Printer reel problem, with feeder unit

[Erfolg]

I use an Ender 3.

 

I have a problem which I have not encountered previously.

 

The issue is that when the filament is feed straight from the drum, it twists into knots. These are similar to those i see with my wife's hair  dryer (I do not need one) or the vacuum cleaner if the unwound from the cleats, rather than the using the swivel cleat, to let the cable fall of.

 

My solution is to take the drum of the holder than spin the drum across the diametric axis to get the knotting out. My other solution is to periodically take a few coils of to the side. Although it seems to work it is not a complete solution.

 

My previous drum of have filament have not exhibited this problem.

 

Has any body any ideas that doe not require me to keep returning to the printer to manage the issue?

[Ron Gray]

Can you post a photo of your setup showing where the filament roll is held in relation to the print head? I've not come across that problem before, others may have!

[Robert Rundle 1]

Is it an issue with every roll or just one in particular?

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

The only way I can see for this to happen is if the printer is rotating the filament as it feeds.  It’s not something I’ve encountered but perhaps the feed rollers need cleaning or adjusting?

[Erfolg]

I will post a picture later. I will have to wait until it twists up again. Printing at present and just untangled the thing.

 

I have just fitted a new feed head. The previous broke and stopped feeding. This one is far better made, and the price, I could not begin to make some bits for the price.

 

Thanks for the replies

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Did the problem start after fitting the new head?

[Erfolg]

Although the scale of the problem is not apparent from these photos, it is an indication of the problem.

 

It is not helped by the plastic feedd material being soft,. When a tangle occurs the feed roller (the toothed one) chews up the polymer.

 

There is another problem with this one supply in that it bakes solid if the feed is halted.

 

 

[Erfolg]

Martin

 

It is hard to be definitive as to when the problem started in that, this is the first time I have used the red filament.

 

The problem seems more to do with the filament, in that my previous batches  (white) just fead of the drums without coiling. The problem seems to be directly associated with the reel and, and feeding from it.

 

I have a few more items to produce in red and then will be back to white.

[Simon Chaddock]

Erfolg

Are you near the end of the reel? The reduced diameter means the filament is rather more likely to 'coil' in the length between the drum and the extruder entry.

The actual distance of the unsupported filament will also have an influence. A mid point eye for the filament to run through would help.

I printed one such for my printer although in the case of my  Anet A8 it was to 'ease' the filament path rather than to prevent 'filament coiling'. 

[Ron Gray]

Looking at the photos I think that @Simon Chaddockcould well have a point regarding the distance of unsupported filament.

[leccyflyer]

The filament handling off the roll is a bit of an issue with a lot of printers, from what I've seen in videos. On my Malyan M150 I printed a third eye to keep the filament feed under control, like Simon said and it helped. On my Creality Ender 5 Pro the feed is more direct and works better, but even there, with the last batch of PLA that I bought I find that even after being left for a few days the filament will develop a kink in the upline -which I hadn't seen before. Left for a couple of days this can even result in a break. I feel the filament change process could be improved in some cases, as it can be very fiddly.

I wondered in this case whether there could be some contamination in the hot end, which is causing the extrusion to be in a spiral, imparting a rotational force to the filament and twisting it, as it extruded.

[Ron Gray]

@Erfolgbearing in mind @leccyflyer’s post above, could you lightly hold the filament to check to see if it’s being twisted as you are printing?

[Simon Chaddock]

leccyflyer mentioned filament breakage and change.

I have found that some filaments (different colours) are more likely to break within the print head after it cools down.

It appears that heat from the extruder makes the filament brittle and the brittleness seems to get worse after a couple of days.

On my printer with no external feed tube it means the break is just a couple on mm above the serrated feed wheel. To re-feed a filament requires the extruder to be taken apart, the nozzle heated to working temperature and the short "stub" of exposed filament to be pulled out so clearing the nozzle.

If the filament breaks off without dragging the bead out of the nozzle then there is no alternative but to replace the nozzle.

I have found white and black filament (highest pigment %?) are the most brittle followed by the translucent colours, Silver has never broken - yet.   

[Ron Gray]

I must admit that I’ve never had that problem (touching wood), thank goodness! Are the different colours from the same filament manufacturer? I use a variety of colours in both PLA and PETG from Prusa, Sunlu, E-DA and Filamentive and they all give good results (Prusa just shading it for consistent quality).

[Erfolg]

Thank goodness I have now finished with the red filament.

 

As suggested I also started having feed problems after shutting down. I have learnt another lesson, that is not to preheat the extruder part, as I started to do as part of getting the plattern/table up to a consistent heat to aid print attachment. The reason being is that the PLA in the heater would be baked to form a blockage. This required the nozzle removing, run a small drill up the inside filament, sticking the nozzle loosely back into the heater, heating, quickly removing, then using a slightly bigger drill to bite (using a toolmakers pin vice) and twist out the plug. Then I used the clearing wire to clean the nozzle.

 

I will be taking more care in the brand of filament I buy in future. At least my white filaments are branded.

 

Anyway I have produced a number of bits for my granddaughters project. There are side frames, wheels and connecting rods. I think she has learnt somethings useful, to sketch out what yo want to make, stick some dimensions on, to go into your 3d modelling package (Fusion 360), copy file into your slicer (Ultimaker) then import file into the Elder and so on. Plus the relations ship of Pie (not meat) with circles as a constant as 4 for a square. To cut with scalpel away from fingers etc. There is a picture below.

 

Oh, its cardboard.

 

Perhaps more scarily, initially she had wanted to build  the Big Boy another picture. I bought a kit for scaling purposes. I had intially wanted to produce a Coronation Scot, luv the colours and shape, then thought a bit curvey up front, then tried to get her to want a DRG 03, being slab sided, tried Bulleids Merchant Navy/County class. Suddenly I was informed it had to move. I then thought Bulleids Q class, dismissed as both ugly and did it really exist. 

 

It only became a DRG class 80 as a childhood memory, that was relatively simple and colourful (in its own way). I stupidly thought I could print all the driving linkages, until reality caught up with me.