How do you change filament?

[DanPin]

On my stealthburner with Phaetus Rapid0 2 I normally just heat the extruder to 220 and reverse the motor until I can pull out the filament.
On occasion, I am letting some plastic melt in the heat break and then can't get the new filament through the heat break.

My method for clearing this is remove the nozzle, heat the extruder, and poke a 1mm steel rod up from the bottom to clear the plug. If I hold the rod in the heater section, it gets hot enough to melt the plug
and clear things up.

I am curious if others have some tricks to prevent the clogging, or other tricks to clear any stoppages in the filament path.

Thanks,...

 

[lord-carlos]

My unload script extrudes a bit, retracts a bit, waits for about 1 or 2 seconds for the top to cool, and then retracts all the way. I don't know if this will help in your case, but it might.

 

[H4kunaMatata]

On my stealthburner with Phaetus Rapid0 2 I normally just heat the extruder to 220 and reverse the motor until I can pull out the filament.
On occasion, I am letting some plastic melt in the heat break and then can't get the new filament through the heat break.

My method for clearing this is remove the nozzle, heat the extruder, and poke a 1mm steel rod up from the bottom to clear the plug. If I hold the rod in the heater section, it gets hot enough to melt the plug
and clear things up.

I am curious if others have some tricks to prevent the clogging, or other tricks to clear any stoppages in the filament path.

Thanks,...

I heat the nozzle up to 220c for PLA or 240c for ASA and hit unload.
The macro then purges before retracting also known as "tip ramming" for those with MMU without a filament cutter.

These are my macros in case that helps.
They are Ellis macros IIRC

[gcode_macro LOAD_FILAMENT]
gcode:
    SAVE_GCODE_STATE NAME=load_state
    G91
    G92 E0
    G1 E101 F300 # fast-load
    RESTORE_GCODE_STATE NAME=load_state

[gcode_macro UNLOAD_FILAMENT]
gcode:
    SAVE_GCODE_STATE NAME=unload_state
    G91
    G92 E0
    G1 E25 F1000 # purge
    G1 E-101 F1500 # fast-unload
    RESTORE_GCODE_STATE NAME=unload_state

 

[DanPin]

I heat the nozzle up to 220c for PLA or 240c for ASA and hit unload.
The macro then purges before retracting also known as "tip ramming" for those with MMU without a filament cutter.

These are my macros in case that helps.
They are Ellis macros IIRC

[gcode_macro LOAD_FILAMENT]
gcode:
    SAVE_GCODE_STATE NAME=load_state
    G91
    G92 E0
    G1 E101 F300 # fast-load
    RESTORE_GCODE_STATE NAME=load_state

[gcode_macro UNLOAD_FILAMENT]
gcode:
    SAVE_GCODE_STATE NAME=unload_state
    G91
    G92 E0
    G1 E25 F1000 # purge
    G1 E-101 F1500 # fast-unload
    RESTORE_GCODE_STATE NAME=unload_state

Thanks for the g-code examples, I will give them try. It seems like "Tip Ramming" and "Short retract with a dley" accomplish the same thing.
Looking forward to less (or none) clog issues.

 

[Dave32]

Also note that hotend geometry plays a role here too. Prusa, for example, has a specialized version of the V6 heat break that they recommended for MMU users (later becoming their standard part), which has a fractionally wider bore in the "cold" side of the heatbreak that steps down to the normal bore in the "hot" side of the heatbreak, to help make the load/unload more reliable.

 

[DanPin]

Also note that hotend geometry plays a role here too. Prusa, for example, has a specialized version of the V6 heat break that they recommended for MMU users (later becoming their standard part), which has a fractionally wider bore in the "cold" side of the heatbreak that steps down to the normal bore in the "hot" side of the heatbreak, to help make the load/unload more reliable.

Thanks...I am always learning new bits everytime I post a question....or just read the forum in general

 

[majic79]

No I'm concerned. I've gone E3D Revo HF and hadn't considered tip geometry for the ERCF I'm playing with... Balls.

 

[json]

i use this filaments , i think i should correct my retraction setting

 

[NoGuru]

I have a Galileo 2 extruder and I will heat just about any filament to around 60c then hit retract and it comes right out every time, like a cold pull.

 

[claudermilk]

With my Galileo2 and Revo with HF nozzle I still just have print_end retract 18mm at the end of a job. Filament just pulls out every time.

 

[tehsnarf]

I wish I could remember where I got this from so I could give credit, but it defaults to 230C, with the option of specifying the temperature you wish to perform at. In mainsail, it gives me a drop down box where I could type in the temp. Has been working very well for me. Moves the toolhead to the front of the printer and then runs load or unload.

[gcode_macro FILAMENT_UNLOAD]
gcode:
    {% set EXTRUDER_TEMP = params.TEMP|default(230)|int %}
    M117 Unloading filament...
    G90                     # set toolhead to absolute position
    G1 Z80 F100000       
    G1 X150 Y50 F100000     # move up and to front/center to straighten filament path
    M109 S{EXTRUDER_TEMP}   # heat up the hotend
    M83                     # set extruder to relative extrusion
    G1 E3   F300            # extrude slowly to soften tip of filament
    G1 E-30 F100000         # quickly yank filament back clear of hotend
    G1 E-50 F1800           # ensure filament is clear of extruder gears
    G1 E-30 F1800           # splitting up E-80 to 2 commands, in order not to break max_extude_only_distance=50
    M82                     # set extruder to absolute extrusion

[gcode_macro FILAMENT_LOAD]
gcode:
    {% set EXTRUDER_TEMP = params.TEMP|default(230)|int %}
    M117 Loading filament...
    M83                     # set extruder to relative extrusion
    G90                     # set toolhead to absolute position
    G1 Z80 F100000
    G1 X150 Y50 F100000     # move up and to front/center to straighten filament path
    M109 S{EXTRUDER_TEMP}   # heat up the hotend
    G1 E50 F300             # extrude filament through into hotend
    G1 E30 F100
    M82                     # set extruder to absolute extrusion
    M400                        ; wait for moves to finish