Found the same thing on mine, no need to cut any cable ties to do this.  I think that needs to be removed from step 2 and step 4 moved up to step 2. 

OK, I find you guys are right (I replaced the zip ties on mine and haven't had to remove them subsequently). I believe you meant remove step 2 and move step 3 up, which I've done - let me know if you guys find any further edits/improvements.

montressor wrote:

OK, here's what I put together. Let me know if you have any comments/suggestions/edits.

Maybe not all Duo's are equal?  Am not sure why necessary to cut the zip ties, mine does not seem to require this.  Seems a minute job on mine after you removed the filament.

1.  Remove filament
2.  Disconnect the extruders - one red set of wires, one white set.  Connectors have a tab on one side to release.
3.  Disconnect the loom from left side of extruder - the white connector in your instruction that just pulls out.
4.  Lift the black handle at the top of the extruder carriage.  The extruder unit will then tilt to the back and lift straight out.

Biggest trouble I have is the reverse procedure to put it back in.  Kinda dark in there with the power off

Found the same thing on mine, no need to cut any cable ties to do this.  I think that needs to be removed from step 2 and step 4 moved up to step 2. 

OK, here's what I put together. Let me know if you have any comments/suggestions/edits.

Maybe not all Duo's are equal?  Am not sure why necessary to cut the zip ties, mine does not seem to require this.  Seems a minute job on mine after you removed the filament.

1.  Remove filament
2.  Disconnect the extruders - one red set of wires, one white set.  Connectors have a tab on one side to release.
3.  Disconnect the loom from left side of extruder - the white connector in your instruction that just pulls out.
4.  Lift the black handle at the top of the extruder carriage.  The extruder unit will then tilt to the back and lift straight out.

Biggest trouble I have is the reverse procedure to put it back in.  Kinda dark in there with the power off

carl_m1968 wrote:

The heater cartridge is held in the heat block by a grub screw. Loosen it and the cartridge should slip out wires and all. The thermistor is a glass bead with teflon sleeves. Solvent should not harm it so it could stay in. Just remove the PC boards and the heater cartridges and soaking them should be no issue. I am curious what the Limonene is for? Does that dissolve the HIPS? It would be similar to what we call Goo Gone and should not harm the thermistor either. I would just wrap the thermistor wires around the throat the keep them from flexing much as they are thin and fragile.

Thanks for that info, Carl! I'll take a shot at that tomorrow and add it to my document.

Yes, Limonene is a solvent for HIPS, so I guess it's the same as goo gone, has a bunch of other brand names too I think.

Is the thermistor also easy to remove in case hitting the hot end with a butane torch becomes necessary?

Aside from the somewhat fragile leads. They usually just tack it in with RTV unless it is the metal type then it will have it's own grub screw. I have not looked at my head that closely. If it is RTV you should be able to carefully remove the RTV and then slip the thermistor out. If it is the metal type then it would be the same as the heater.

The heater cartridge is held in the heat block by a grub screw. Loosen it and the cartridge should slip out wires and all. The thermistor is a glass bead with teflon sleeves. Solvent should not harm it so it could stay in. Just remove the PC boards and the heater cartridges and soaking them should be no issue. I am curious what the Limonene is for? Does that dissolve the HIPS? It would be similar to what we call Goo Gone and should not harm the thermistor either. I would just wrap the thermistor wires around the throat the keep them from flexing much as they are thin and fragile.

Thanks for that info, Carl! I'll take a shot at that tomorrow and add it to my document.

Yes, Limonene is a solvent for HIPS, so I guess it's the same as goo gone, has a bunch of other brand names too I think.

Is the thermistor also easy to remove in case hitting the hot end with a butane torch becomes necessary?

madmarkus wrote:

montressor wrote:

OK, here's what I put together. Let me know if you have any comments/suggestions/edits.

http://metrob.us/davinci_duo/guide.html

Awesome, assuming of course this is what we are expected to do lol.
I really want to get XYZ on the phone when I attempt this...Then I looked at  your next post...I assumed removing the heads gave us the ability to clean by soaking in solvent...but now that looks to NOT be the case.
Really confusing, which is why I want them on the phone...When I get the time I plan to do this and will reference your photos.
Luckily my left head is working fine so Im just using that for now. 
Thanks for taking the time to post the info!!
Good Luck

So a little more info:

Both my hotends were clogged. The right one was ABS - cleared it by heating the nozzle, then quickly removing the carrier and gently removing the filament with a fine pair of needle nose pliers and gentle tugging.

The left one was HIPS. Not so simple. Nothing to grab there, so I resorted to using a small drill bit at low speed. Thought I had everything cleared, but that head still won't load.

Couple things I learned in the process:

- fairly straightforward to pull the actual hotends from the carriage. You can just loosen that nut and slide them out (takes a bit of leveraging if you don't want to cut the cable ties, but doable). Lining everything back up doesn't seem to be an issue, just tighten everything back down and you're good to remount and print.

- not sure how involved removing/reattaching the wiring from the hotends is - it looks fragile and finicky and I was jouncing from not printing for 5 days so I didn't do that. Course that means I can't hit it with a torch to just melt everything out or soak the hotends in acetone or limonene. There seems to be an odd reluctance on the boards to discuss that procedure, so I think it might be a hairball

- I've pulled and replaced the hotends 4 or 5 times in the course of the evening, so I've gotten familiar with it. Not as daunting as it first looks, but YMMV.

I'm happy to document the procedure to fully pull the hotends (least as far as pulling them with the wiring still attached) if that helps you.

The heater cartridge is held in the heat block by a grub screw. Loosen it and the cartridge should slip out wires and all. The thermistor is a glass bead with teflon sleeves. Solvent should not harm it so it could stay in. Just remove the PC boards and the heater cartridges and soaking them should be no issue. I am curious what the Limonene is for? Does that dissolve the HIPS? It would be similar to what we call Goo Gone and should not harm the thermistor either. I would just wrap the thermistor wires around the throat the keep them from flexing much as they are thin and fragile.

montressor wrote:

OK, here's what I put together. Let me know if you have any comments/suggestions/edits.

http://metrob.us/davinci_duo/guide.html

Awesome, assuming of course this is what we are expected to do lol.
I really want to get XYZ on the phone when I attempt this...Then I looked at  your next post...I assumed removing the heads gave us the ability to clean by soaking in solvent...but now that looks to NOT be the case.
Really confusing, which is why I want them on the phone...When I get the time I plan to do this and will reference your photos.
Luckily my left head is working fine so Im just using that for now. 
Thanks for taking the time to post the info!!
Good Luck

So a little more info:

Both my hotends were clogged. The right one was ABS - cleared it by heating the nozzle, then quickly removing the carrier and gently removing the filament with a fine pair of needle nose pliers and gentle tugging.

The left one was HIPS. Not so simple. Nothing to grab there, so I resorted to using a small drill bit at low speed. Thought I had everything cleared, but that head still won't load.

Couple things I learned in the process:

- fairly straightforward to pull the actual hotends from the carriage. You can just loosen that nut and slide them out (takes a bit of leveraging if you don't want to cut the cable ties, but doable). Lining everything back up doesn't seem to be an issue, just tighten everything back down and you're good to remount and print.

- not sure how involved removing/reattaching the wiring from the hotends is - it looks fragile and finicky and I was jouncing from not printing for 5 days so I didn't do that. Course that means I can't hit it with a torch to just melt everything out or soak the hotends in acetone or limonene. There seems to be an odd reluctance on the boards to discuss that procedure, so I think it might be a hairball

- I've pulled and replaced the hotends 4 or 5 times in the course of the evening, so I've gotten familiar with it. Not as daunting as it first looks, but YMMV.

I'm happy to document the procedure to fully pull the hotends (least as far as pulling them with the wiring still attached) if that helps you.

OK, here's what I put together. Let me know if you have any comments/suggestions/edits.

http://metrob.us/davinci_duo/guide.html

Awesome, assuming of course this is what we are expected to do lol.
I really want to get XYZ on the phone when I attempt this...Then I looked at  your next post...I assumed removing the heads gave us the ability to clean by soaking in solvent...but now that looks to NOT be the case.
Really confusing, which is why I want them on the phone...When I get the time I plan to do this and will reference your photos.
Luckily my left head is working fine so Im just using that for now. 
Thanks for taking the time to post the info!!
Good Luck

carl - you mentioned soaking the heads in solvent: I have limonene and acetone, and can easily soak the heads in the appropriate solvent. However, referencing the images below, I assume this means undoing the nut clamping the head in place, desoldering the two red power wires and the two thermistor wires? Or is there a simpler way of accomplishing this I'm missing? And assuming this is the procedure, what adjustments need to be made in reassembly? Anything beyond a bed calibration?

http://metrob.us/davinci_duo/guide.html

Guess we're the only Davinci Duo owners willing to document the process. I'll take a run at it in the next couple days - we're expecting a blizzard here so I should have some quality time to spend with the printer. I'll document what I find and post it.

I'd like to remove the heads from my Duo. Took a run at it yesterday and it looked a lot more complicated than the Davinci 1 video on their site shows.

Can someone point out the procedure with a pic or something? Just want to be sure I'm not trashing the printer.

yea Ive been using the left head only for a week now for the same reason.

Can someone point out the procedure with a pic or something? Just want to be sure I'm not trashing the printer.

all I had to do was remove filament and then unplug all the harness plugs from the extruder board. once they were unplugged you can then use the lever and easily remove the heads. if you do not remove the harness plugs the head assembly will not budge.

I have to do the same thing...do you mean all the tiny two wire plugs from the side of the head?...Both sides?  Did you use small needle nose pliers or something?
Thanks

thanks guys.  I was able to remove the heads but it took way more effort and leverage than what the video displayed.  Ultimately it took two people to take that thing out.  I have a feeling that mine was possibly manufactured with a much tighter fit than normal.

The other issue is that the filament keeps getting jammed in the heads and the normal cleaning procedure won't clear it.  I need to search through these forums and see how you guys get the melted filament out of the channels above the nozzles.  It's a beast to get it out of there...

Let it soak in acetone over night if you are using abs. If you are using PLA the only way is to drill it out with a smaller drill. There is nothing reasonably safe that can dissolve PLA like acetone does ABS.