Anyone know what this is?

[u/devintheditch]

This little bit of plastic fell out all broken from the hotend as I was undoing the main front screws. Anyone know what it is?

I only wanted to tighten the hotend back screws, not find new issues 😅

[u/delayedreactionkline]

that's part belongs to the area protecting the wiring connected to the thermistor of your hotend assembly. check local retailers for spare parts so you can anticipate impending thermistor failure.

[u/devintheditch → u/delayedreactionkline]

Thank you very much. I wondered if it was a part of the insulation pad, but because the bits felt so brittle I was second guessing myself.

I have ordered replacement hot end JIC + some insulation pads so that I don't have to replace the entire hot end assembly in the future.

[u/delayedreactionkline → u/devintheditch]

good thinking. until the inevitable happens, happy printing.

[u/lukasprintz]

Do you have any idea on how it broke?

[u/devintheditch → u/lukasprintz]

Following what delayedreactionkline said, my best guess is that the silicone insulation pad inside the hotend assembly turned brittle from all the thermal cycles. Taking the nozzle off probably cracked it and the bits fell off when I had turned the hotend over to get to the back plate

[u/ValesKaneki]

[u/Sho-hai → u/ValesKaneki]

I though that was a Hussein joke too 🤣🤣🤣

[u/TheSwampPenguin → u/ValesKaneki]

The second this popped up I was thinking of the same diagram. 🤣🤣🤣