Should I just glue it?
Yesterday while printing this tube disconnected from the nut on the feeding assembly (picture included). I unloaded the filament and when I try to reload it continuously pushes the tube out of the nut. Should I just try to glue the tube into place, or is there another solution?
Thanks,
John
RE: Should I just glue it?
Hi John,
I don't have a Mini, but I understood that the PTFE Tube should have an Olive at each end
https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/minimini/1067-extruder-print-head-ptfe-tube-mini.html
see Step 16, in this guide
https://help.prusa3d.com/en/guide/4-print-head-heatbed-assembly_201450
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
RE: Should I just glue it?
As Joan wrote, there is an olive at both ends of the PTFE tube, don‘t glue it!
Your should have got some spare olives in the small bag with sparee parts with your mini.
RE: Should I just glue it?
Hi,
Thanks for reminding me about those olives. I found the original one and the spares. The original one sits right on the tip of the tube, and the spares glide over the whole tube smoothly. I tried putting on a replacement and the tube popped out before I tried loading the filament. I put the original one back on and the tube stayed in place until I loaded filament. In the picture below you can see the filament almost gets to the extruder before the tube pops out. Also, the extruder end of the tube is tapered. Is that normal or should I look to get a new tube?
Thanks,
John
RE: Should I just glue it?
@lutgendorff
When you tighten the cap nut, the olive is squeezed and fixes the PTFE tube.
If it is squeezed too hard, the inner diameter of the PTFE will become too small and the filament will jam.
The end of your tube looks very squeezed, maybe you can cut off 5 mm and try a new olive.
I don't know how critical the length of the PTFE tube is, but I think 5 mm should not make a big difference...
You could chat with support what to do best.
RE: Should I just glue it?
You'll need to cut off the already squished part of the tube, then put the new uncrushed olive on it and tighten down the fitting. The length of the tube between the extruder and hot end should not be critical, as long as the hotend can move though it's full range of motion without tugging on the tube. The only problem with a longer than expected tube would be when you load/unload filament, you might have to purge a couple more times than usual during the load to actually purge out previous filament. Could also be issues with retracting out filament with an excessively long tube. The extruder is calibrated to run for loading/unloading for the expected factory tube length, however an extra inch or so shouldn't be any trouble.