo…
If what is in the opensource model Sovol put on Github is actually what they ended up shipping the only expected leak location is at the top of the nozzle.
The tube at the top is “press fit” into the heater block and if loose enough to leak would fall in half. It is possible there is a crack in the tube.
Whatever the source a “brass nozzle kit” would cover all the bases.
BUT if it were me I’d need to know. Heat the nozzle 20 °C higher than print temperature. Fold a paper towel in half 4 times (16 layers) and use it as a hot pad to pull the sock off. Use other folded paper towels to wipe away the majority of the mess. Cotton swabs next, then drop to 30 °C below print temp and get in there with tweezers and get what you can as solid chunks. Avoid moving the heater clip as both the heater chip and temperature sensor have a reputation for rapid unintentional disassembly.
Leave the sock off (best practice is a PID tune without the sock) and start a print. The speed bunchy would be a good choice to generate high pressure in the “melt zone” Pause every 3 or 4 layers and see what leaks.
I note in your photo the nozzle is currently out. 40% chance putting it back in fixes the leak and you won’t see anything on the test run.
Thanks for the info. I heated it up to 270C and took off the sock. There’s a lot of gunk under it. I cleaned a lot of it up. While it was good and hot I noticed that the nozzle can move which doesn’t seem right to me. I took a video of it but since I’m new to the forum I can’t upload it. It seems like the movement is between the nozzle and the aluminium heat-sink. I’ve been having some quality issues and that would seem to be the reason. I don’t think it should move like that. After it cooled down it was not as loose but still had some movement. Is there anything I can do or should I take it apart further? What do you think?
Starting at the bottom:
Nozzle is the part where the plastic comes out
The nozzle threads into the heater block.
On the side is the actual heater element (fat wires)
Also on the side is the temperature sensor (skinny wires)
The heater clip holds the heater and thermal sensor to the heat block.
Above the heat block is the heat break (skinny tube thar slides into
The aluminum heat sink.
From what you said I think the looseness you are seeing is between the heat block and the heat break. On the Zero that is a press fit joint and should be rigid. If it wiggles it needs to be replaced.
If the wiggle is between the heat break and the heat sink you need to tighten the 2 screws that go up into the heat sink. The hex openings are probably full of plastic, dig it out, tighten the 2 screws in stages so you don’t bend the heat break. They should be tightened firmly to hold the heat break tight into the heat sink to promote good heat transfer.
Thanks for your explanation of the terminology. That is helpful. From what I’m seeing, and from your description, I’m thinking the joint between the heat break and block is the problem. I think the heat break tube is loose and maybe deformed at this point because I can’t get filament to pass through it.
Sovol said they will be sending a new hot end kit so I’ll have to wait on that for a real solution but maybe while I’m waiting on that I’ll pull it apart more to see if I can diagnose it further. Stay tuned…
Sorry for my late post but I had a similar issue when my Zero was new. There was some plastic leaking from under the silicone sock but apparently near the top of the heat block. When starting to diagnose it, I immediately noticed that the nozzle wasn’t much more than finger tight. I heated the nozzle to 300 C and snugged it up and haven’t had a problem. I’ve since swapped a couple of different Microswiss nozzles and snugged them with the nozzle pre-heated (heating may not be necessary) and have had no more leaks.
The replacement hot end arrived. While in the process of replacing it, I found it was necessary to disassemble the entire print head as there were bits of melted filament all along the path. This was causing the filament loading problem I was having that alerted me to the oozing problem in the first place. After getting it all assembled, I tested and checked under the silicon sock and did not see any signs of leakage. I believe this has solved the problem. I think you are right about the two screws being loose at the heat break. Had I taken more time and got all the plastic cleaned out I would have tried tightening them up. However, since I could get a new hot end under warranty, that was the path of least resistance. If this happens again that’s the first thing I’ll try.
It seems that the design in this area is a little weak but I certainly don’t have the qualifications to make suggestions so I’ll just work with what I have. Thanks so much for your help and how quickly you responded. It was much appreciated and helped me figure out the problem.
I’ve run into this issue too. In my case it has been leaking molten filament beneath the heat sink and tightening the 2 screws securing the heat break seems to have fixed it for now. Neither screw was significantly loose. Tightening each probably less than 1/8 of a turn with a force approaching what I’m comfortable applying to such small screws has stopped the leakage for now.
I don’t think it leaked much if any for my 1st few days while printing PLA. Then I printed PETG for a few days and had a couple mystery blobs on some prints and suspect this might have been the start of the leakage. While printing ASA I got more mystery blobs and some noticeable but intermittent episodes of under extrusion. Then I did a nozzle change and tried nylon and the blobs and under extrusion got so bad I had to investigate and upon removing the sock could see the problem. Not sure if this was aggravated by higher printing temperatures, the nozzle change or simply a factor of time and use.
Unfortunately the leaked filament made pulling the sock quite difficult and I tore it. I’d like to replace the sock hopefully by ordering perhaps a 3 pack for a reasonable price. But so far I haven’t even seen an individual sock specifically for the Zero for sale. Do any other models of printers use a compatible sock?
This can also happen if the nozzle isn’t tight enough, the sock forces the hot filament upwards into the sock. If the leak was higher it would have flowed over the sock first at the top.
I didn’t stop printing (well testing and fiddling anyway) and it is doing fine so far hitting and holding the hot end temperature without a PID tune although I haven’t tried high temperatures with high fans. My plan was to try putting the torn sock back on perhaps with the help of kapton tape but for the moment I’ve liked having it off and being certain there isn’t any leakage. I really loved the visibility while printing some test 1st layers without the tool head cover and no sock. Has me fantasizing about a different way of mounting and ducting the part cooling fan.
If this happens again that’s the first thing I’ll try.