1 Topic by Poida

  • Poida
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  • Registered: 2020-04-04
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Topic: Clear filament - filawinder

G'day All
I've been trying to extrude clear PLA but keep having the winder stop. If I add colourant it's fine. From the look of it the transparent filament is not making a good enough shadow. I haven't had this issue with any opaque materials. Has anyone else had this problem? I have loaded the latest firmware on the winder (it may have had it already going on the date of the file) and I have shaded the whole sensor in case I was having random light affecting it.
Any help or ideas would be most welcome!
Cheers
Poida

2 Reply by MrFlippant

  • MrFlippant
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  • Registered: 2020-06-03
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Re: Clear filament - filawinder

Only thing I can think of is to slide it through a piece of PTFE that's somehow anchored in a way that holds in place while allowing the level to fluctuate as the filament passes through. I'm not sure how, but if it's a small enough piece of PTFE, you might be able to just tie it with a piece of string to the wall or bench that the Filastruder is on. That might cause the filament to pull too much, though, and break the extrusion. sad

It seems logical that you need the light to be blocked in some way, so clear is going to be a problem.

3 Reply by Poida

  • Poida
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Re: Clear filament - filawinder

Figured it out. There was too much light in the shed. The shadow was too indistinct for accurate readings. With the lights off it worked so here's the solution:
1. Built a new light sensor box with much higher sides and a top.
2. Turned off the 3rd bank of lights - the ones on that side of the shed.
3. Re-calibrated using a piece of clear filament
http://soliforum.com/i/?iv89M4l.jpg
So at this moment it seems to be behaving. The issue is that I have 3 banks of super bright LED battens, and a couple of work lights on the benches. While making clear filament I guess the left side benches will not be able to be used. Lucky my laser is on the other side and I can still play.