3D Printing Failure Corrected! 2.5 mm ID PTFE Tubing!

Incomplete prints are extremely frustrating when using a 3-D printer. there can be a number of different causes of this problem but one may be using 3-D printer filament that has an outside diameter greater than 1.75 mm. When this is the case, it can get hung up in the PTFE tubing that goes from the filament reel to the extruder. most Gore-Tex tubing used in 3-D printing has an inside diameter of less than 2.25 mm. Most are approximately 2 mm which allows for a small safety margin with 1.75 mm filament. Switching to an inside diameter of 2.5 mm gives greater leeway and less resistance to filaments that may not be perfectly 1.75 mm. The filament listed below is much less expensive than certain expensive precision slippery Gore-Tex tubing used in 3-D printing. I have found this to be very helpful in dramatically reducing printing failure.
Buy 2.5mm ID × 4mm OD PTFE Teflon Tube Fits Direct Drive Extruder 3D Printer: amzn.to/3Vu7qNP
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[@williamerskine6035]

Hey Dr. Joe, nice video as always. I'm glad you have found what might be the source of your problem, but time will tell. I too have an XL5T and have experienced similar problems. Like you I build the Voxel3D enclosure (your video on assembly was very helpful to me, BTW) and soon thereafter I started experiencing the 'air printing' issue. In my case I had long ago stopped using the original Prusa bowden tubes and replaced them with 4mm OD/3mm ID tubes. (Using those with my MK3/MMU2S improved reliability of multi-color prints with that setup.) Admittedly, the only reason I switched to using the 3mm ID tubing was because they were more transparent which made it easier to see the progress of the filament tip during loading.
On Prusa forums there has been postings from others also having this problem. One theory circulating there is that the increased heat of an enclosed XL is causing the filament idler parts to distort causing a reduction of pressure on the extruder gear (causing chewing of the filament). That theory has gained a lot of credibility with the release of the Official Original Prusa XL enclosure. Their enclosure kit includes replacement idler parts for the tool heads printed in PC-CF. I've printed those parts myself using PC-CF and have installed them on my XL tool heads. I only finished the swap-out of those parts this week so it will take some time to determine if that is the solution.
As I did the parts swap I did compare the original PETG parts with my newly printed PC-CF parts. Because of the irregular shape of the idler lever it was difficult to get a consistent measurement but I did observe the the metal sleeve was loose in its hole compared to my new part. Looking at the old and new parts side-by-side it did seem that the hole for the metal sleeve on the PETG parts had been stretched slightly. That would reduce the pressure of the idler wheels on the filament. Tightening the pressure adjustment screws would likely only be a temporary fix as it would distort the part further.
You might want to download the assembly instructions for the Prusa XL enclosure that documents the extruder parts upgrade steps.

[@JosephHunstad]

That is absolutely great information. Thank you so much. I will totally do that and also I’m gonna switch to the 3 mm inside diameter tubing. You really helped me a lot with these comments. Thank you so much for responding. Have a great day. Joe.

[@JosephHunstad]

I cannot find the assembly instructions for the Prusa XL enclosure. Sometimes their website is very frustrating to me. It’s not that easy to navigate. Could you send me the link to that please? Thank you so much, Joe.

[@JosephHunstad]

OK, I did find the next router upgrade, but I can’t find the files to download The idler [e-mail] Is my email address. If you could possibly send me the link or the STL files that would be so appreciated. Thank you. Joe.

[@martysheets6882]

Hey Doc.

[@JosephHunstad]

I just reprinted all the parts with PC - CF they’re way harder and have worked well so far. I’m still struggling with TPU but I’m gonna buy a really high-quality one because I think the stuff I’m using probably is the issue not the extruder. Thanks. Joe.