Ender 3 extrusion disaster

[NowItsOrange]

I am a 3d printing noob. I recently got my ender 3 pro, and have been trying to properly calibrate it. I started by bed leveling and printing the pre-installed test prints that came with the usb. Then, on cura I prepared a calibration cube, and it printed perfectly.

It went wrong when I set the printer overnight, for another test print. I woke up to this.



I have not tried much yet because I am too scared to break the printer any more. I have no clue how this happened in the first place. What is the best way to take this off without destroying the part? Am I gonna need to replace this completely? How do i prevent this in the future? Has this ever happened to anyone before (I can't find examples of this happening to anybody else).

[LePaul]

First, I wouldn't leave a printer running overnight un-monitored for situations just like that. Heck, they thing could've caught fire!
Octoprint is a good thing to consider with plugins like Obico, which could alert you to a failing print.

But as to fixing that... you could heat up the hot end and slowly try to pry that blob off. A heat gun would be another good alternative.

I've been there!