Filament getting tangled on spool

[melkolo 5]

I'm a newbie here, I'm been looking the forum and have not seen anything mentioned about a problem of filament getting tangled up on the spool, especially on long prints. I have several prints of 10 hrs. plus and have trouble completing them because the PLA being springy as it unreels the filament will cross over each other and eventually become tangle over time. Doing a print unattended for me is a challenge. Any suggestions how to correct this, (keep the material from getting tangled up).

Thanks ...any feedback will be appreciated.

Regards

Mel

 

[donmilne 2]

Well, keeping the spool stored tightly wound should reduce the chance of it happening. If it was me then another thing I might consider is cutting off exactly the right amount of filament needed, and either let it hang, or wind it on one of the large diam spools that people use.

I've also wondered if it wouldn't feasible to wind some filament around a larger diameter spool or drum, then put it in a low oven for a while to "relax" it, i.e. reduce the excessive springiness you get when reaching the end of a normal diam spool.

 

[Titus 170]

Many people put the spool on a lazy susan on the ground, or just unwind the whole thing.

It also differs from manufacturer. Never had issues with Colorfabb as opposed to cheap nameless brands.

 

[melkolo 5]

Many people put the spool on a lazy susan on the ground, or just unwind the whole thing.

It also differs from manufacturer. Never had issues with Colorfabb as opposed to cheap nameless brands.

 

Thanks for the feedback, the interesting thing is I'm having this problem with Ultimaker filament...I will look into Colorfabb.

 

[IRobertI 438]

I'm guessing you've just accidentally let the end of the filament go underneath one of the loops on the spool. It has happened to me once or twice and it can be a pain to get rid of.

 

[tinydancer 0]

Well, keeping the spool stored tightly wound should reduce the chance of it happening. If it was me then another thing I might consider is cutting off exactly the right amount of filament needed, and either let it hang, or wind it on one of the large diam spools that people use.

I've also wondered if it wouldn't feasible to wind some filament around a larger diameter spool or drum, then put it in a low oven for a while to "relax" it, i.e. reduce the excessive springiness you get when reaching the end of a normal diam spool.

 

If you are going to cut it, make sure to add the length of the bowden tube since it will still need to be fed by the feeder.

 

[korneel 174]

for some reason the Ultimaker filament is not of such high quality.. there is color differences between spools, the filament is very tightly wound so once more than 70 percent is used the rest is so incredibly tightly wound around the spool the original feeder starts skipping.. I had to transfer between spools to get it more flexible.

colorfabb is higher quality.. both XT (love that stuff) as well as the PLA-HPA..