I now have a 3kg PLA. I always use 1kg.
Does the AMS Lite have enough power to “pull” filament off the 3kg roll?
i pretty sure it can, as long as its on a rod that allows it to roll freely.
Again, this is my first time using a 3kg roll, and wanted to double check.
thanks.
Looks like some have tried it, but it doesn’t seem to be as simple as push-on-and-print.
I don’t have an answer for you. I would think that the resistance from trying to pull from a full spool that is 2kg heavier than usual would run the risk of messing up your prints and maybe even strain your printer. I think I would prefer to look into re-spooling the filament. Of course, at that point I would be wondering if it was worth the cost of all the effort.
Just to be clear - the AMS Lite motors only work to push filament as far as the extruder. At that point the extruder gear grabs the filament and does 100% of the work pulling in the filament.
I’d say the question is less can the AMS Lite push filament to the extruder, and more can the extruder pull filament on a 3kg roll sitting on the AMS Lite spindle, or does the mass moment of inertia plus the resistance of the spindle bearings raise the resistance to the point where the printer thinks there’s a filament tangle due to excessive resistance.
If you don’t need AMS feeding when printing your 3kg rolls (single color operation, in other words) then a really smooth bearing-based cradle for your rolls may be a better solution.
If you mount the spool sideways, for example on a lazy susan, you will find it easier to rotate.
edit my partner thinks this is counter-intuitive; so i feel i need to say it’s because of how bearings work, and how they spread the load of the contact.
I’m not so sure about that though or else the filament buffer would have no use and wouldn’t cycle during a print. I’m pretty sure it’s a combination of both. The AMS motors feed filament to the extruder, but once the extruder grabs it the extruder gets an easier and smoother pull while the AMS motors charge the buffer to keep spool inertia from being seen by the extruder.
Sorry, I should have been more clear, I was talking about the AMS Lite only.
Everything you said is correct for the AMS AMS 2 Pro, and AMS HT.
Nope. My bad. OP said AMS Lite and I spaced it. You even specified AMS Lite in your post above the part I quoted.
This is on me.
Generally speaking, extruder should not have any issues at pulling a 3kg spool. However, with AMS Lite … that may be a problem. I think respooling is a better idea to keep it working with AMS Lite.
Just the additional spool width guarantees really sharp filament angles going into the feed inlet, especially for a full roll when the force needed to pull filament is highest.
Respooling seems like the best way to go at this point.
The industry shifted away from the mass adoption of the 3Kg spools, this was in part due to the AMS (and variants).
A 3kg spool adds significant issues that the AMS lite was not designed to handle.
Simple stuff like balancing while printing, motors not being strong enough and return springs not calibrated for 3 times the weight. The width of the spool would make it harder to maintain a grip on the spindle, if the diameter increased then it may not physically fit within the mechanism.
Could it be done, possibly, should it be, no. It is far more likely to cause damage of parts not designed for such use.
If you use it externally (not via the AMS Lite), make sure it is on a very low friction spindle (something with ball bearings) and route the filament above the printer in a way that the return pull of the spool isn’t adding force to the print head.
I wouldn’t use it for fear of the damage and potential reduction in quality the issues will create.
Use a respooler to offload the filament to 3 empty spools.