Firstly, thank you for an excellent printer and AMS system.
I recently encountered what is probably a rare situation. A print was completed successfully using virtually all the filament on the spool. There was only approximately 60 cm of filament remaining in the PTFE tube, so the AMS could not retract it back onto the spool. The printer repeatedly attempted the normal unload sequence, but because there was no longer enough filament to return to the reel, I had to remove the PTFE tube from the extruder and manually remove the remaining filament.
May I suggest that, if the printer detects this situation after a successful print, it could offer the user one or more recovery options, for example:
Retry the unload sequence.
Purge the remaining filament through the hotend as waste and complete the process.
Pause and prompt the user for manual removal of the remaining filament.
This would only apply in the unusual case where a print finishes with insufficient filament remaining to complete the normal AMS unload routine.
It would be nice if we could just say if the AMS detects filament is out and then job completes pick what to do without a prompt. Personally I like using those left overs for cold pulls so I wouldn’t want it to purge for 5 minutes either on a far away AMS. I swear I have seen mine purge a long piece of filament that ran out mid print but was no longer needed and a new color was loaded in a three color print. I thought it was possessed at first. If Im remember that right, they have the logic just need to apply to the end of job - with a choice either ahead of time like purifying or prompting at the printer.
It’s been a while but I’ve watched my X1C actually do this and do it properly. It can at least do this if programmed to (seen it) and it was a feature, but maybe a firmware update changed the behavior?
I don’t know if it still behaves this way though. I haven’t watched the process in quite a while and just check in to make sure the filament changed out like it should have.
I actually find it quite annoying as I’d much prefer for the printer to pause and let me cut the filament manually above the toolhead before purging.
Those end-of spool bits are quite useful for cold pulls, PTFE path checks and to give to the kids for their 3D pens.
Thank you for that. If it happens again, I will keep an eye on it. Any idea how many times it tries to retract before purging? Mine tried 7 times before I stopped it.
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