Has anyone got this 2 in 1 hot end to work?

Curiosity got the better of me so I took a punt on a dual colour hot end . The ebay description was "Prettyia 2in 1Out Single Head Double Color Remote Extruder Hot End Extrusion". I have attached some photos.

I have spent some time on this and cannot get it to work. Basically, it always jams up. I have tried clearing it out several times. There are grub screws that can be removed. I have even used a 2mm drill to check/ clean passages. The best result I got was severe under extrusion on one channel. The other channel was completely blocked.

I am using dual gear extruders, so there is enough torque. I enabled dual extruders in Marlin and can this is correct by looking at the extruders motions.

I only paid £6.38 a few months ago. My ebar seller is asking £30 for it now.

Has anyone actually got this to work, or is it junk?

cheers
John

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2020 12:29PM by jparaskeva.

Well, in my honest opinnion I think this is junk.
Because this fan can never get a significant amount of air through the hotend and so never can keep it cool upwards.
If the upper section (above the heatbreaks) is not cool, the filament gets soft and jams.

I would think you will have a problem corelating the operating temperature correctly.
The thermistor looks like its positioned close to the heater so it probably reports similarly to a normal hot end. However the block has 4 times the surface area so is probably loosing a massive amount of energy so the brass nozzle is probably a lot cooler than normal.
Im assuming this is a cross drilled block so to get flow you have to melt the filament in the ally. In a conventional hot end we melt it in the brass nozzle. Here you have to have a minimum temperature in the ally to get it to flow but avoid excessive temperature in the nozzle to avoid a fluid print.
I would guess that the non flowing filament arm is also going to cook as its operating at the same temperature but there is no flow.
So best i can see is that you have to ramp up the temperatures (insulate the block) and use it as a mixer so both flow at the same time.

Thanks for the responses.

I was thinking on similar lines about adding insulation and boosting the temperature.

I have attached a photo of a different 2 in 1 design. Would this one fare any better? The filament doesn't need to negotiate a 90 degree bend.

cheers
John

These are just my opinions from looking at the pictures.
That 2nd 2in1 looks better form being smaller but i would guess its got the same characteristics.

Quote
Dancer
Well, in my honest opinnion I think this is junk.
Because this fan can never get a significant amount of air through the hotend and so never can keep it cool upwards.
If the upper section (above the heatbreaks) is not cool, the filament gets soft and jams.

Indeed JUNK..!!
A modified Volcano will do the job.
I use very big nozzles(in a way comparable to dual color device), but for that to work I needed to install a 70mm radial fan to keep the heatsink cool. Right now I manage to print at 70mm/s with a 1.5 mm nozzle. Modified Volcano. PLA at 245/250C°.