What kind of PTFE tubing should I buy?
Because of limited room, I have my filament on a shelf over the printer and the buffer mounted on the wall. (I know this is not the recommended setup, but I don't have the room for the recommended setup, so this is what I'm doing.) It's working OK, but I'd like to guide the filament from the spool to the buffer, as there's more distance to travel then I like, and coming over the shelf edge is kind of dodgy.
I looked into designing a system of pullies, but I'm just not that skilled at design, so I can't pull that off.
What I'd like to do is buy some PTFE tubing and arrange that in short lengths that come over the edge of the shelf and point towards the buffer.
I know I can go on Amazon and buy PTFE tubing, but without knowing much about it, it's a crap shoot at best.
What kind/brand of PTFE tubing should I be buying?
thanks!
Rick
RE: What kind of PTFE tubing should I buy?
I would go directly to Aliexpress. Chances you land at a crappy store are at Amazon just as high when it comes to 3D printing materials and they usually charge more on Amazon. I purchased actually some of the tubings directly from Prusa when I was purchasing Prusament anyway. Certainly more expensive but a safe bet.
More recently I purchased PTFE tubing from here. Had no complaints about the quality. The great thing here are the option for alternative sizes. If you want to stay at low friction, 2.5 internal diameter is way better than the standard of 2 mm used by Prusa. But it still doesn't allow excessive wiggle room.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33014743332.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef18024Hin5V
Mk3s MMU2s, Voron 0.1, Voron 2.4
RE: What kind of PTFE tubing should I buy?
It's just pathing from the spool to the back of the MMU. You don't need specific tolerances or specific plastics; you could use straws from mcdonalds if you wanted to. If the filament slides freely in that tube then that tube works.
Here's 32 feet of some PE tube on Amazon for $12. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082S4LZYM
Yes it might be cheaper from aliexpress but this way you dont have to wait literally 2 months for delivery.
And just FYI, don't keep filament sitting in PTFE tubes if you're not printing. The filament in the tubes will get brittle and snap on you if you let it sit in there too long. So whatever system you come up with make sure it is easy to load and unload.
MK3S MMU2S, XL-5T
RE: What kind of PTFE tubing should I buy?
Here's 32 feet of some PE tube on Amazon for $12. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082S4LZYM
Yes it might be cheaper from aliexpress but this way you dont have to wait literally 2 months for delivery.
That's the problem I always have with Aliexpress. I have to decide if I want to save a few bucks or get it quicker, and I usually go with quicker.
And just FYI, don't keep filament sitting in PTFE tubes if you're not printing. The filament in the tubes will get brittle and snap on you if you let it sit in there too long.
Is this any faster than just leaving the spool exposed to the air?
So whatever system you come up with make sure it is easy to load and unload.
So then not the buffer that came with it? It works, but it's a bear to load. I'm really thinking about going with a gravity or spring rewind.
RE:
I've never had PLA get so brittle that it snaps when just sitting out in the open air. I've only had it happen with the sections of filament sitting inside the tubes for a long duration. And by long duration I mean like weeks/months; I've never had it happen during a multi-day print.
I've also never used the wall buffer system that come with the MMU. I have tried a gravity rewind system but it would sometimes rewind with too much force that it pulls the filament out of the MMU, so I ditched that too. I just let the filament free float with just some tubing to enter the MMU and it works for me.
MK3S MMU2S, XL-5T
RE: What kind of PTFE tubing should I buy?
I've never had PLA get so brittle that it snaps when just sitting out in the open air. I've only had it happen with the sections of filament sitting inside the tubes for a long duration. And by long duration I mean like weeks/months; I've never had it happen during a multi-day print.
I've also never used the wall buffer system that come with the MMU. I have tried a gravity rewind system but it would sometimes rewind with too much force that it pulls the filament out of the MMU, so I ditched that too. I just let the filament free float with just some tubing to enter the MMU and it works for me.
Thanks for all the info!