It's Alive! (but what's best way to reload filiment?)

Hooray!

After working on and off at this since xmas I have my first proper prints! (M8 washer, bag clip & a 10 mm test cube)

So, of course now I wantto print everything I can!

I'd be interested if anyone has any tips on changing filiment
Should I let it run out completely and then try to put in new lengths?
Should I try to follow the existing piece of filiment down the hole and hope my (Wades) extruder just continues with the new bit
(using 3mm PLA if that makes a difference)

Of course, this will less of an issue once I get some kind of filiment spool going but for now......

By the way, did I say Hooray!!!!

Cheers

Pete

HI..

If you cut the new filement squarly on the end, you can feed it on top of the one abour to run out. just wach the old one and stick it in the hole .
If you are changing colour it give a great effect.


Auzze

It can also jam if you do that as the new filament can slip off the top of the old one.

I always reverse out the old filament by running the extruder backwards while hot and then feed in the new one.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

I follow through. You must supply constant downward pressure, and issue a sufficiently long extrude command to get the filament into the hole beyond the hobbed bolt.

I've found that the most reliable way to remove and load a new filament is by removing the driven gear in Adrian's geared extruder. This way I can rotate the pinch drive manually and feel how much force is required to push the filament through.

For mendelparts hot end v6 you can't retract, as it will form a blob which is bigger than the filament guide in the extruders.

With both gregs (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:8252) and wades, you can push the new filament in from the top like others have described. Just make sure the natural bend in the filament feed the same way, if not it might miss. Once the teeth grab hold of the filament you should be good, but you will have to keep an eye on it for a while to make sure it doesn't slip and start clogging the teeth. And don't apply too much downward pressure if you switch while printing, as it does push the nozzle down a bit. Also don't switch with the nozzle at zero z height.

With mendelparts v6 + adrians, the only way I was able to switch filament was to take off the entire hot end (while hot).

Previously with wades and a hot end with the same diameter alle the way to the nozzle, I loosened the idler a bit and yanked the entire filament out. If dont fast enough it worked well.

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-Nudel
Blog with RepRap Comic

I had luck removing all of the filament from a wades extruder by allowing the entire thing to cool down to room temperature, turning the heat back on, and then pulling the filament until it released from the tip. If your extruder tends to leak inside this probably wouldn't work well though.

Nudel Wrote:
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> For mendelparts hot end v6 you can't retract, as
> it will form a blob which is bigger than the
> filament guide in the extruders.
>
> With both gregs
> (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:8252) and wades,
> you can push the new filament in from the top like
> others have described. Just make sure the natural
> bend in the filament feed the same way, if not it
> might miss. Once the teeth grab hold of the
> filament you should be good, but you will have to
> keep an eye on it for a while to make sure it
> doesn't slip and start clogging the teeth. And
> don't apply too much downward pressure if you
> switch while printing, as it does push the nozzle
> down a bit. Also don't switch with the nozzle at
> zero z height.
>
> With mendelparts v6 + adrians, the only way I was
> able to switch filament was to take off the entire
> hot end (while hot).
>

Your first method also works with Adrian's extruder if you have springs on the 4 tension bolts for the idler bearing. It works everytime for me. But I prefer to pull the filament out when I'm changing to a different type of filament (color or plastic type) so it purges faster and saves on plastic. I've never need to take off the hot end when replacing filaments except when my heater broke and I had to replace the hot end.