MakerGear Forum

so I got my new spool of ninjaflex to begin printing but the filament grips the inside of the tube big time. if I try to pull it through the tube while it drags the spool, its so much drag that it stretches the filament. I've heard of using a bit of spray lube inside the tube but I would be concerned that it would prevent adhesion. Any suggestions?

I've been told to swap out the original filament guide tube for a PTFE guide tube, if you want to print flexible filament. They're pretty easy to find on amazon.com. But then, I've also been told that the MakerGear guide tube is PTFE. And yet, I got a PTFE tube and it has a different consistency to it. Seems like it has a bit less friction, but I haven't printed anything as soft as ninjaflex, so it hasn't been necessary to swap out the original one, and I haven't done anything like a realistic comparison.

See thats the tricky thing Tim, I want to order a high quality PTFE tube for my printer but you're basically relying on whatever the seller says, and unless you have some method of testing its composition, it could just be a clear tube lol

ok yes i know exactly what you are talking about. ninjaflex used to have a texture on the outside of the filament and it would slide freely through the feed tube. the newest batches arent like that. the filament is smooth and it wont pull through the stock makergear tube. real ptfe tubes will be just slick enough for it to slide through. if you find the real stuff it wont be clear. it will be white and it wont be available in super long spools. for instance mcmaster has 50 or 100ft spools of it avail. this should be your first tip off that its not real ptfe. the stuff avail from makergeeks is supposed to be good stuff and i can confirm the e3d stuff is good as well. printed solid has it avail but may not be on their site.

as always, very helpful Jim. Thanks a lot sir

Alternatively, you can try (perhaps temporarily) cobbling together a filament reel holder ABOVE the M2, thus doing away with the guide tube altogether. If you have some extra PVC pipe lying around and a home center nearby where you can stock up on tees and elbows, it shouldn't take too long to glue up something ugly and functional -- at least to get you printing until you get some good tubing.

thought i would throw this out there. i ordered some feed tube from the guy on ebay that sells all the knock off maker gear nozzles...rp one labs. i can confirm that the tubing he sells is the real slippery white teflon stuff. cheap too.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Meters-PTFE-T ... 3398ebb065

jimc wrote:thought i would throw this out there. i ordered some feed tube from the guy on ebay that sells all the knock off maker gear nozzles...rp one labs. i can confirm that the tubing he sells is the real slippery white teflon stuff. cheap too.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Meters-PTFE-T ... 3398ebb065

Perfect timing jim, thanks! (Picked up a spool of eSun flexible stuff with last order - just haven't gotten around to trying it yet.)

I ordered some of the 2mmID PTFE tube from amazon a few weeks ago, but I was getting drag at certain spots in it when feeding the filament through so I dont know if its the filament thats inconsistent, or the ID of the tube is inconsistent or if the fact that it was shipped to me in a coil, which distorted the ID into an oval a bit, was the problem, or some combination of all of the above. I subsequently ordered a 3mm ID tube and called it a day haha