@@tin2001 But what about granting rights to posses her own can opener? ME: Supermarket is a thing. Ones cat (me not owning a pet): I am the emperor! Use the opener and be quick as the meal will be stalled in some minutes after opening.
6. Dust is a killer. I've spent a lot of time 3D printing in my basement with a wood-burning furnace and have to be extra vigilant against dust. Use a dry box, and retract your filament into it between long uses. Even storing your filament in a closed cardboard box will allow dust to get on it over enough time, and I currently have 4 rolls of filament on their way to the garbage because of this.
just use a filament cleaner on your 3d printer. I store and print in a closed container but allways put on the filament cleaner. nozzle clogs less as well.
You are spot on with "#6". The benefit of using a filament cleaner is apparent after you examine the sponge inside and see all of the dust it captured. I do not print without one.
I'm glad you mentioned too little drag on the unspooler being a potential problem. I see so many spool holder designs with ball bearings when a plastic bushing on a metal rod is plenty smooth enough. I've even used brush bristles to add a bit of drag so the material doesn't unspool itself.
I thought it worth adding that your trick of unwinding the spool by about 20 turns to release the knot can also be done whilst the filament is still in use by the printer... You have to thread the whole spool through the loops to release the tangle, but if you have enough slack in the coils so the printer can carry on unaffected then it can get you out of a fix without having to abort a print job... I had to do that trick a couple of weeks ago. Cheers!!
Thanks to your comment I just accomplished this mid-print. Thank you very much. The extruder on my Voron pulls pretty hard and I could hear the roll popping every so often as it tightened up at the tangle and then pulled through it every few turns. Smooth sailing now.
Well done Tom. Your presentation skills have been constantly improving, and are significantly improved from your earlier videos, while still being as personable and informative as always. And the K-9 visual aid was a nice touch!
I had a hard time finding zip lock bags that fit my spools (including the massive ones from IKEA), but found that my local grocery store had perfect bags for fruit and vegetables. There's 200+ bags on a roll and it cost me a couple of euros.
Regarding point 5 on your video about leaving the hot end on. The solution I came up with is to set the firmware to turn off the heat break fan if the nozzle falls below 50 degC. Though you'd think by now that firmwares would detect if the hot end had been idle too long and cool down.
I just spent 3 hours taking my Dremel extruder nozzle apart to remove a clogged piece of filament that was beyond the help of the supplied de-clogger tool. Why? Because I was clueless about the very first thing you explain so well in this video. Thank you so much! Wish it had been part of the basic instructions that come with the printer. You did a great job of explaining it. Thank you
The spindle of most filament holders are quite a lot smaller than the hole in the spool. I print up adapters that make this difference a lot less and then the filament tends to move a lot smoother off the spool.
The technical quality on this video is insane, Tom! I need you to show me how to film videos - looks great! Also, the new Prusa should be able to stop itself if it encounters the 1st problem :)
I was wondering if ether of you would be interested on doing a video about changing filament types I.e going from a plastic like abs PETG or nylon to a different lower temp plastic like pla without getting jams
Just experienced the filament snapping of half an hour before a 5 hour print was done. Printer didn't even stop according to the camera recording, so the print sensor doesn't seem to work properly even though it passed the initial test. This printer is just a couple of days old.
very nicely explained! thanks tom. I agree I had PLA sticking and jamming inside the heat block by just turning off the printer while the hotend is still hot. and this is more serious problem with the clone without any Teflon tube inside. but I didn't realised this until I saw this video. now its all clear why the filament was sticking inside every time and I can prevent that from happening.
Thank god i found this video... I was just trying to find vacuum seal bags to store my filament and because im a noob i have no idea what im doing but thankfully you said PLA doesn't NEED to be stored in some crazy box/bag i can just leave it in my room so saved me some money. I do have a dehumidifier too so i guess that will help with the small amount of moisture in the air anyway. I probably will invest in some bags when i get more into 3d printing but right now i can just use the desiccant packs until i get more than one spool.
Out of all the videos I have watched on 3d printing I'd have to say your one of the best. Thank you for all the information. Please keep up the good job.
Thanks for the de-tangling tip :) I've derped my PLA spool sooooo many times with my butter fingers (in the words of AvE, I'm an uncle bumble ****) The filament cooking point motivated me to think more and I got it!!!! Part cooling fans on some setups are extremely good at making the hot end not reach temperature triggering the thermal runaway protection (I have to set mine to around 75% max otherwise it takes too long to heat up and #triggers the firmware). The mistake I was making in my past attempts was I was using S40 rather than R40. Exploit this by using some clever g-code at the end of your process to stop the filament-snot M106 S255 ; Set part cooling fan to 100% M109 R40 ; Set extruder to 40C and wait, R is important, it tells it to wait for both heating and COOLING. Just using S will mean it will go "ok we're above that temperature no worries" and release back to the printer... Causing the fan to turn on, then nearly instantly off. M107 ; Part cooling fan off M104 S0 ; Don't do a me and forget this step :) Extruder temp OFF and edit 2: M104 not 109 to shutdown
I forgot, for those who use cura, this can be added to the end g-code, do this by (In Cura 2.6.2, I hate the app bundle thing, sooo slow to start, even on SSD) 1) Settings -> Printers -> Manage Printers 2) Select the desired printer (if you have more than one) 3) Machine Settings 4) Under the "End Gcode" box add the above gcode 5) #profit
Thomas, when you wind your filament as you do at the beginning of the video, you turn it on itself every turn. When the extruder pulls on it will form loops when the reel will unwind it. To wind it without turning it on itself there are two solutions. The first is the easiest to describe: it is necessary to wind the filament by rotating on the wheel on which it is wound. The second: it is necessary to wind it by looping a turn over the wheel, one turn from below. To verify my remarks, you can check it by taking an extension cord. Wrap it as you do in the video, and while holding both ends of the extension, loosen the curls you have just wound. You'll see the result. Your extension will loop on itself in an infernal way. 😉
OMG you have possibly explained a hug issue I have been having. I have been always just turning the printer off when done or when I want to cool it down. I have been having issues with pla sticking in the cooling block. Thanks for doing these videos.
The quality of your videos are getting better and better. They look is amazing. Keep up the great work! I could listen to you explain anything! Great job.
If you think tangled round filament is bad, try it with flat 5/8" steel banding. I run into that all the time at work, when someone doesn't keep the spool under control and lets it freewheel and unwind, then it randomly overlaps itself when slack is taken up.
I think you left One out light decrease overtime as well faster than you might think I think the storage box is a great idea with the desiccant but it would be more effective in a dark environment or if it was not a clear container granted this is not something is gonna happen overnight but as most of us have multiple spools some we don’t use very often so we could be storing it for potentially years in some cases so I think it’s definitely one that should be taken into consideration
I really like your videos. They are to the point and on the subject. I got so fed up with technical videos that are talking about how someone feels about things instead about the subject :)
In the box my filaments come with, there's a small bag of silica gel included. I leave it in there. (I even staple it to a corner inside the box so it doesn't flop around). It's included to help to keep the moisture levels low inside the box. When the filament isn't in use, I store it in the box with the attached silica gel and I also keep the box closed.
I found for storage using FoodSaver ziplock bags and their handheld pump works great in storing filament and keeping it clean. The pump is inexpensive and the bags last a long time. Popping desiccant packets in also helps.
Seriously folks don't let pets chew/eat your prints or filament, it can cause some serious health issue to their throat's, stomach or parts of the GI track
Well, really, this tip applies to far more than 3d printing! My old shop cat carefully and slowly consumed an entire box of staples some years ago. He's fine now, but it was touch and go there for a while. If you've every seen a cat die from poultry bones shattering in it's GI tract, it was a lot like that... #shudder
Great channel ! .... With abs, asa or petg I pull out the filament, when it gets to 120-130C Me experience, the filament get's pulled out, right up to the nozzle. So, the whole thing remains pretty clean. In my experience, so far, btw.
Thanks! Your first point answered my question. I just got a 3d printer (Monoprice IIIP) and I accidentally got my 2nd spool tangled. I wondered why it kept catching. Of course, that spool is almost empty now, but I'll know for next time. For the shutdown issue, the Monoprice is nice because it automatically cools the extruder after it's done.
I use a food vacuum machine and a roll of 30cm bag material to store my filament with a desiccant bag in with the roll, it works wonders for keeping it fresh.
A couple of tips on storing PLA and brittleness: if you leave it unused for a long time stretched out of its spool it can get brittle. Not sure exactly how long this takes but after years it can definitely be a problem. I read that this is because of the stress of being pulled out of shaped for a long time. So if you might not use it for a long time it can be best not to leave it threaded through the 3D printer, but put it back on the spool instead. Or if it's already brittle, you can check that only the part that was out of the spool has been affected and break it off.
I actually use a dehydrator inside of a closed print build chamber to remove moisture from my filaments and another plus is, that you can use it to print perfectly with ABS and such to keep a steady temperature throughout the chamber. Great video, Abo activated ;)
In the event you have a tangled filament like case 1, instead of taking the filament off the spool, loosen like you have described, grab the loose bundle as if you have the filament running through a ring, then turn the spool in the direction as if you are re-spooling it. As you spin the spool, you are re-spooling the filament. By the time you reach the end, the overlap would have been worked out by itself.
...critters.... Good stuff Thom. and a good show. thank you so much. i had a spool of PLA go all brittle, and then found it was tangled.... thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom.
Oh wow, thank you. I had a roll that was jamming continuously and I had to pre-spool the approximate length. I didn't 'click' that it was the knot transferring down the spool. I was blaming the manufacturer or it getting squished in shipping...it was me not keeping track of the end :(
hey @thomas I have found a quick tip is that you can just reverse the filament a little ways so it is out of the hotend and the tube in the hotend. that way you can leave your printer alone for days without printing and not worry about it getting brittle or clogged.
For the last one, I personally use a TP link smart switch with octoprint. It waits for the printer to be idle for specified time and the temperatures have dropped and they switches of the printer(switch). Bonus point it can be auto started when you send a new print to it
End G code can help with the turning the thing off nicely. Here's most of mine: G91 ; relative positioning G0 Z25 F1200 ; move *up* 25mm from previous position for safety G90 ; absolute positioning G0 X125 Y10 F3600 ; get toolhead out of the way M84 ; disable steppers M109 R40 ; wait for hotend to cool M104 S0 ; turn it off when it cools enough M81 ; turn off power supply Do note that M81 only really works on power supplies with their control signal wired into the printer electronics.
Anonymouspock m109 S40 won't work on marlin as it won't wait for a temp below 80. So that gcode will just instantly turn off the heater then printer. As I experienced last week. I had to set the cooldown temp to 90, then it would wait.
John Gisby You're evidently incorrect since I use Marlin and it does not do that. Ah I see your problem: switch S to R and it will wait to cool instead of ignoring the line.
Anonymouspock marlin will not wait for a temp that is less than half the minimum extrude temp. So either yours has no minimum extrude temp which is bad for it. Or it's not actually waiting, it's getting to this temp(80ish), waiting 20 secs then turning off anyway. Also yes I'm using R not S
That is probably untrue since I use Marlin and it definitely doesn't shut down immediately. Melzi is a board, not a firmware so no idea if it would work. Try heating the hot end, running that command, then immediately moving an axis. If it doesn't move, it's waiting for temp, then once it hits 40C, it should move, assuming the wait command actually works. This all doesn't matter because the Melzi doesn't have power supply control from what I can tell, so you might as well use M104 S0 and leave it at that. The point of turning off the power supply after the hot end is cool is that my hot end fan is hardwired into the PSU, so I want to turn it off once the hot end isn't going to heat creep enough to care.
Edifying general 3D printing information education entertainment edutainment awesome! Good work Thomas and blessings to your cause of spreading good ideas, truth and useful 3D printing information!
One of the joys of being old skool and using 3mm filament is that tangling problem is less of an issue but then 3mm has it's own issues to make up for it :)
another easy way to store filament in a controlled environment is to use a food grade bucket with a gamma lid to seal out moisture. You can take it even further by sticking a dehumidifier or just some regular loose desiccant in with it.
Useful video Tom! I've found that starting a print by extruding to clean out the nozzle even if you've printed a few hours ago tends to get the gunk out of the nozzle.
Very nice tips! I had some tangled filament due to user error last year when I first started 3D printing and it sure was annoying. It's really nice that it's an easy fix though. Your dog is amazing by the way. 😄
Hi Tom, I am designing a 3D printer hoping to send it to a market one day, and I wanted to thank you for all these great videos. I watched around 30 of them already and I picked up so many little things that are overlooked by many 3D printer producers and that you mentioned. Such as spool tensioner, I would have never even thought about this if not your channel! 👍🏻 Awesome!
I add consistent tangling issues with AMZ3D filaments. Usually only in the last third of the roll and the roll never got unmounted. Never had it with other brands.
I had an issue where my spools just kept tangling, no matter what I did -- then one I day I figured it out -- my printer's X axis, as it moved back and forth was causing the spool to slowly become tangled over time. -- I rotated my mounting rack by 90 degrees and now that doesn't happen anymore. :)
Toward the end about turning off the machine. How about retracting some filament so it's not in the hot-end? Can do that manually or with Gcode which I don't know how to do on my Ender 5. Now I know whyI keep having problems with my filaments. I've been shutting down the printer too early and/or not retracting filament out of the hot-end. WOW! thanks Tom
Afaik you can untangle the knot in #1 without taking it out of the extruder. Get extra slack by loosening up the real and then pass the reel through the knot. I've done it on spools of wire.
Love the dog footage (lol), so recognizable. Need to try a spool of filament with my toddler niece 8-). Keep up the informative videos, good source of 3d printing info (Just became a patreon also). Hoping you will review the new Prusa i3 Mk3 this year.
Thank you. I have worked in injection molding for a lot of years in my past. Some plastics were put in a dryer that passed hot air through a large drum. A vacuum system pulled it in to the machine and another would refile the hopper. I am looking forward to more of your videos.
Glückwunsch Thomas hast deinem Hund gerade beigebracht das die Rollen super Spielzeuge sind! And now. For the rest of the world.... Congrats Thomas you just taught your dog that spools make great toys! 🐶🤣🤣🤣
#1 and it's almost pulls your fully loaded filament box off the shelf onto the desk below... and like you said, I only put the roll down for a minute :)
4k 60fps, not only the most informative 3d printer channel also the best looking
"Pets, like cats, dogs and small children..."
Well then! :-P
Just told my cat she is no longer allowed to use the printer when I am not home. Did not look happy!
Joel Driver
Well it is her printer... Next you'll be trying to tell her you're the boss of the house. Typical human.
@@tin2001 But what about granting rights to posses her own can opener?
ME: Supermarket is a thing.
Ones cat (me not owning a pet): I am the emperor! Use the opener and be quick as the meal will be stalled in some minutes after opening.
6. Dust is a killer. I've spent a lot of time 3D printing in my basement with a wood-burning furnace and have to be extra vigilant against dust. Use a dry box, and retract your filament into it between long uses. Even storing your filament in a closed cardboard box will allow dust to get on it over enough time, and I currently have 4 rolls of filament on their way to the garbage because of this.
just use a filament cleaner on your 3d printer. I store and print in a closed container but allways put on the filament cleaner. nozzle clogs less as well.
You are spot on with "#6". The benefit of using a filament cleaner is apparent after you examine the sponge inside and see all of the dust it captured. I do not print without one.
Sponge filament cleaner
You can always add an inline filament dust collector.
I'm glad you mentioned too little drag on the unspooler being a potential problem. I see so many spool holder designs with ball bearings when a plastic bushing on a metal rod is plenty smooth enough. I've even used brush bristles to add a bit of drag so the material doesn't unspool itself.
Such a beautiful dog :)
The light in the background is a nice addition, it makes everything look warm and welcoming.
This was an awesome video. Really high production value and sharp, beautiful shots. Please do more videos like this, Tom!
Thank you!
Couldn't agree more. Have a nice evening sire.
I thought it worth adding that your trick of unwinding the spool by about 20 turns to release the knot can also be done whilst the filament is still in use by the printer... You have to thread the whole spool through the loops to release the tangle, but if you have enough slack in the coils so the printer can carry on unaffected then it can get you out of a fix without having to abort a print job... I had to do that trick a couple of weeks ago. Cheers!!
Thanks to your comment I just accomplished this mid-print. Thank you very much. The extruder on my Voron pulls pretty hard and I could hear the roll popping every so often as it tightened up at the tangle and then pulled through it every few turns. Smooth sailing now.
Well done Tom. Your presentation skills have been constantly improving, and are significantly improved from your earlier videos, while still being as personable and informative as always. And the K-9 visual aid was a nice touch!
Keep your filament safe! If you have more tips, feel free to document them at discuss.toms3d.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=265
nice! I can try ruining filaments for fun!
I've found that I can leave my ABS in my printer with a WalMart bag full of desiccant also in the enclosure. It's been in there for about a year now.
I had a hard time finding zip lock bags that fit my spools (including the massive ones from IKEA), but found that my local grocery store had perfect bags for fruit and vegetables. There's 200+ bags on a roll and it cost me a couple of euros.
Regarding point 5 on your video about leaving the hot end on.
The solution I came up with is to set the firmware to turn off the heat break fan if the nozzle falls below 50 degC. Though you'd think by now that firmwares would detect if the hot end had been idle too long and cool down.
I just spent 3 hours taking my Dremel extruder nozzle apart to remove a clogged piece of filament that was beyond the help of the supplied de-clogger tool. Why? Because I was clueless about the very first thing you explain so well in this video. Thank you so much! Wish it had been part of the basic instructions that come with the printer. You did a great job of explaining it. Thank you
TOTALLY WORTH THE TIME! Watching the cute dog playing with the filament spool.
I love how you speak about this stuff while having your own filaments on the wall, in the open, dangling loose..
Tangling filament. Best example: Look at the red filament on your rack :-)
Haha thats all I could focus on after that segment.
The spindle of most filament holders are quite a lot smaller than the hole in the spool. I print up adapters that make this difference a lot less and then the filament tends to move a lot smoother off the spool.
Love the production value. Makes it way easier to watch compared to a lot of the junk here on youtube.
The technical quality on this video is insane, Tom! I need you to show me how to film videos - looks great! Also, the new Prusa should be able to stop itself if it encounters the 1st problem :)
Veeryy cool colors :) maybe a bit too much color correction? :) But looks great thou.
It is indeed. You're gonna need to 'gear up' though, 4K @ 60FPS is hard on space and CPU cycles... :-)
I was wondering if ether of you would be interested on doing a video about changing filament types I.e going from a plastic like abs PETG or nylon to a different lower temp plastic like pla without getting jams
first reaction!!
Just experienced the filament snapping of half an hour before a 5 hour print was done. Printer didn't even stop according to the camera recording, so the print sensor doesn't seem to work properly even though it passed the initial test. This printer is just a couple of days old.
very nicely explained! thanks tom. I agree I had PLA sticking and jamming inside the heat block by just turning off the printer while the hotend is still hot. and this is more serious problem with the clone without any Teflon tube inside. but I didn't realised this until I saw this video. now its all clear why the filament was sticking inside every time and I can prevent that from happening.
My dad left all my PLA in the shed over the summer where it regularly got around 120F and ruined kilos of filament... gotta love living in Phoenix!
This should be on EVERY beginner instruction video for 3D printers!
Thank god i found this video... I was just trying to find vacuum seal bags to store my filament and because im a noob i have no idea what im doing but thankfully you said PLA doesn't NEED to be stored in some crazy box/bag i can just leave it in my room so saved me some money. I do have a dehumidifier too so i guess that will help with the small amount of moisture in the air anyway.
I probably will invest in some bags when i get more into 3d printing but right now i can just use the desiccant packs until i get more than one spool.
this fixed my pva right up I never thought about putting it in a green house, this really dried it out, thanks again!
Out of all the videos I have watched on 3d printing I'd have to say your one of the best. Thank you for all the information. Please keep up the good job.
Thanks for the de-tangling tip :) I've derped my PLA spool sooooo many times with my butter fingers (in the words of AvE, I'm an uncle bumble ****)
The filament cooking point motivated me to think more and I got it!!!! Part cooling fans on some setups are extremely good at making the hot end not reach temperature triggering the thermal runaway protection (I have to set mine to around 75% max otherwise it takes too long to heat up and #triggers the firmware).
The mistake I was making in my past attempts was I was using S40 rather than R40.
Exploit this by using some clever g-code at the end of your process to stop the filament-snot
M106 S255 ; Set part cooling fan to 100%
M109 R40 ; Set extruder to 40C and wait, R is important, it tells it to wait for both heating and COOLING. Just using S will mean it will go "ok we're above that temperature no worries" and release back to the printer... Causing the fan to turn on, then nearly instantly off.
M107 ; Part cooling fan off
M104 S0 ; Don't do a me and forget this step :) Extruder temp OFF and edit 2: M104 not 109 to shutdown
I forgot, for those who use cura, this can be added to the end g-code, do this by (In Cura 2.6.2, I hate the app bundle thing, sooo slow to start, even on SSD)
1) Settings -> Printers -> Manage Printers
2) Select the desired printer (if you have more than one)
3) Machine Settings
4) Under the "End Gcode" box add the above gcode
5) #profit
Definitely agree on the filament untangling tip, going to have to watch that again next time I find that one of my spools is like that.
Thanks for confirming my gut feeling concerning hot end heat after a print. I never shut off my Prusa until the fans stop spinning.
I work primarily with ABS, so I don't make full use of the part cooling fan. It usually runs at
Thomas, when you wind your filament as you do at the beginning of the video, you turn it on itself every turn. When the extruder pulls on it will form loops when the reel will unwind it. To wind it without turning it on itself there are two solutions. The first is the easiest to describe: it is necessary to wind the filament by rotating on the wheel on which it is wound. The second: it is necessary to wind it by looping a turn over the wheel, one turn from below. To verify my remarks, you can check it by taking an extension cord. Wrap it as you do in the video, and while holding both ends of the extension, loosen the curls you have just wound. You'll see the result. Your extension will loop on itself in an infernal way. 😉
OMG you have possibly explained a hug issue I have been having. I have been always just turning the printer off when done or when I want to cool it down. I have been having issues with pla sticking in the cooling block. Thanks for doing these videos.
The quality of your videos are getting better and better. They look is amazing. Keep up the great work! I could listen to you explain anything! Great job.
If you think tangled round filament is bad, try it with flat 5/8" steel banding. I run into that all the time at work, when someone doesn't keep the spool under control and lets it freewheel and unwind, then it randomly overlaps itself when slack is taken up.
that dog is gorgeous!
I think you left One out light decrease overtime as well faster than you might think I think the storage box is a great idea with the desiccant but it would be more effective in a dark environment or if it was not a clear container granted this is not something is gonna happen overnight but as most of us have multiple spools some we don’t use very often so we could be storing it for potentially years in some cases so I think it’s definitely one that should be taken into consideration
I really like your videos. They are to the point and on the subject. I got so fed up with technical videos that are talking about how someone feels about things instead about the subject :)
(0:30) wow, you are a magician... I KNEW IT! your filament teleport spell is amazing!
In the box my filaments come with, there's a small bag of silica gel included. I leave it in there. (I even staple it to a corner inside the box so it doesn't flop around). It's included to help to keep the moisture levels low inside the box. When the filament isn't in use, I store it in the box with the attached silica gel and I also keep the box closed.
I found for storage using FoodSaver ziplock bags and their handheld pump works great in storing filament and keeping it clean. The pump is inexpensive and the bags last a long time. Popping desiccant packets in also helps.
Seriously folks don't let pets chew/eat your prints or filament, it can cause some serious health issue to their throat's, stomach or parts of the GI track
Well, really, this tip applies to far more than 3d printing! My old shop cat carefully and slowly consumed an entire box of staples some years ago. He's fine now, but it was touch and go there for a while. If you've every seen a cat die from poultry bones shattering in it's GI tract, it was a lot like that... #shudder
Corbald
I think your cat was trying to tell you it needed a more staple diet! 😃
Well, he had a point.... a lot of them, actually...
At least PLA is just corn, isn't it?
Great channel ! .... With abs, asa or petg
I pull out the filament, when it gets to 120-130C
Me experience, the filament get's pulled out, right up to the nozzle.
So, the whole thing remains pretty clean. In my experience, so far, btw.
Wow, the quality on this video was amazing! Nice job Tom!
I came here to learn how to take care of my filament but ended up staying to watch the dogo play with the spool it was so adorable ToT
Thanks! Your first point answered my question. I just got a 3d printer (Monoprice IIIP) and I accidentally got my 2nd spool tangled. I wondered why it kept catching. Of course, that spool is almost empty now, but I'll know for next time. For the shutdown issue, the Monoprice is nice because it automatically cools the extruder after it's done.
I use a food vacuum machine and a roll of 30cm bag material to store my filament with a desiccant bag in with the roll, it works wonders for keeping it fresh.
A couple of tips on storing PLA and brittleness: if you leave it unused for a long time stretched out of its spool it can get brittle. Not sure exactly how long this takes but after years it can definitely be a problem. I read that this is because of the stress of being pulled out of shaped for a long time.
So if you might not use it for a long time it can be best not to leave it threaded through the 3D printer, but put it back on the spool instead. Or if it's already brittle, you can check that only the part that was out of the spool has been affected and break it off.
I actually use a dehydrator inside of a closed print build chamber to remove moisture from my filaments and another plus is, that you can use it to print perfectly with ABS and such to keep a steady temperature throughout the chamber. Great video, Abo activated ;)
In the event you have a tangled filament like case 1, instead of taking the filament off the spool, loosen like you have described, grab the loose bundle as if you have the filament running through a ring, then turn the spool in the direction as if you are re-spooling it. As you spin the spool, you are re-spooling the filament. By the time you reach the end, the overlap would have been worked out by itself.
Came for the great advice, was pleasantly surprised by the cute dog video montage!
...critters.... Good stuff Thom. and a good show. thank you so much. i had a spool of PLA go all brittle, and then found it was tangled.... thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom.
Oh wow, thank you. I had a roll that was jamming continuously and I had to pre-spool the approximate length. I didn't 'click' that it was the knot transferring down the spool. I was blaming the manufacturer or it getting squished in shipping...it was me not keeping track of the end :(
Nice! Wie immer! Weiter so. Hab seit kurzem erst nen 3D Drucker und schau deine Videos sehr gerne!
Tom thanks for the unwind trick, and like everyone else I love the dog.
Good tip to reset your printer instead of shutting it down. My clogging results from the heatbreak. Makes sense now!
hey @thomas I have found a quick tip is that you can just reverse the filament a little ways so it is out of the hotend and the tube in the hotend. that way you can leave your printer alone for days without printing and not worry about it getting brittle or clogged.
I've ran into all of these issues and had to learn the hard way. Great video!
Looking good Tom! Love the new studio and camera setup!
For the last one, I personally use a TP link smart switch with octoprint. It waits for the printer to be idle for specified time and the temperatures have dropped and they switches of the printer(switch). Bonus point it can be auto started when you send a new print to it
End G code can help with the turning the thing off nicely. Here's most of mine:
G91 ; relative positioning
G0 Z25 F1200 ; move *up* 25mm from previous position for safety
G90 ; absolute positioning
G0 X125 Y10 F3600 ; get toolhead out of the way
M84 ; disable steppers
M109 R40 ; wait for hotend to cool
M104 S0 ; turn it off when it cools enough
M81 ; turn off power supply
Do note that M81 only really works on power supplies with their control signal wired into the printer electronics.
Anonymouspock m109 S40 won't work on marlin as it won't wait for a temp below 80. So that gcode will just instantly turn off the heater then printer. As I experienced last week. I had to set the cooldown temp to 90, then it would wait.
John Gisby You're evidently incorrect since I use Marlin and it does not do that. Ah I see your problem: switch S to R and it will wait to cool instead of ignoring the line.
Anonymouspock marlin will not wait for a temp that is less than half the minimum extrude temp. So either yours has no minimum extrude temp which is bad for it. Or it's not actually waiting, it's getting to this temp(80ish), waiting 20 secs then turning off anyway. Also yes I'm using R not S
I have Melzi. Will the "M109 R40 ; wait for hotend to cool" work?
That is probably untrue since I use Marlin and it definitely doesn't shut down immediately. Melzi is a board, not a firmware so no idea if it would work. Try heating the hot end, running that command, then immediately moving an axis. If it doesn't move, it's waiting for temp, then once it hits 40C, it should move, assuming the wait command actually works.
This all doesn't matter because the Melzi doesn't have power supply control from what I can tell, so you might as well use M104 S0 and leave it at that. The point of turning off the power supply after the hot end is cool is that my hot end fan is hardwired into the PSU, so I want to turn it off once the hot end isn't going to heat creep enough to care.
Edifying general 3D printing information education entertainment edutainment awesome! Good work Thomas and blessings to your cause of spreading good ideas, truth and useful 3D printing information!
Great video, but honestly all I want now is more videos of that gorgeous dog.
One of the joys of being old skool and using 3mm filament is that tangling problem is less of an issue but then 3mm has it's own issues to make up for it :)
another easy way to store filament in a controlled environment is to use a food grade bucket with a gamma lid to seal out moisture. You can take it even further by sticking a dehumidifier or just some regular loose desiccant in with it.
#6 Don't leave filament in direct sunlight. UV rays deteriorate most (if not all) things synthetic.
Useful video Tom! I've found that starting a print by extruding to clean out the nozzle even if you've printed a few hours ago tends to get the gunk out of the nozzle.
I almost yelled at my computer when you said to turn the printer off! I almost lost faith in you for a second, Tom :D
Very nice tips! I had some tangled filament due to user error last year when I first started 3D printing and it sure was annoying. It's really nice that it's an easy fix though. Your dog is amazing by the way. 😄
I like how you group toddlers in the "critters" category. :D
Hi Tom, I am designing a 3D printer hoping to send it to a market one day, and I wanted to thank you for all these great videos. I watched around 30 of them already and I picked up so many little things that are overlooked by many 3D printer producers and that you mentioned. Such as spool tensioner, I would have never even thought about this if not your channel! 👍🏻 Awesome!
I add consistent tangling issues with AMZ3D filaments. Usually only in the last third of the roll and the roll never got unmounted. Never had it with other brands.
I had an issue where my spools just kept tangling, no matter what I did -- then one I day I figured it out -- my printer's X axis, as it moved back and forth was causing the spool to slowly become tangled over time. -- I rotated my mounting rack by 90 degrees and now that doesn't happen anymore. :)
These are actually very good tips! I love your videos.
That dog is adorable!!
Toward the end about turning off the machine. How about retracting some filament so it's not in the hot-end? Can do that manually or with Gcode which I don't know how to do on my Ender 5. Now I know whyI keep having problems with my filaments. I've been shutting down the printer too early and/or not retracting filament out of the hot-end. WOW! thanks Tom
What is that filament spool holder you show at about 7 minutes into the video?
Never though I'd enjoy a pet video, but I enjoyed that one :-)
Hope to see you at TCT Tom.
Nice clean studio setup!! The wall looks great.
Tangled filament rolls are really nasty. I've had that issue with one particular roll.
Afaik you can untangle the knot in #1 without taking it out of the extruder. Get extra slack by loosening up the real and then pass the reel through the knot. I've done it on spools of wire.
Tks for the tips Thomas. I learnt something.
Not to be dramatic, but I'd die for your dog
Love the dog footage (lol), so recognizable. Need to try a spool of filament with my toddler niece 8-).
Keep up the informative videos, good source of 3d printing info (Just became a patreon also).
Hoping you will review the new Prusa i3 Mk3 this year.
Thanks! I'll definitely check out the MK3 at TCT next week, but I'm not yet sure how I should approach reviews in the future.
Good video I really missed this kind of videos
What is the rolling spool holder you have showing at the 7:05 mark in the video?
I hope your dog is doing well. It's a darling.
Good information. I like the dog and your background wood wall.
Great video. Specially the doggo part.
Toddlers, also known as "little critters". Gold! :)
Very usefull as usual, thanks Tom
Great video! Very informative AND UNDER HALF AN HOUR!! :)
Buckets with lids are great for storing filament. Each holds 3-4 rolls plus dessicant.
Thank you. I have worked in injection molding for a lot of years in my past. Some plastics were put in a dryer that passed hot air through a large drum. A vacuum system pulled it in to the machine and another would refile the hopper. I am looking forward to more of your videos.
Great advise thanks Tom , btw the backgroud looks really good
Omg thank you man, ive been babistting 4 prints of 10h!! Life saver!
What a great dog. Great video as well...
Glückwunsch Thomas hast deinem Hund gerade beigebracht das die Rollen super Spielzeuge sind! And now. For the rest of the world.... Congrats Thomas you just taught your dog that spools make great toys! 🐶🤣🤣🤣
At the scene with the dog Tom was just like: That is 3mm filament...nobody needs that :D
Thank you for the doggo segment!
What is the spool holder you're using at 7:06?
Love your stunt dog and the new look studio!
Your dog is such a cutie!
The new background looks good.
Your dog is so CUTE!!!
#1 and it's almost pulls your fully loaded filament box off the shelf onto the desk below... and like you said, I only put the roll down for a minute :)
I keep my spools in sealable cake tins with a desiccant packet. Works great
Your new background looks really great.