Loading flexible filament into Prusa XL Nextruder
Dear all,
I have a very flexible filament (Filaflex 60A) that I'm trying to load into my Prusa XL. The problem is that I cannot get the filament into the tool.
I am already bypassing the side filament sensor and feeding the filament directly into the tool head, but the filament does not even reach the gears. I have cut it flat, I have cut it at an angle that gives it a very thin point, I'm twisting around, but no matter what I do, it seems to get stuck somewhere in the channel leading to the extruder gears. Loading stiff filaments or regular TPU is no issue at all, that works fine. It's just this very flexible filament that I find no way to load.
I'd appreciate any advice that someone may have.
Best,
Stefan.
RE: Loading flexible filament into Prusa XL Nextruder
Use a solder pen or whatever to splice some pla/petg to the tip of the tpu to help guide it. Then extrude multiple multiple times to purge all of the guide tip material from the nozzle.
XL-5T, MK3S MMU3 || Printing with multiple nozzle-sizes: Official Guide, Unofficial(old) || PrusaSlicer Fork || Other advanced slicer tactics || TPU || HF Nozzles
RE: Loading flexible filament into Prusa XL Nextruder
Thanks, that worked for getting the filament loaded. But then the filament immediately jammed in the extruder. I've now given up on printing really flexible filaments on the XL.
RE: Loading flexible filament into Prusa XL Nextruder
did you try opening the idler and guiding the filament to the gears ?
RE: Loading flexible filament into Prusa XL Nextruder
The filament was properly loaded and extruding, but once the small piece of PETG I had soldered to the beginning of the flexible filament had been extruded, the flexible filament jammed and when I opened the idler I saw it had just bunched up in front of the gear, above the metal tube leading to the nozzle. This happened even though I had loosened the idler screws by two full turns following the recommendations at https://help.prusa3d.com/article/flexible-materials_2057 and it happened during the loading procedure when I was purging the leading PETG part, so I didn't even get to printing, where I could have fiddled with the settings (speed, temperature, etc.).
I had loosened the idler screws by two full turns following the recommendations
With very flexible filaments you have to back-off the idler until it is barely gripping - and it helps to make sure there is minimal tension in the supply so a really smooth spoolholder helps - but 60A is always going to be tricky so print *very* slowly.
Cheerio,