This bad habit is silently killing your 3D printer
3D printers have come a long way in terms of convenience and usability, so much so that it’s easy to forget that it’s a miniaturized industrial robot. Like any manufacturing equipment, you need to perform maintenance and inspection, and certain habits and practices when using these machines can potentially shorten their lifespan.
One potential problem I’ve observed comes from using larger, heavier spools of filament. This is convenient because it reduces how often you need to change spools, but in some cases this extra weight and size can be to the detriment of your printer.
Heavy filament spools add stress where printers are weakest
A standard, typical spool of filament holds 2.2 pounds of filament, and then the spool itself weighs a few ounces. However, you can buy reels weighing up to 11 pounds or even more, with a few options in between the standard and larger sizes. Obviously, consumer 3D printers are all designed to work with common 2.2 pound spools and have some wiggle room, and if you go with a 4.4 pound spool it probably won’t make much difference for a static mount. However, as the weight of the spool increases, the laws of physics take their toll.
The heavier a reel is, the more it resists spinning and the more it wants to keep going once it is cast. East rotating, thanks to increased inertia and increased static friction. Additionally, the additional weight mounted on the printer chassis resists the acceleration and deceleration of the printer, which can subtly change the machine’s vibrations and stresses. The filament spool is one end of a long chain of components, and adding more weight to that end could have a ripple effect throughout the machine.
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Extruders feel weight long before you see print defects
Assuming your printer’s frame is strong enough to support the added weight of a larger spool, the most direct victim is your printer’s extruder. In a direct drive printer (as opposed to a Bowden machine), the extruder pulls the cold filament using a gear system to the hot end of the printer and then out of the nozzle. The heavier the spool, the harder the extruder has to work to pass the filament through. The motor is now under additional pressure to pass the filament. And when the filament is supposed to stop.
This can manifest itself as various extrusion related issues. Common issues like under-extrusion, inconsistent flow, and layers not bonding properly. If you notice extrusion or retraction issues after switching to a heavier spool, recalibration can help, but many printers do not automatically compensate for spool mass.
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Mounting position determines severity of problem
A key issue when looking at larger sized reels is how and where your reel is mounted. Most printers have a rear or side spool holder, which is suitable with a standard filament load of 2.2 lbs. Printers with top-mounted spools can be problematic, because a larger, heavier spool weighs down the top of the printer, and swinging that mass back and forth can cause the entire printer to wobble.
In a rear-mounted configuration, the center of mass is lower and more centered, so oscillation from wobble should not be a problem, but this mounting configuration generally has more resistance in the filament path. That is, the filament must make more twists and turns. Personally, I prefer a side spool stand with the filament path as straight as possible with only gentle curves, but, of course, a side stand also unbalances the printer along that axis.
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How to Reduce the Risks of Heavy Spools
The first and simplest solution here is to mount your filament roll independently of your printer. Use a wall mount or freestanding table-mount reel stand, and you’ll instantly take the strain off your frame and remove most of the problems I listed above. Having a separate holder also allows you to optimize the filament path to be as straight as possible, reducing drag.
You may also consider using ball bearing spool holders. There is no central axis here. Instead, the reel sits on ball-bearing rollers held in a frame. You can use any size spool with these in the open frame type, which reduces the force needed to roll the spool. Ball bearing mounts reduce drag but can make retraction adjustment more sensitive due to reduced damping, rolling resistance.
Bigger isn’t always better, but if you have a good functional or economic reason to use larger, heavier spools, then you should try to mitigate the negative effects of that extra weight and give your printer and your prints the best chance of remaining problem-free.
- Construction volume
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10.4 inches x 10.4 inches x 10.4 inches
- Print speed
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500mm/s
The Centauri Carbon is Elegoo’s first Core XY printer, rivaling printers like the Creality K1C, Bambu Lab P1S and Bambu Lab X1, but at half the price in many cases. This would seem like a joke if the printer himself was not so competent and well-designed.
