Removing print head assembly on Da Vinci Duo

So to the XYZ website and there is a video showing how to do this. Look in the 1.0 section, I don't know if there is one in the 2.0 section. It involves cutting a tie wrap to remove the head. Make sure you replace it when you are finished. It relieves strain on the wires and keeps them from breaking.

I did this a few days ago for the same reason. I was hesitant at first, worried that I would void my warranty. But I figure if XYZ was telling me how to do it, then it was OK.

Steven

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. also check to make sure your nozzles are the same distance away from the build plate and are level with each other. mine were not so the left nozzle always bumped into my prints making them ugly. so I loosened the nut on the threaded tube and slid it down and slid on some shims I made from shim stock in the shape of a "u" and now I have zero issues. nozzles never interfere with any prints.

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.

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.

I was printing HIPS in my left head and now it looks like that's jammed, so I want to pull the heads and soak in limonene, but there's no good guide to do so.

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.

Now I have a question: I have jams in both heads and can't get anything to load/unload. One side is HIPS, the other is blue ABS. All I really want to do is clear the residual plastic from the feed tube like robotrock describes.

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?

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.

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?

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