ohms
August 25, 2015, 3:39pm
1
Hey, I have an airwolf hd and got some nylon 618 for it, but I’ve had a lot of trouble feeding it through the bowden tube for some reason. Can’t even get it to the hot end. I’m just wondering if this is normal or if there’s something I’m missing. filament is 3mm and the tube doesn’t seem to be damaged
Ara
August 25, 2015, 4:03pm
2
Have you checked the tip of the tube inside the white plastic connector? If pliers were used to remove the tube, deformation at the tip can cause friction.
-Ara
If the filament is 3mm exactly then it is too thick. Airwolf takes 2.85mm ±.05mm comfortably. Nylon is extremely prone to moisture absorption and will swell if not stored properly.
1 Like
Dincer
August 25, 2015, 4:11pm
4
Hi,
The filament is supposed to be 2.88 mm. Otherwise it will work.
Hi Ohms,
It is not normal to have difficulty getting the filament to feed through the Bowden tube. If you have calipers, you can double check the thickness of the filament, even though the filament says it is 3mm, it usually is about 2.85mm with a plus or minus tolerance of .03mm. If the filament you have is 2.90mm or greater then you would have some issues getting to feed through. Also make sure you are cutting the tip of the filament at a 45 degree angle to aid it when feeding through the extruder assembly and then the tube and into the hot end.
In my experience, it is a moisture problem. For some reason, the moisture in the filament causes a lot of friction with the bowden tube. Dry your filament and try to see if that works.
If you need a quick way to dry your filament, try a hair dryer at a medium heat setting. My filament dries out after about 10 minutes.
From what I experienced with the airwolf, if you have a small bend in your filament, it will jam in the feeding tube. In addition, the way the roll is mounted on the side created a lot of stresses on the feeding operation. My recomendations to you is: 1- make sure there are no bends in the material you are using. 2- create your own external mount to make the feeding operation easier. 3- your last option would be to replace the feeding tube with a bigger internal diameter one.
