That was about as bad as it could have been

Here's a cautionary tale. While I am waiting for my new heater block my old heater element has no home. (The thermocouple broke off, so that's no problem.) Fortunately the unused feed tube on top close enough and just the right side for the heater element to sit in. As long as I don't accidentally heat up the right heater element there shouldn't be any problem.

I swear I thought I choose "load left extruder" option. But sure enough I messed it up. I have no idea what those little feed tubes are made of but the only indication I had that something was wrong was a smell followed by my eyes watering so bad I could barely open them. But it was the little lick of flame that suddenly told me what I had done wrong. I quickly popped out the heater element, opened a window, and turned off the machine.

Fortunatly the only damage was to the grabbing mechanism which pinches the feed tube into the feed hole, which I haven't been using this week since I switched to a top-loading option. But it could have been much worse.