BFB 3000 - Hot End Coating Wear/Damage

[adampres...@gmail.com]

Hi,

I have a BFB 3000 Plus and recently I have noticed that the red coating on the hot end of my main extruder is somehow worn.  There are chunks of the coating missing in the areas closest to the tip.  I have not noticed any red chunks, powder or debris on the bed, my prints or wipe strip.  I have not had any print disasters where the tip has been plunged into a print or the bed either.  The performance of the printer does not appear to be affected.

Is it normal for hot ends to degrade or wear in this way?  Is the hot end coating something than can be cleaned and touch up repaired or maintained?

Cheers
Adam

[Unfold]

This is insulation so the hot end heats up quicker but also for safety reasons so if you touch it with your finger you won't burn your finger. The DIY Rapman had a hotend you needed to build yourself which had no such silicone but used fire proof cement and a silicone sleeve instead. The cement for insulation, the sleeve for protection (I guess):

As long as your hot end heats up well I wouldn't bother to much with it. If it becomes a problem you could also use some heat proof insulation like ceramic tape and wrap it around with some Kapton tape in a similar way as the early Makerbot hot end on only kapton if the silicone is still intact but coming off.