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3DChameleon Mk4 doesn't disengage filament

I have installed my Mk4 on my Creality K1. When trying to feed the filament, I've noticed that after it loads it doesn't seem to disengage the extruder in the 3dChameleon which is making the extruder in K1 struggle to pull the filament. Am I missing something? I'm fairly new to all of this and am still trying to figure out what I'm doing.

6 answers0 replies

6 Comments

Danny Brija

Aug 31

I am in the process of debugging my own setup, and I have found that even the simplest things like tube management can cause very high friction points even if you don't see them. I did a careful job of tidying up like you did, and I have since taken it all off and the filament moves smoothly. I had it stick badly before I did. Might be worth trying.

mike.d.sooter

Aug 31

Replying to

I’ll give that a run.

I’ve been thinking about reprinting the parts for the chameleon and trying to shave a little off where the bearings contact the extruder gear. To loosen them up a little when the filament is disengaged. I was able to discern the point of highest friction is in the extruded gears in the 3DC…but the additional friction from the cleanup may be a variable as well.

Danny Brija

Aug 31

Replying to

I also made a small modification to the 3DC. The holes where the filament goes in and out of where it engages the rollers were tight. I couldn't push filament through and if I could, there was a lot of drag. I took it all apart and used a small round file and made those features a funnel shape and it loads much easier now. Sorry I didn't take a picture, but this shows the idea. This is an MK2 part, the MK4 looks different.

mike.d.sooter

Sep 01

Replying to

I’ve looked closely at the STL files of the MK4, so I see what the differences are and understand what you’re meaning. I may try that next week. Thank you for the recommendation!!

wjsteele

Aug 30

After it loads, and just as the extruder grabs the filament, the 3DChameleon should immediately switch to a different filament, freeing the loaded filament to move. You can test this when you disconnect the PTFE from the extruder and manually try to load it.

Also, I want to make sure you're using our K1 profile and not the generated gcode from the website, as it sets up the unit at the start of the print, which is needed to put it into the correct state.

Any pics or videos of what you're seeing will help.

Bill

mike.d.sooter

Aug 30

Replying to

Thank you for the response, Bill. I have eliminated the extruder and hotend of the K1 entirely for troubleshooting. Here's a video of what I'm talking about. Earlier, I had filament 1 (T0) selected and was running a print for a filament spool holder (part of what I need to get my setup up and going) and with the filament running through the 3dChameleon, it under extruded, which I've never had happen before on this printer. That's why I'm thinking that the issue may be the extruder gears still engaging the filament in the 3dChameleon.