Can somebody PLEASE tell me WHY is it that EVERY roll of filament I ever got they all come twisted up! It gets me mad during printing that if it is tangled up and it doesn’t pull then it messes up your print either gaps or prints air.
This is a constant battle! REALLY ANNOYING!
Sometimes I feel to unroll the entire spool and rewind it just because!? I do that when it’s close to the end though. I just really hate this problem and wondering if anybody has ever fixed this?
How are you feeding filament into your printer? I’ve never had this problem when I’ve fed filament in properly.
PS the only thing I do is if I am around hopefully yank on the roll a bit to unravel it. Usually when I hear the twist on the roll or hear the roll jump.
PSS I often am worried about this when I am gone or fall asleep during prints. Just to come back to a failed print like wtf happen?
NO I don’t think you guys understand me at all. The filament comes from the manufacturer twisted up! Almost like in-between layers. This isn’t a tension issue. It doesn’t matter how the feed is or goes the roll is still twisted.
I’ll update with a new post when I take a picture. SO you guys can see if you don’t have this problem. I’ve only been printing for maybe about a year now and every roll I’ve went through was like this. 8 rolls to count up to date. (SKY BLUE) was the worst.
Thanks Mark but all my rolls are from different manufactures.
I used to have no tangles in my Inland filament. I haven’t switched out my feeding system which has been amazing for every other roll and now they cross over a lot. It could be your feeding system but it could be the company who spools them as well.
@Nathan_Walkner What’s your problem? I am saying the roll is twisted up and tangled from the manufacturer. Every roll I ever got. That this is a problem in production. Also not just 1 manufacturer. As I stated that it doesn’t matter how I feed it is still that way. Sometimes as I said a nice little yank on the roll will loosen it up. Although sometimes it is really bad in-between layers. It’s when that happens it tends to ruin the entire print and cause the X axis to slip OR cause a jam in the extruder where it prints just air. But a good 90-95% of the time a good yank will be fine. Just another reason to ALWAYS keep an eye on your prints while printing!
http://www.toybuilderlabs.com/blogs/news/13055029-untangling-the-filament-spool - Every customer, except one, that we have offered to refund the spool if they still have the problem after they look at this video has decided that they were crossing their filament. EDIT: there were a few spools where they were wound improperly and the filament was “wedged” in between the rest of the spool, requiring higher than normal pulling force to pull it out of the wedgie – those we refund right away - I think about 5 out of many many thousands of spools that we sold.
@Scottie_D369 I usually keep an eye on the spool for the first print or two. I have had only one spool do tangle and it was my fault when I went to feed it into the printer, I dropped the end and got it messed up. Took a couple of prints and re-threading it through the printer to fix it. It was quite frustrating until I figured it out.
I buy filament from http://3dfilaprint.com here in the UK.
The manufacturer of one brand, http://reprappertech.com, states that their spooling process eliminates twisting of the filament as it is wound onto the spool. I have had no problem whatsoever with this filament and it comes off the spool very cleanly even when vertically oriented.
http://3dfilaprint.com Premium PLA does exhibit twisting as it comes off the spool. I don’t know how to deal with this if the direction of twist matches the extruder infeed pull. It leads to a build-up of tension on the filament feed. I guess this should be treated as a manufacturing fault because it can be avoided.
@Scottie_D369 do you switch rolls of filament or load up a roll of filament and use only that roll until it runs out?
How many print hours into a filament load (note that I said load and not roll) does you filament get locked up?
When you unload filament and unwrap filament, do you always maintain control over the end of the filament and keep the filament in one of the holes in the side of the roll when not loaded.
I’d store and use all spools vertically, and mount spools on a large shaft such that it doesn’t swing like a pendulum. Don’t use bearings on your spool mount. When it’s not being used, keep the material snug and secure the end of the filament so it doesn’t cross itself.
https://plus.google.com/111302122377301084540/posts/B4x1QzisdUE
That’s my way of mounting them and has been awesome!
At least 5 different vendors (including 2 very sketchy ebay vendors), multiple rolls from each vendor, and I’ve never had a tangle. Never ever let go of the free end of the filament and don’t let the coils get super loose. I suppose that storing filament in a hot environment or being subjected to heat during shipping could cause some sticking.
I’ve had that happen too
Copper pipe, plus 2 elbow fittings and 2 tee fittings makes an easy and effective spool holder.
“But a good 90-95% of the time a good yank will be fine.” – this is likely your main issue – you are not fixing the problem – if there is a coil tuck-under, you must get rid of the line crossing or you’ll get knotted up again. See the video in the page I posted earlier.
That video is awesome! Just fixed one of my rolls with it. My rolls are taped on the side so I guess it was tucked from the start.
I know I can’t fix the tangle to see if this method works while printing @Joseph_Chiu