Hey guys, I’m a noobie and have only had a printer for two months. I looked around but didn’t see any specific instructions on how tight to set the idler. I don’t want to over tighten it but i’ve also had it to loose and the gear stripped the filament. Any tips? I’m assuming it will be different depending on type of material.
Thanks in advance.
Hi there! Generally you will want to start with about 8mm distance between the two washers on either side of each spring on the idler tensioner arms. For abs you may want a bit more, for pla a bit less possibly.
Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Just thought I’d chime in here with my experience, which is not much but, here goes.
I was nearing the end of a spool of nGen material.
Looking at the spool, as the print was running, I thought, I wonder what happens if the filament sticks because of the
way it’s wrapped on the spool?
I found the answer pretty quickly!
When the nGen filament somewhat stuck because of the way it happened to unwind from the spool, The hobbed gear
spun on the filament and the print failed.
…
Lesson learned.
…
When nearing the end of a spool, either unwind the spool and place the loose stuff on the spool holder, or
really watch and assist the spool to rotate so the filament does not, in any manner get hung up.
…
That’s just my 2 cents worth.
You can also use this jig to help set the idler tension
http://devel.lulzbot.com/mini/daffodil/jigs/extruder_latch_jig_0.3.stl