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Allen key broke off in screw from hotend 🙁  

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GaetanLE
(@gaetanle)
Active Member
Allen key broke off in screw from hotend 🙁

Hey guys,

I think I'm kinda cursed. I received my Mini some days ago, and after lots of bad prints I realized my heatbreak was clogged. So I ordered a new one from Prusa, so far so good.

Now I rebuild everything but my nozzle was a bit loose, so I wanted to try it again.

Now my allen key broke off in the screw (see picture), of course I can't remove it now.... 

I tried to drill in the screw with no success. What to do? Do I have to buy a new hotend?

( https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/mini/1017-assembled-hotend-mini.html)

Posted : 02/08/2020 9:41 am
JoanTabb
(@joantabb)
Veteran Member Moderator
RE: Allen key broke off in screw from hotend 🙁

That's Unfortunate...
a desperate option may be to cut a slot across the screw  with a dremel and try a flat blade screwdriver

regards Joan

I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK

Posted : 02/08/2020 2:24 pm
Henrik
(@henrik-3)
Active Member
RE: Allen key broke off in screw from hotend 🙁

Hi, this happened to me as well during disassembly and troubleshooting. I managed to get all but one of the hex screws out (they were tightened insanely hard) and I had to resort to the highest quality tooling after the first allenkey broke, to get them out. It was the upper screw in my case that had the broken allenkey-piece.

I managed to pull the heatbreak out of the hotend regardless of the bolt still being there, and then drilled a hole in the heatsink from the opposite side drilling the stuck bolt away. I then as a backup could thread and insert a thicker bolt in that place, but it turns out the heatbreak seem to sit tight enough with the other two screws, so I haven't done that yet.

This post was modified 4 years ago by Henrik
Posted : 03/08/2020 2:22 pm
GertL
(@gertl)
Reputable Member
RE: Allen key broke off in screw from hotend 🙁

Hot glue a screwdriver or something to it ?

---
Gert

Posted : 03/08/2020 2:25 pm
Henrik
(@henrik-3)
Active Member
RE: Allen key broke off in screw from hotend 🙁
Posted by: @gert-l

Hot glue a screwdriver or something to it ?

In my case it was the unwise decision to use the ball-end of the allen key that ended up in the screw. It was then quite snuggly stuck by eating itself into the screw material. Tried various techniques to move the broken-off piece but drilling from the other side was the only solution I could find at the time. Maybe the OP could have better luck.

Posted : 05/08/2020 1:26 pm
GaetanLE
(@gaetanle)
Active Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Allen key broke off in screw from hotend 🙁

Well OP here, I tried Joan's way and it didn't went well... So I ordered a new hotend, it's due tomorrow 🙁

At least now I have some spare parts for the next accident...

This post was modified 4 years ago by GaetanLE
Posted : 05/08/2020 1:52 pm
JoanTabb
(@joantabb)
Veteran Member Moderator
RE: Allen key broke off in screw from hotend 🙁

Are you goung to replace the grub screws with cap head screws to reduce the chances of a repeat occurance?

 

I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK

Posted : 05/08/2020 2:22 pm
karl-herbert
(@karl-herbert)
Illustrious Member
RE: Allen key broke off in screw from hotend 🙁
Posted by: @kormirluk

Hey guys,

I think I'm kinda cursed. I received my Mini some days ago, and after lots of bad prints I realized my heatbreak was clogged. So I ordered a new one from Prusa, so far so good.

Now I rebuild everything but my nozzle was a bit loose, so I wanted to try it again.

Now my allen key broke off in the screw (see picture), of course I can't remove it now.... 

I tried to drill in the screw with no success. What to do? Do I have to buy a new hotend?

( https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/mini/1017-assembled-hotend-mini.html)

 

And I would recommend this allen wrench set: Wera 3950 PKL/9 or this one 👍

Statt zu klagen, dass wir nicht alles haben, was wir wollen, sollten wir lieber dankbar sein, dass wir nicht alles bekommen, was wir verdienen.

Posted : 05/08/2020 2:39 pm
GaetanLE
(@gaetanle)
Active Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Allen key broke off in screw from hotend 🙁

That's funny @karl-herbert it is exactly what I did - new tools from Wera, the coloured one 🙂

@Joan: that's an amazing idea, exactly what I'm gonna do!

 

Thanks guys so far!

Posted : 05/08/2020 3:35 pm
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