Does the Sunlu Filament Connector Work?

[@T313COmun1s7]

Pro Tip: Hold the two filament ends together and clip the angle across both at once. It ensures the angle matches perfectly when you rotate one 180° around. Then you have a perfect mating surface between them. This really improves the success rate.

[@greybeardtech821]

Came here to say this.

[@gogolkj]

It worked the other way round for me: I but both ends straight, as I find it’s difficult for me to align the two ends angled, particularly when both filaments are curved. By cutting both ends vertically I can get them fused in one go.

[@johnnyquest8333]

That should be obvious, but never occured to me. Appreciate you!

[@smilertoo]

It's nearly there, needs rubber filament grips either side that push it in slightly when the 'lid' is closed, and it should sandwich the filament in between two halves of better PTFE so you dont need PTFE for every join.

[@b3owu1f]

That's a good call. I dislike the idea that you gotta buy more PTFE.. but I Assume you can just buy a long one and cut it up for use as well.

[@breathinglead871]

I work at a print farm and recently we added a bunch of Flasforge A5Ms. The printers come with 50g of their burnt titanium filament. A kilo of that filament costs nearly $30 and I have about 60 of those 50g samples that I got to take home with me 😅. My connector comes on Wednesday and I can't wait.

[@Reds3DPrinting]

You should record a vid on it! That sounds like a ton of fun!!

[@LeonBeckel]

I would recommend you try to use the little PTFE cutting piece in the back to keep them in place whilst they are still hot. That way they wont slip away from one another and you can squish them together in a much more controlled way. Also I found out that if you wiggle the PTFE after cooling, you can just slide it off and use it again. The result might not be as great as with a new one, but definitely serviceable.

[@radarmusen]

That brilliant if it’s possible to reuse them.

[@AndreaTani]

Got it yesterday and used it for the first time, I had a spool on low and other 3 at a barely scrap level. I succesfully bound them all, with a 10 min learning curve about the right pressure to use and got myself a respectable 200g spool in less than 30 minutes. It was a very good experience!

[@BlondieHappyGuy]

This appears to works well. The only issue I see is the need for those sleeves. I do wonder if SUNLU will make a new version that doesn't need the sleeves. Perhaps, it could have 2 aluminum halves, that are like hotends, that come together, over the 2 ends and just melt directly. If there's an issue with sticking, perhaps using some PTFE dry lube would solve that. I just don't like devices that rely on disposable things like those sleeves.

[@b3owu1f]

One guy posted above he slid it down and reused it. However depending on how long the spool is that could take a bit though I guess you're likely rewinding it anyway on a spool so perhaps not a big deal to reuse? But yah.. seems like there should be some thicker PTFE halves on each end that clamp over when you close the lid.

[@BeardedPrinter]

I found that filament connector to be super easy to use. After connecting a ton of "remnants" together I used it to prototype designs and didn't have one filament clog! I think it works great! Also, on a separate note: Couldn't help but notice the headamame headphones in the back! Looking good!

[@CAD_GEEK]

One of my students bought one of these. He brought it in today and ran it through its paces. It worked quite well. I was impressed.

[@DELTAWC909]

I found that because they are near the end of the spool the filament curls a lot, so straightening the ends a bit helps a lot when joining, but very happy with the Sunlu Filament Joiner so far!

[@PNWPrototyping]

A short length of 1.8mm ID PTFE tube and a hot air gun set for 200C works about the same for me, but this is a handy solution if you don't have the hot air gun. I reuse the PTFE tube, but it's about $7 for 10 ft of it. You only need an inch or two for 10+ welds. I generally only get 10 or so welds out of one piece because I invariably lose that little piece and have to cut a new one.

[@ausfoodgarden]

I will try that with all the odd bits of PLA I have sitting around. Where did you get 1.8mm ID PTFE tube from? All the ones I've seen and bought are 2mm ID.

[@medduck]

@ausfoodgarden ya I have been looking for 1.8mm ptfe also, to no avail.

[@chaymber_crafts]

I'm reusing the sleeve by sliding them up, aslong the sleeve is intact and reusable. Works for me👍

[@b3owu1f]

oh? It looked like from his video it was sort of "spent" and not reusable?

[@chaymber_crafts]

@b3owu1f if they aren't to damaged, you can reuse them. But for reliability, it's meant for one time use.

[@BloodSteyn]

Ordered mine after your video. I've been looking at one, but they weren't around locally before. After your vid I looked around again and a local supplier that had just gotten stock in, and it arrived this morning. Thanks for the great vids and keeping the makers informed, o7

[@stephengittins6116]

Could the lime green filament be dissolvable filament that you've used for supports?

[@Foodgeek]

What is the purpose of this when you have a filament sensor? You'd also have to re-spool it to avoid tangles :)

[@photographingtime]

I built myself a filament holder for my SUNLU and it helped me get more solid splices. You get more finger free to get a solid splice.

[@svenprangemeier1433]

Got mine a couple of weeks ago and it didn't work as expected at the beginning. It was a user error since the USB adapter didn't provide the needed 2A output power. Now it is working without any problems and the next project will be the pastamatic filament spooler to get all spools emptied the lazy way.

[@redavatar]

Since I got my Bambu A1 with AMS, I've been using up all my spool remnants by using the feature where it swaps to another spool when it runs out. Just be careful the filament isn't glued or taped at the end.

[@dkev001]

I got mine a few weeks ago. Works perfect.

[@justinbouchard]

it looks like it's about as easy as it gets i found a video a couple months ago where a guy uses silicone tubing for home brewing that has a slightly smaller inner diameter than filament so you just push both ends of filament into the tube so they touch and heat it with a soldering iron or a lighter to melt the filament together, works great also

[@andyb7754]

I bought one the first day of the kick starter. Their delivery date kept stretching out month after month, but it did come and I'm looking forward to trying and using it. I want to learn more about it by watching theses videos before I try. Thank you for the video.

[@jasongooden917]

it took 3 months for it to arrive to me.

[@joshhutchison9447]

I got mine and used it to connect alot of spools of filament together and worked well

[@ghostshadow1]

The color of the final print was just totally awesome!

[@scifimodelshop]

If you have a 1/3 roll and half roll yes cutting would be easy way? after looking at this the 1/3 roll will you would want to spool in the half roll right? so if some one came up with a winder where you could clamp the tube in the device to hold the tube in place then spool I would think you can use the same tube over and over??

[@karenchaudesigns]

🤔 If I had one of these, I'd use it to make my own custom rainbow filament. It's hard (to impossible) to get the desired color transitions on small prints using the rainbow filament options that are currently available. Being able to completely customize the filament (which colors and how fast the transitions are) would be pretty cool!

[@RichEklund]

It is a cool idea but at the cost of three full rolls of filament I wonder if the cost of the filament connecter is justified. Especially when it requires a consumable, the PTFE sleeves.

[@bigun89]

I got one - the only sore spot I have is the lack of replacement PTFE tubes from the manufacturer. I finally found some third party ones, but having them available on Amazon (especially from Sunlu) would be preferred. Hopefully this changes soon. In the meantime I try to reuse them 2 to 3 times by sliding it off the rolls, but you can overdo it and eventually the tube warps and makes a misshapen connection and will clog your bowden tube.

[@francistaylor1822]

You can just buy PTFE or Capricorn tubing (Would recommend the latter if you are doing high temps) and cut it up, surely?

[@anderfrank1]

@@francistaylor1822 Looks like the ptfe that comes with the device is thinner than what you would normally use for a bowden tube (so it can be cut easier I would guess).

[@francistaylor1822]

@@anderfrank1 i cant see them having a special one just for this purpose - when i get mine ill compare i guess but i would be suprised if you cant just buy bigger quantities of the stuff either way

[@ryanleblanc1530]

I found that using mine was a very small learning curve to get the pressure right but worked fantastically!

[@jeffreydutra]

I wish someone sold a cost effective respooler, that would make this more appealing

[@aloowakp]

@@jeffreydutra just print one, there's s few on makers world

[@Camaro45th]

Hey just a heads up you don’t have to cut the connection piece off just twist and slide it off and you can reuse them!

[@HairToThePie]

I have used a lighter and a razer blade for like 5 years now. It takes about a min to do and I usually just do it on the fly on the machine.

[@figuresix]

Sweet, now I can stop using the one I 3d printed a few years ago, and had to heat by hand. Was so much work.. I have about 50 partial rolls that been sitting around for years that I can finally get to.. Thanks dude.

[@PeeJay7290]

At least you did it properly, unlike another large 3D print KZbinrs

[@ThePlacemat]

thoughts on the filament they sent you? I'm in love with their PLA + 2.0, just wish it had more colours

[@kunicross]

Oh when I saw the finished model that might be a use case to make something multicolor without ams (or more colour's than it would usually support...)

[@TeeborGames]

In a world of ams/cfs/ace and runout sensors this seems like a very niche product. But i can see where this would be very useful for older machines looking to have some sort of multicolor fun. Also cant rule out the creativity of making your own color mixes

[@Makenz]

A lot of filament sensors aren’t great unless they’re in the extruder, this is a great way to use up all the unused filament that runout sensors leave behind without you having to babysit a ton of filament swaps.

[@roll4stealth671]

@@Makenz I agree, runout sensors always leave something behind and this would be good if you had couple rolls of the same color and getting down to small amount left so you join the spools together so you don't have to worry about switching.

[@revanraven7172]

one thing you could do 3D Printing Nerd is 3D print filament into more filament creating a mixture.

[@FadedHero636]

So Joel would you recommend this if you have an AMS system?

[@christopherlyons7613]

So how much PTFE does this come with? Can you reuse the pieces? What are the specs of the needed PTFE? Does Sunlu sell this PTFE?

[@3DPrintHangar_RC]

As always, your videos are informative and amazing💪

[@sevenismy]

I wonder is you not can shape the ends of the filament to a half circle (with a heated pliers and a die) and then use 3D gloop to attach the ends on the flat parts of the half circle. It does not have to be a half circle profile, it could also be other interface shapes. We can lean a lot from Japaneses or timeframe wood joints. It just needs a lot of surface area and a glue.

[@gratefulamateur1393]

Wont the glue wind up in your hotend?

[@sevenismy]

@ if it is a glue which works as a solvent it will evaporate and leave the parts welded. Just that PLA solvent are not health and not easy come to by in every country. CA glue would probably be nice if it’s sure that it melts too.

[@DaveDarin]

And I liked your editing of Schitt's Creek into your video. You have good taste in TV shows.

[@RFC3514]

Relying on the PTFE tubes seems less than ideal. It should have a split metal block with a channel of the correct size that wouldn't even allow the joint to expand as you pushed both ends into it.

[@valseedian]

so, it's a microcontroller, (touch?)screen, thermistor and a 2.7ohm resistor? i think im gunna make my own... biggest issue is i probably can't print the body in pla or petg. maybe wood... can use a copper tube cut in half as the fusing core. maybe a machined aluminum cooling core too.

[@lassikinnunen]

Basically. If you have a digital hot air gun or a digital soldering iron you can already do this though.

[@dafinch9752]

I just got one based on your short video of it. Haven't used it yet but I'm looking forward to it.

[@hightde13]

I hope the infinity flow folks send out some units. They had a kickstarter recently that looked very interesting and might solve some of the breakage issues with old filament as well. it doesn't weld but it does feed continuously switching back and forth between spools. It looks promising if a bit overpriced.

[@brycejacobson5773]

I have had absolutely no luck using mine. The instructions state there is a timer that will sound after the recommended heating time, not on mine, or it doesn't work if it does exist. If I use their recommended times, the filament is overheated and just folds on itself. Maybe I can eventually master it, but I don't know if I want to waste the time.

[@Peter-i7y1q]

Why don't you want to rely on your printer to join the filaments? I have great experience just using the AMS Using a filament joiner requires you to unspool. That seems like a lot of work

[@Andyah]

i got one and it works well :) did bump up the temp to 190. so far so good at that with pla for me :)

[@MistImp1]

Hopefully v2 will find a way to not use consumable ptfe tubes. I’m going to wait and see.

[@phadeezz]

What's that tower? I want to print one!

[@kenabi]

i think i'd prefer something like the units they use to join fiber optic cable. doesn't use sleeves, you just trim, slightly rough up/slightly polish both ends and square them, and then heat/jam them together in a metal die. can't imagine this couldn't be adapted to trim the filament at an angle.

[@adamrosenhamer3762]

i wish there was a version of this that could be made without the need for the ptfe tube waste... the whole point is to save waste but to do that you have to make more waste?

[@tinmole9032]

Nice Frankenstein filament. So this filament fuser is Finally available?

[@karmakh]

TBH, I don't find this worth the money nor the time to use, but I still find it nice that this product exists.

[@MySpam-v1t]

Wouldnt be easier to take an AMS and load all this spools on after another?

[@Roskellan]

I have ordered one on the spot, a solution that actually appears to work. 🙂

[@PutTheKettleOnGromit]

Yes, the 0.6mm Nozzle XL is sweeet!

[@MichaelThompson77]

For the price of that I’ll stick to my cheap method I’ve been using for years. Lighter and a piece of ptfe tube. It has worked great for me.

[@markbreidenbaugh6033]

For the life of me I cannot find that dice tower model he printed. Any chance anyone knows where to find it?

[@BenjiGreig]

Not a fan of the disposable PTFE. Feels like a solution for that introduces another waste problem.

[@Reds3DPrinting]

soon as I can afford members Im snaggin it Joel!

[@davydatwood3158]

This kind of feels like MiniDisc to me - an elegant solution to a problem that doesn't really exist much any more. My horrible old Ender didn't have a run-out sensor and I'd end up with a couple metres of "leftovers" from spools that I wasn't willing to risk using. If that still happened, this tool would be excellent. But now? Now I've an X1C and I just keep using a spool until it runs out. I do have a number of partial spools, sure - but I don't have a bunch of odd-and-sods any longer. Yes, it took some time and attention to burn off all those remnants - but I honestly don't think my personal time investment of "check if the printer ran out yet, go load another remnant, come back in twenty minutes" until I burnt through all the scraps was any more than the time needed to manually join a bunch of tag-ends. I'd be very curious to revisit this in six months, and see if you've generated another stack of scraps that needs joining up. Overall, though, I think this joiner is a product that does it's job well - but no-one needs that job done any more because the world moved on.

[@lassikinnunen]

Look, its just a commercial version of what hobbyist have been doing for a decade

[@IcanCwhatUsay]

Where's the K2 Plus Review video??

[@MrBumbles2]

buddy they make this amazing tool been around what 100 yrs called the soldering iron , 6 bucks at dollar store. but hey the solution has been there the whole just people don;t think

[@slimjim7411]

@@MrBumbles2 yup 💯👍

[@ethansdad3d]

Neat device. I typically just let the Prusa detect that the filament is out and put in the next one.

[@ThisisDD]

Wow they took forever to get one to you! Most reviewed it last month lol

[@kattchaos7133]

I'm getting one for Christmas!

[@TheNewBloodDan]

Why not just have filament pass through a the joiner continuously (not while the joiner is on melting plastics) while it’s printing and maybe time it before you run out of filament, join on a new roll?

[@ryandowney9383]

That looks cool and all. But Mosaic has had a great filament joiner for years, the SpliceCore unit it uses in it's Palette multifilament machines. Why not make that into a filament joiner and sell that?!

[@TheM0JEC]

Used the link and it wanted £666 shipping! Went to the UK Store and it was free shipping. Hopefully it won’t charge me twice and stupid shipping cost?

[@DaveDarin]

Really no need for this, my opinion. My runout sensor works great. You do have to make sure to load the replacement filament and purge some and remove the filament that extruded out of the nozzle before resuming but I prefer to do that. I really don't waste any filament. If I have very little left on a spool, I will just keep it for small gears I make for robots. And joining filament together mostly would mean you are joining multiple colors and maybe multiple recommended heat temps, although you could go with the pretty much default of 205 with PLA. That seems to me a comfortable temp for most PLA. And, of course, you would not want to join multiple filament types together and make a complete mess of things. If you do this it might be a good idea to put the combined filament spool into a dry box. And I wonder how much time you save bonding together vs. just loading the next filament, purging, and cleaning the nozzle before you resume. I can do all of that really quickly where the bonding together seems to be more effort. But, maybe if you are bonding together 400mm of multiple colors then, perhaps, the bonding isn't a bad idea. For me, I just see no need.

[@bridget_clinch]

I just start a print with the end of a spool, let the sensor pause klipper then manually chase it with the new spool until the extruder grabs it

[@ackthbbft]

I would only do this with the same brand and material. You didn't want to splice filaments from different manufacturers that you may have different temperature settings for.

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

I can't help but feel like waiting to feed the next spool of filament into the printer as one runs out takes less time than this 🤔 obviously it takes a bit more pre-planning, but that's half the fun of printing anyway 🤷🏿‍♀️

[@mikefas5406]

Not a bad price. I like it.

[@mzaite]

They need to eliminate the PTFE waste. Ceramic halves on the heating elements would fix that

[@3DPrintingNerd]

That’s a cool idea!

[@mzaite]

@ would probably double the price though sadly. I just hate waste especially when trying to reduce waste.

[@nickbutler7935]

You'd think at the price a simple filament cutter would be included.

[@frankb5728]

I can't make peace with the ptfe tubes being consumables. Otherwise it seems to work well.

[@jasongooden917]

Mine took 3 months to arrive but otherwise it's a great device. worked the first time I used it.

[@tonykyle2655]

I've had my Sunlu connector about a month and I still have not unboxed it. :o

Now the little tubes become a consumable material that we have to buy from Sunlu for as long we want to keep using this artifact. What a way to ruin a great idea.

[@TheDanielCota]

Or get and use an AMS. Load Partial spools in all 4 slots and enable Filiment crossover automatically

[@BeefIngot]

The problem with this solution is there are a bunch of filament switchers which are all less wasteful, less painful, and don't require a string of ptfe tube and a small bit of inconsistent filament where they are joined. If someone has an AMS, MMU3S, CFS, ERCF, etc, this is a not very good solution and if some one doesn't, its still a worse solution than a filament sensor just because of the fiddly nature of it.

[@ManWithBeard1990]

My two cents: know when to use it but also know when not to use it. Unfortunately the production and disposal PTFE has an environmental impact tens to hundreds of times greater than that of PLA, so if the pieces of PLA are too small, just toss 'em. Or try it do it without cutting the PTFE.

[@potayto-potahto881]

IMO, this is a solution in search of a problem. We already have features like bambu's auto refill. And that doesnt require wasting $50 and ptfe tubing.

[@paulgrep3193]

@@potayto-potahto881 agree totally- just use the system on the printer that’s designed to swap filaments 100’s of times anyway…..

[@Matt-bb3nr]

But that doesn't help me get rid of 50 plus spools unless I'm actively doing the print. Huge space saver for me

[@thingswelike]

AMS: Fine as long as 4 roll ends is enough for your print. On all other printers, it's a pain to babysit.

[@alexgibson7960]

I would agree, but for me, filament runout on my x1 is pretty terrible, with it causing artifacts when transitioning to a new roll. For some reason this problem isn't present on my a1 though. I found this out after having already purchased the connector though.

[@TechBrewGamer]

It is to expensive for what it is. I would think it should be $20.. Not $50.

[@marekmahlpo1607]

You are absolutely right. This filament connector is too little too late after bambo labs and other AMS systems. For $20 might work for somebody, but not for the $50....

[@SquintyGears]

Yeah for it to make sense for us it would have to be cheaper. But I don't think they can easily make it that price if they refuse to sell it at a loss. The starting costs for something that hasn't and probably won't move a ton of units has too big of an impact. But since it's a supporting tool for their core business they could make a loss on it. They could even bundle it with printer purchases to errase some of the lost margin.

[@thingswelike]

Yep, I'll bite at $30 including 200x PTFE.

[@OmegaGamingNetwork]

It is a neat first attempt, but the consumables are a deal breaker for me. I want a device that I stuck the filament in, press a button and it just works.

[@_Xantras_]

My will to buy this immediately faded the moment it turned out you had to join them with a PTFE tube meant to be cut. It's wasteful way to prevent waste, and also means anything printed hotter than PETG can't be worked with, very disappointing. Hoping for a superior version where the joining happens in an openable metal tube.

[@kenyajobs1069]

2:35 Was he rofling? No, seriously, was he?

[@IamMrDisaster]

Throwing away a piece of PTFE tubing for every joining seems stupid wasteful. Why not just use an AMS to feed them?

[@DELTAWC909]

You can take the small ptfe off the filment without cutting it, you just have to push it off the whole length of filament, tedious but it works🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Thomllama]

Connect all the things!!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@lonewolfsstuck]

looks to function almost like a fiber optic splicer.

[@andreyansimov5442]

but there is an open project of such device 🎉

[@22Hobbies]

careful when welding PETG, because when the PTFE gets around 238°c, it can start to release toxic fumes!

[@Martial-Mat]

Even if your time has no value, and you don't need consistent coloured models, this is STILL an idea that looks better on paper than reality. Despite your upbeat conclusion, I bet you won't be using this in a year. I really see no use cases where this is a viable solution: 1: Ecofriendly - What about the electric, and the food energy it requires you to respool? 2: Cheaper - Only if your time has no value and you produce a LOT of partial rolls 3: Too poor to throw filament away - Then how are you affording to print in the first place? 4: Recycling - Unless you are prototyping, or only welding single colour filament, when is that multicolour monstrosity acceptable?

[@andreacook7431]

4. I have lots of storage that are multi coloured from using little bits of filament. Who cares if bins in my drawers are multi coloured?

[@Martial-Mat]

@@andreacook7431 Fair enough. I would care, but each to their own.

[@MattKennedy-r4e]

Hey, not trying to be a tool. Just a little help. Thats Improper use of the word “contiguous “. “CONTIGUOUS”…. Means things are next to each other with a border. Like the USA and Canada are contiguous but are divided. “CONTINUOUS” is proper. Means something is uninterrupted or never-ending. For example, a continuous line of filament is uninterrupted. You were implying that the new strand would be “uninterrupted” Just an FYI 👍🏼

[@YaManImCool]

So ptfe tube as a consumable? Why not just the old ptfe tube and a lighter method? Why am I buying this thing?

[@ReneJethmal]

I'm not buying one, but I'd say consistency and repeatability.

[@mrwiggles837]

This problem was solved already by filament runout sensors and AMS tech. this feels like a solution I would have needed in 2018 not 2024.

[@christianlainesse4281]

Seems like too much work to me, I would prefer something in which you can just press two filaments on top of each other, squeeze them together while letting the extra volume come out of small side holes, with the excess getting cut semi-automatically or with a manual slider. Kinda like a miniature George Foreman Grill with extra engineering for filaments.

[@miroberghegen2069]

7:32 👉👈