A Makergear forum discussion on PETG hair and the prevention thereof prompted me to take a look at the silicone coating I’d applied to the nozzle:
That was ten months ago. This is now:
The camera sees the nozzle in a mirror laid flat on the platform, making the image less crisp than a direct view.
So the silicone seems a bit worn around the tip, has acquired a few firmly adhered globs, and definitely isn’t as shiny.
Rather than (try to) peel it off and reapply a new coating, I picked off the globs, cleaned around the nozzle, and slobbered a thin layer atop the existing silicone:
Extruding a few millimeters of filament pushed the film off the nozzle opening and it now works as well as it ever did.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
Comments
4 responses to “Makergear M2 V4 Nozzle: More Silicone!”
How many spools of filament does a nozzle last?
After 4 kg of PETG the nozzle is still in fine shape!
Because I use only a single plastic, the nozzle doesn’t get clogged and doesn’t need (interior) cleaning, which means I’m not reaming it with wire or drills. Steel can’t possibly be good in a tiny brass hole, but maybe I’m just a fussbudget about such things.
Folks report carbon fiber filaments definitely erode brass nozzles like crazy, hence hardened or stainless steel nozzles have become a thing.
E3D are now offering secret sauce nozzles, if memory serves they are hardened tool steel, plated with something even harder and nanocoated with a non stick layer of some unobtanium stuff. I’d love to try one, but realistically I don’t need it and they charge 27GPB which is a bit crazy. Sanjay claims it’s possible to get a very flat top layer by ironing the print with the nozzle (no extrusion) since plastic will not stick to it
“Ironing the print” … that’s a technique I never imagined.
Seems like an up-armored nozzle solves many problems I’m glad I don’t have!