Ender 5 Plus filament sensor fix

This 3D printer from Creality had a problem with the filament sensor the first time I tried to use it. I could see the blue LED light turn on and off (on if it detected filament) during my test print. When it turns off, it means it no longer detected filament, even though it was still there, and that would interrupt the print and I would get an error message asking me if I wanted to load more filament into the printer.
I figured out a way to place the level switch into a slightly different position so that the faulty mis-detections of filament in the printer had been fixed.
If you enjoyed this video and would like to make a small donation, you can buy me a coffee here at www.buymeacoff... Thanks for your support!

[@wynfieldmacy6581]

I just bent the metal arm so its pressed the switch button further in. Solved the problem in under 4 minutes. But yours works also. Always follow Dobie Gillis's words of wisdom work smarter not harder. Later all.

[@grumpysteelman]

While I also bent the arm, this video saved me a bunch of time troubleshooting. Thanks man.

[@sweetbread6374]

Yup basically just came in here to see the inside of the switch lol...

[@jonnoyes8913]

Best way to fix this is to bend the arm of the switch slightly. This will take up any slack as the filament slides through.

[@everettebinger5956]

How the hell did this guy not think of just bending the arm...

[@jeepcj7dude]

Yeah bending the arm is the way to go.......................

[@FrancisoDoncona]

@@everettebinger5956 wow, just wow, not that John btw

[@krider7296]

All you really need to do is bend the metal lever slightly and that should solve the problem. This will result in the roller being fully loaded while the filament is present.

[@CRUZIFIEDv4]

Easier to just bend the arm slightly

[@brianr4201]

Same problem here. While indeed the board is not slotted, I loosened the 2 screws, applied pressure to to the board toward switch then tightened the screws. That very small amount was enough to correct issue on my detector.

[@truko-o-trato5358]

Me estaba volviendo loco y como tu casi devolví mi impresora pero antes de hacerlo decidí buscar ayuda o algún tutorial de como podia solucionar el problema y apareció tu canal muchas gracias amigo me salvaste el día

[@JohnsDIYPlayground]

Con mucho gusto

[@gbishel]

I had the same problem with the ender 6 I just bent the metal arm a bit towards the filament, with nose pliers.

[@juliamarchese9457]

I just took apart the sensor and put it back together and it worked... makes no sense to me but I'll take it! Thanks for the vid

[@raulmacias6018]

Thank you for the video, I had the same issue, I just unplugged the sensor and it worked again.

[@WrenchingWarrior]

I am also encountering this issue. Thank you for the information and fix. Thumbs up.

[@raymondjohnbauer]

just bend the arm on the switch

[@JohnsDIYPlayground]

Lots of people having success bending the arm a little, yes.

[@sweetjabe7765]

I was about to return my Cr-10V2 thanks so much

[@miguelmendoza8312]

thank you!!! I was getting sad thinking i wasted my money on this.

[@JohnsDIYPlayground]

Other than the sensor problem, everything else has been great for me after 4 months of use. It’s a very good printer. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@peppertony1257]

I'm almost tempted to just stick something in there to keep the lever pressed. It says there's no filament when there is and when it snapes it stays where the senser thinks its going through

[@JohnsDIYPlayground]

Yeah I know how you feel. But like many have said, if you just take the sensor off and bend the metal arm a little bit, it seems to be the fastest and easiest way to fix the problem. It's a pretty common problem. Good luck Tony!

[@peppertony1257]

@@JohnsDIYPlayground I ended up just sticking a peace of filament in the sensor so that it is always on

[@dionsaurus3945]

thank you, happened on my ender 3 max

[@8510hacid]

happened tonight on ender 3 max.... brought me here....

[@user-gz2pg2kg8v]

had a similar problem with the 5 S1 printer with a different style sensor. I had an aftermarket filament feed tube on the machine that flexed more than the stock one at the sensor and caused the filament to curve away from the switch lever....Reinstalled the original tube and all is good

[@jimberg98]

I would have just used a Dremel to slot those holes. There's obviously no circuitry in the area. Just open them up so they're U-shaped on the edge. Make them fully adjustable. It also looks like that switch is upside down. Is that how it's oriented when mounted on the printer? If it is, wouldn't it make more sense to have the part that contacts the filament on the top? You'd get a tad bit more filament through it and you'd be less likely to bend the switch when feeding filament into it. I think some people have an issue with threading filament through it. It also looks like the switch could grab onto the filament like a friction pawl in that orientation rather than pulling through easily. I need to pull mine apart since it didn't report that the filament was out which is what led me to this video. Good stuff. Now I know what to check.

[@jimberg98]

I pulled mine off and found a little piece of broken filament locking it open. The orientation we see in the video has it upside down so there's nothing wrong with the way it's oriented. I played with it for a while with some filament and could see it's very flaky when pushing filament through. The last guide hole should be conical so that the filament doesn't get stuck on the edge of it. The only solution for now is to make sure the filament is as straight as possible when pushing through and if it hangs up to just twist a little until it doesn't. I have no idea how a 4 mm piece of filament got jammed in mine.

[@pheelix-]

There is a option in the latest marlin to set it a distance to keep printing after a detection has been triggered. I do not know if it would stop the runout script once it senses filament again tho. It would have to be tested.

[@SasukeUchiha-eo5gg]

i think i will just de-mount the sensor and feed the fillament directly into the extruder. i will leave the sensor plugged in but i will leave next to my printer. then after doing that i will either hotglue the sensor metal arm or i will tape the metal arm back so it's always activated. this will be a solution for people who don't want to use the sensor but you can always re-use it. i just want to print for the time being and i will keep an eye out for the fillament itself

[@paultinetti2480]

Thank you. TPU flexes too much and wont register on my machine. It was very irritating.

[@frankielam1283]

Thank you for this. I was about to throw my ender 5 plus out the window.

[@Lachlan_2005]

Same mine had so many issues The motors the wheels and the motherboard all needed to be replaced

[@TreeFiddy350]

Thanks for the video! Would it be possible to just put a thin spacer between that piece of metal and the red button? I haven’t opened mine up to look at the mechanism, yet.

[@JohnsDIYPlayground]

A bunch of people have had success bending the metal switch lever slightly instead of my hot glue solution. Either should work. Let us know what you did

[@TreeFiddy350]

​@@JohnsDIYPlayground Oh cool, that's an interesting idea! For the moment I just stuck a piece of filament into the sensor to keep it on while doing prints. My attention is currently focused on maintenance of an SLA printer, so it may be a week or so before I have time to give this a look, but I'll be sure to update you with what I do to fix this!

[@valmolina8236]

@@TreeFiddy350 I just unplugged the sensor wire to keep it working on my ender 6.

[@TreeFiddy350]

@@valmolina8236 Thanks for the tip! I have seen other people doing that as well- I’m pleasantly surprised that it can just be unplugged, given how quirky the firmware can be. I’d kind of like to keep the sensor if I can get it working (it’s theoretically a nice feature), but I’ll just ditch it if I can’t fix the problem.

[@SuprSurfr]

Why not just bend the lever a bit?

[@JohnsDIYPlayground]

There is nothing wrong with that solution in my opinion. I just chose to angle the circuit board a bit. Either way should work. Thanks for watching!

[@markny8467]

I have a different issue. My ender 5 plus ran out of filament, blue light went out, but the printer kept on printing! Looking for a solution now.

[@JohnsDIYPlayground]

Strange! Let us know what you find out

[@sikotic74]

Same here, find anything that helps?

[@avengerjcc]

This is a known issue with these printers and the default display and default board. Pause at height will not work either. The fix is to upgrade to the bigtree mini 3 v3 along with a tft35 display. The display requires a printed adapter, and bigtree does not have the firmware for the ender 5 plus at the time of this comment. I was able to get it to work through many struggles, but it does work. There is a firmware on the net that works. It also made leveling so much faster.