PLA filament too rigid ? Or teflon tube too long ?

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to make my own reprap with upcycled things, parts made with the cnc and parts I bought.

I bought a « HotEnd Fully Assembled » on ebay as well as 20m of PLA 3mm just to try. My problem is that the PLA yarn turns out to be rigid wire that makes a loop about 16 cm wide and this wire must go 4cm through the teflon lining tube before it reaches the nozzle and therefore, it takes some strength to unbend the wire and make it straight for those 4cm.

Is it a normal problem ?

Is it not a problem ?

Any tip to make the wire more flexible before reaching the extruder ?

Any other solution ?

Thanks

You shouldn't have to manually straighten your PLA filament. Your extruder should do that for you as it pushes.

It should not be a problem.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2012 07:49PM by PomeroyB.

Teflon is low friction 4cm is nothing for it to go thru, probably about 0.2kg of force or less. Extruder should push over 8kg of force, and in some instances over 15kg of force

Ok.
Thanks