Printer Filament Monitor

[rlballard]

Has anyone integrated this successfully with the N-series printer. I just lost a print after 20-hours due to a filament issue rather than a system problems that lodged in the feed port above the extruder and lack of movement began grinding the filament. Seems as though the manufacturer extended the length by welding the filament but failed to trim the diameter, this is what caused the print to fail, again not the system.

It would be great to be able to start back at a particular layer and begin again, I know this is asking too much. So the alternative is to integrate a filament monitor that would pause the system and save hours of print time and frustration. Toybuilder Labs has a Tunell Filament Monitor that they claim:

The Tunell Monitor uses a mechanical 24 PPR (positions-per-revolution) encoder to detect filament travel as you print. If the filament has stopped moving for longer than the (adjustable) time-out period, a fault signal is sent to your printer.

https://www.toybuilderlabs.com/products ... nt-monitor

It is a cheap upgrade, if it can be made to work. Anyone have any solutions for this problem?
Thanks...
BB

[firesped]

They are supposed to be working on this for the printer. you had an option to get one during the kickstarter. however, I'm not sure how the bondtech upgrade is going to effect this.

[jmp]

My understanding is that this ended up being more technically difficult than expected. Toybuilders isn't involved anymore, last I heard was Jetguy was working on it. One of the issues is that it required a feedtube all the way to the hot end (without it you would get false errors frequently, the detector can't determine the difference between a jam or slack from moving further to closer).

[rlballard]

Jmp is right, I chose this option on the kickstarter program but they said it was not in the immediate future. It would be awesome if it were tied to the program and paused the print until corrected... With dual extruders it makes it more complex so it would be a smart sensor tied to perhaps a raspberry pi or arduino to monitor the g-code to eliminate false triggers. Seems like it is right up Julia's ally....
BB

[LogicEthos]

I wonder how many people are going for the bondtech upgrade. I'm willing to bet, those that want this, will also be wanting the bondtech upgrade. I doubt you could have both, without some collaboration.

[rlballard]

I will be after they work out all the details....

[GnoStiC]

a while ago, for a similar project i asked John for details of the GPIO pins available on the side of R3D.

as you can see from the below image, we know there is spi, i2c, adc, uart etc. they are all grounded with zener for protection.
what we don't know is if these pins are already in use or reserved.

it would be great if printer sets pin high, say GPIO1, while printing is in progress and low when printer is idle.
and if setting pin GPIO3 high would pause the printer.

these would make implementation of filament monitor easier.
for now, easiest workaround i came up with is placing a normally closed relay before power input. filament monitor can trigger the relay, it would cut the power and printer would pause on it's own.

Raise3D side GPIO pins

[socke]

Originally I also opted for the tunell monitor. But since I use the Bondtech extruder, I don't think I will need the monitor anymore.
Yes, I had some failed prints but none of them caused by the extruder. Also the monitor wouldn't have saved a single one.

Just my opinion...

[jmp]

Originally I also opted for the tunell monitor. But since I use the Bondtech extruder, I don't think I will not need the monitor anymore.
Yes, I had some failed prints but none of them caused by the extruder. Also the monitor wouldn't have saved a single one.

Just my opinion...

It still could be of use since it would trigger if you had a tangle in your filament or if you reached the end of a roll of filament.

[LogicEthos]

It still could be of use since it would trigger if you had a tangle in your filament or if you reached the end of a roll of filament.

A simple IR break beam sensor would be a compromise to detect end of reel. Much more compact.

[socke]

It still could be of use since it would trigger if you had a tangle in your filament or if you reached the end of a roll of filament.

A simple IR break beam sensor would be a compromise to detect end of reel. Much more compact.

But this would work only for none transparent filaments. At least it would be hard to calibrate it for use with transparent filaments...

[LogicEthos]

But this would work only for none transparent filaments. At least it would be hard to calibrate it for use with transparent filaments...

A simple sensitivity adjustment screw might work, with an led. Adjust without any filament installed, for the sensitivity threshold.

[Wibb]

adding a limit switch between the extuder and spool would be enough to detect expended filament condition. then at least it would be able to pause for user action.

[GnoStiC]

also you can buy a standalone filament end sensor;
http://www.endlessparts.com/collections/3d-printer-parts/products/low-filament-sensor-for-3d-printer-detector-sounds-an-alarm-when-out-monitor?variant=16762129411

or build one with this simple design;
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1134134

[jeffarazzi]

I just saw this filament detector and cleaner on Kickstarter. It will supposedly pause the print when it doesn't detect filament. They claim they will add support to any open source firmware and you just need a free digital pin, such as a servo pin. One is $29 or two are $55.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/20 ... nd-cleaner

I wonder if Raise3D will mod their firmware to support? (Sentinel said that they are happy to guide any printer manufacturer on adding the necessary code to their firmware).

[firesped]

It's more complicated then just adding it to the firmware. on top of getting it to work with the firmware, they also have to get it to work with the touchscreen. the motion controller has to let the touchscreen know that the filament detector has told the motion controller to pause so that the touchscreen can also pause. but it may not know where the touchscreen was supposed to pause as it is feeding commands to the motion controller. the touchscreen likely needs to be hooked up to the filament detector so it can tell the motion controller there is a problem and know where to restart. It is just complicated.

[sylus]

I pledged it,let see if they are able to prose an implement to our printer

[2CNK]

I am personally trying a much more low-tech solution that simply raises a racket/alarm if the spool runs out. Not as broadly useful but would get the job done.

It of course requires you to be within earshot. But if you are, then you should have time to feed a new reel right behind the old one.

Usually I'll know if a spool will run out during a large print -- just not WHEN exactly.

[Jetguy]

Actually, if you had it send a signal to the Pavlok, we could solve the notification problem really quick. Bet you won't let it run out of filament twice!!!
https://pavlok.com/

[walshlg]

ROTFLOL masochists unite