A few weeks ago I started a print and took the dogs out on a walk. When I came back, there was a huge blob of PLA attached to the tip of the extruder because the first layer had not adhered to the bed. The filament gunked up the red insulation boot and I cut off the contaminated portion. Unfortunately this made it slightly too short to cover all of the hot bits, so I started looking for a replacement.

Printrbot does not sell individual replacement boots and finding a generic source seemed like a much better solution than contacting them for this one random part. After a bit of searching I found a 1/2” silicone coated fiberglass insulation sleeve that is similar (although not identical) to the sleeve on my printrbot LC. It is slightly looser than the stock sleeve but works great and 5 feet of it is about $20. I’d consider ordering the 3/8” sleeve in the future to have a slightly tighter fit if I ever run out of my 5 feet, although there is some risk that it’d be too small. It would be nice if printrbot sold their insulation boot separately but this will do.

Update (2014):

  • I contacted Printrbot and they included a replacement sleeve with another order that I placed. Fantastic customer service!)

Update (2020):

  • Printrbot went out of business but you can still apparently source Ubi’s hot ends.