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Idler tension screw stuck in idler door nut  

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pa475
(@pa475)
New Member
Idler tension screw stuck in idler door nut

Hello!

The long idler screw is completly stuck in its nut in the idler door (MK3S). The nut is already spinning around in its inset. I was able to print a new idler door with PETG just in case; printing with PLA fails with under extrusion due to the low tension of the idler. As I have a new idler door, carefully destroying the old one would be no problem, but also no solution as far as I can tell.

I can push the screw so the nut lifts out of the idler door. I then tried grabbing the nut with a wrench from the other side while pushing on the screw and fixating it with an allen key. So far, it did not work. The wrench I used does not really provide any leverage, I could switch to a longer lever, but I am afraid of damaging the extruder or bending the X axis when applying too much force.

I thought about using a Dremel to cut the screw, but then I expect to have a lot of metal scrapings directly in the drive gear compartment of the extruder. To avoid this, my guess is to deconstruct the entire extruder until I can remove the part through which the screw goes and then cut it outside of the extruder.

The end of the bolt is flush with the nut, nothing sticking out.

To be honest, I dont like my ideas. Does anyone have suggestions to loosen that screw without excessive force or complete extruder deconstruction? Or has anyone experienced a similar problem and has tips to avoid further damage?

Thanks in advance! 🙂 

 

Posted : 09/08/2020 9:47 am
jsw
 jsw
(@jsw)
Famed Member
RE: Idler tension screw stuck in idler door nut

Heat or cooling, maybe?  That can un-stick quite a few stuck parts.

Posted : 09/08/2020 10:12 am
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