s5 Material flow sensor

[Framar 38]

I would like to know hoe the flow sensor on the S5 is working. On my last print I knew I was running out of filament but let the printer running until it stops by itself to add more filament. Problem was that the printer had detect the lack of filament after it ran one or two layers. Adding the material did not save the print as it resumed at too far layer... Is this how it should work?

[Odysseus81 0]

Hi there,

I got exactly the same question as I experience same behaviour. I have seen the printer working fine with the Ultimaker PLA and having the flow control enabled. But for third-party filament it doesn't seem to work as after few layers the printer pauses the job.

I would really better understand if this can be fixed, as the printer is just awesome. Also the queuing of print jobs is excellent (just planned the next 24h :-)

But.. if I run out of filament - thats bad.

Help appreciated !

Regards P.

[Carla_Birch 116]

The sensor works fine for me with 3rd party filament and i use it all the time, printer is basically on 24/7 most the time.

 

Have you updated to the latest firmware btw, i know a past update fixed a bug with the flow sensor saying one filament had run out all the time.

[Smithy 1,145]

That is strange and is not the way it normally works. I get perfect results when filament runs out, with UM and 3rd party materials, without any problems. So really check if you have the latest firmware.

 

One thing you should keep in mind is, that it depends also on the time, how long is the printer waiting for the new filament, is important for a seamless result. If you change the filament in time then you see nearly nothing on the object. If you change it several hours later, you see that the layer is not 100%, but still acceptable. 

[Odysseus81 0]

Hi there,

Thanks for your feedback and suggestions.

Just checked the version on the printer, it lists 5.1.8.20181207. Think this is the latest Firmware isn't it ?

Primarily I was looking for if the flow control works for Ultimaker filament only. Based on your reactions, this doesn't seem to be the case (which is a good thing though).

Firmware doesn't seem to be suspect (if it is really the latest one).

One thing which comes to my mind is the screw on the feeder. I did not change the "pressure" on the filament. Just used it straight after unboxing.

I'm down to the point now, where I would try to "increase" pressure on the filament in the feeder by adjusting the screw on the feeder (see attachement).

But the printing results are anyways AWESOME!!

Nevertheless I would appreciate the Flow Control feature :-)

 

thx for your continued support

 

 

 

 

[Smithy 1,145]

Yes this is the latest firmware.

The tension in the middle position is ok, you don't need to adjust it, only when you print with more flexible materials, but normally die middle position is more than enough.

 

Maybe there is some dirt in the feeder? Just an idea....

[Odysseus81 0]

Possible.

I'll check and will let you know.

First I'll run some testing with genuine filament (incl nfc chip) on each extruder. Thereafter I'll open the feeder(s) for cleaning.