MakerGear Forum

Has anyone seen this before? I'm extruding ABS (my first time) and I keep seeing these curly strands of filament getting caught between the filament drive and the hotend...I'm not sure what is causing this or how to fix...I also sent a note to support, but figured I'd share this with the forum as well...

See the attached image...

Almost looks like shavings before going into the hot end.

Is your filament drive aligned with the hot end? Sometimes they can be off a bit.

Also is there space between the hot end and the end of the filament drive? (can't tell from the picture with all the stands in the way but your hot end looks like it might be mounted high.) There should be a space and look like this picture below. (keep in mind if you change the height you need to reset your z-stop height)

sthone wrote:Almost looks like shavings before going into the hot end.

Is your filament drive aligned with the hot end? Sometimes they can be off a bit.

Also is there space between the hot end and the end of the filament drive? (can't tell from the picture with all the stands in the way but your hot end looks like it might be mounted high.) There should be a space and look like this picture below. (keep in mind if you change the height you need to reset your z-stop height)

Well I believe they are aligned. I do have a space between them. I didn't have an issue with PLA, only with the ABS. I'm running some cleaning filament through in case there is something in there causing this..

but I agree, the best word for this is shavings...I'm just not sure what to adjust...

Is the path through the filament drive clear? Tension is set appropriately?

Are the shavings coming up from the hot end or down through the filament drive?

If this is a new roll of ABS and your first time running it double check the diameter with a caliper maybe the stuff is thicker than it should be and being shaved off along the way. Worth a look anyway... either way this is strange.

Yes, i have seen it..... it looks exactly the same as that, and the guys are right on the money with the cause. The hole in the filament drive is not quite aligned over the hole in the hot end neck, and it's shaving the filament on it's way into the hot end. It tends to be worse with some filaments over others, (in my case, softer PETG) and is less of an issue with PLA and stiffer stuff.

It doesn't seem to interfere with extrusion, but the shavings can fall off into your print. Check to see if your filament drive has shifted a bit - there is a little play in my left drive, because I was missing a screw (that I haven't gotten around to replacing yet) so that's why mine can get misaligned. Gives me a little trouble once in a while, but not often enough that i remember to pick up that blasted screw whenever I'm at the hardware store.

Update: And the other time it tends to be a bit of an issue is if there is a lot of curl in the filament, like you get towards the center of the spool. Straightening the first few inches gently by hand to get it started when feeding keeps it from shaving so much until it gets going.

Yes it was an alignment issue..all resolved!!

Thanks everyone for the info!!