I’m not managing to make friends with the Polymaker cardboard spools. I’m wrapping the edge with electrical tape but I’m getting problems while printing 'cause the AMS doesn’t manage to unwind the spool because the filament gets stuck at the edge of the spool. Here’s a photo that shows the issue:
This is Polylite ASA filament and it’s the second spool that shows exactly the same symptoms (the two are different colors and purchased a few weeks apart). Is this a cardboard spool problem (e.g. too much flex) or is it a manufacturer spool winding issue? Each time the print stops and I have to unspool just a couple of cm by hand. It seems that if the AMS firmware used the spool motor to unwind just those extra cm it could overcome the issue.
Something I don’t understand is whether, while printing, the AMS unwinds the filament using only the extruder/feeder motor or whether it also uses the spool rotation motor. If it’s only pulling on the filament and the spool is rotating freely then it could be an issue of excessive rotation resistance. If it’s also using the spool motor then it could be an issue of traction. Anyone know?
BTW, I have to say that the X1C is amazing: it detects all these issues, stops, lets me fix, and then resumes. No trash prints.
I’ve had that same issue but it seems to go away once the spool goes down a bit and the angle isn’t so severe.
The printed rings may or may not help. I’ve also had a few spools that were so out of square that they would not work in the AMS and I had to transfer the filament to a Bambu reusable spool.
Your picture seems to show the filament is coming from underneath another wrap on the spool. When that happens and the filament is pulled off the spool, it increases the tension on the wrapped portion, holding down the portion underneath. It’s basically a knot. Untangle the first couple of the wraps so the filament coming off is always on top of the rest.
It’s not actually a knot, the filament seems to pull itself between other layers or between the rim and other filament. It happens repeatedly without me unloading the filament from the AMS. Each time it happens, I just turn the spool a couple of cm by hand and then everything continues printing and the spool unrolls fine 'til it gets to the edge again.
I’ve now printed the polymaker spool rims, so far so good. I’m wondering whether the problem is that the cardboard spools wobble and that causes a gap to form at the rim and then the filament sneaks in there.
