Stop using "Pause at Height" for a filament change mid print. USE "FILAMENT CHANGE" instead!!!

I think using the Cura PostProcessing Plugin called "Filament Change" is much easier than "Pause at Height" It pretty much does everything that "Pause at Height" does, but it makes it much easier to load the filament and purge it. At times, when I was using the "Pause at Height" setting, I would bump the gantry and cause it to move down a bit and ruin the print.
Using the "Filament Change" post processing script, I have minimal interaction with the gantry as the script does everything for me. I just have to load the filament until it reaches the start of the bowden tube and the script does the rest!
Printer: Ender 3 v2 with bantam.design Fan Mount And Holder With 3 Noctua NF-A4x20 Fans.
Slicer: Cura 5.2.1
Settings: Ender 3 Profile Standard Quality
Filament: 3D Solutech
Octoprint 1.8.6 on a DELL Inspiron Duo Running Ubuntu 20.04 Server
Octolapse 0.4.1

[@Deses]

I like how you use a hard drive magnet as a filament guide. That's smart :D

[@RickyGode]

It's really handy and does a GREAT job of guiding the filament (plus it is easy to adjust)

[@BonJoviFan13]

This is the first video I've seen where you didn't use change at height. I never even new filament change was an option. I'm new to 3D printing with an Ender 3 Pro and I'm definitely going to have to check this out.

[@neilk22]

“Pause at height” lets you choose to reprint the last layer for better bonding imo. It also already unloads as much filament as you specify for an easy load, I just wish it would disable the stepper for the re load. I’ve bumped the gantry countless times to brick prints in the past, my workaround is to auto tune the z-offset to realign my layer while it’s printing, messy tho. Defs going to give the filament load code a try.

[@askarpulatov3327]

Спасибо бро. Благодаря твоему ролику я освоил этот метод печати. Лайк ,подписка!

[@euroriderdk]

How do you figure out how many mm you need to unload, and also load, when everyone have different length ptfe tubes. Thank you for a great video.

[@RickyGode]

It took me maybe 5 minutes of trial and error. First, I got the hot end up to temp and then I set the unload to 300mm and tried that. (it wasn't enough, so I pulled out the filament manually (like I always did, recut the end) and manually fed it until filament came out of the hot end and tried the unload feature again, but this time tried 400mm and that wasn't enough. I did this over and over until I came up with 425mm. With this setting my filament just passes the extruder gear and then it stops, so I can manually remove it without having to press the little idle gear release. Then... I did the same thing with the loading, but found that 400mm was WAY TOO MUCH because it was feeding it way faster than the hot end could melt, so then I tried 350mm and that wasn't enough, after more trial and error I came up with 370mm. So when I insert the filament just when it enters the bowden tube then click on load filament, the extruder slows down just about the time the filament purges out of the hot end.

[@foxdenmods7577]

Whst is that extruder attachment? Iv always had issues loading filament and thst thing looks useful

[@RickyGode]

I have it linked in the description. I don't think the website is active anymore it was bantam.design I really like those noctua fans it was designed for. They cool great and are very quiet.

[@PaganWizard]

What firmware are you using? What hotend and part cooling are you using? And most importantly, GREAT VIDEO!!!!!

[@RickyGode]

I'm using Jyers firmware. I "think" it's version 2.0.1 but it has long since been abandoned, but it's still working great for me. I'm using the stock hot end with an all metal heatbreak insert. The cooling I'm using is from bantam design and is linked in the description. Thanks!

[@vinayramesh3146]

Pretty neat text out there. May I know what is the nozzle size that you are using? TIA.

[@RickyGode]

The standard .4mm one.

[@wadegrigsby]

Is that newer firmware required to do this or is the stock ender 3 v2 firmware able to complete this function. With the script in cura?

[@RickyGode]

That's a good question. I never tried the filament change with the stock firmware, but installing that jyers was so easy and everything worked just as it did before, but better! (I love the bed level menu) The hardest part about jyers is figuring out what board you have (you have to unscrew the bottom and take a look, but after that it's easy!

[@pixxelwizzard]

When I use the "Filament Change" option in Cura my Ender 3 Pro doesn't stop when it's supposed to. "Pause at height" works fine, though. Any ideas?

[@RickyGode]

I’m running the jyers firmware on mine. I don’t think the stock firmware supports filament change.

[@intricate3dsolutions]

I do mine like this also but i always get a big blob of material when it starts printing again like its extruding too much material, do you know how to fix this?

[@RickyGode]

Yup, mine does that too. I didn't show it in this video, but at about 11:29 instead of immediately pulling the filament (like I did in this video) I hold on to it and just when the hot end is moving down to begin printing, then I pull out the purged filament. That way there isn't any blobs.

[@rubenverster250]

Remove the M600 command from gcode :P

[@charmainekleynhans4992]

hi I have a creality cr6se and everytime i do a filament change it ,extrudeds an evil blob of doom upon resume on my print .also im using cura slicer. do you have some advice for me

[@RickyGode]

I didn't do a good job at showing it in this particular video, but at 11:28 when I showed in the video that I pulled the filament out before I clicked cancel, I usually don't do that since it oozes (evil blob of doom) as you call it. So what I usually do is hold on to that long strand while I click cancel and as the print head moves on to begin printing I pull the extruded filament just before it begins resuming the print so that I don't get any oozes or blobs of doom.

[@rubenverster250]

There is an M600 command in the gcode that causes this extrusion. You can manually remove this command since Creality printers don't support this well enough I'm guessing that this will be a fix for you :)

[@RobertArmstrong-xm9zg]

My Neptune 4 Plus..filament change is grayed out

[@RickyGode]

I had to change out the firmware on mine for that to appear in my menu.

[@NaotaBaka]

i just recently got a ender 3 v2 neo, what should i do if my UI doesn’t look like yours? am i missing an update?

[@TheSakzzz]

He is using the Jyers firmware. You should try it too. Its good.

[@NaotaBaka]

@@TheSakzzz will do, thanks!

[@JakeEarp]

Great video and tip! Thanks!

[@RickyGode]

Thanks! I love the "Filament Change" Plugin!

[@AussieGeocacher_Teellamacorn]

I ran this script and it didn't work :(

[@CoCoNOFox]

Your printer needs m600 support

[@johnallen596]

I agree exactly with using "Filament Change" and NOT using "pause at height", but I have a problem. When I hit the resume, a little bit of filament oozes out just before it hits the print and leaves a blob where it first hits and it makes for an ugly mark because of the color change. Now, I have tried to wipe off the nozzle just before it hits but it still oozes enough o make a blob mark. Do you have any suggestions to fix it or is there something that I am missing?

[@RickyGode]

I have the exact same issue and didn't do a good job of demonstrating it in this video. At around 11:27 I usually grab the purged filament, but instead of immediately pulling it out, I hold on to it and pull it out just before it touches the layer to begin printing after the color change.

[@johnallen596]

I found another video that uses the Pause at Height method and that method lets you set a retraction at the pause, and you can set it at whatever you want. I did not know that. He suggested 1mm retraction. So, when I get home today I am going to try that method again and see what happens.

[@RickyGode]

@@johnallen596 That's a good idea too!

[@SoggyBiscuits1000]

@@RickyGode ill give that a go, it printed well apart from when it purged and left a big blob.

[@RickyGode]

@@SoggyBiscuits1000 I didn't do a good job of showing it in the video, but I always hold on to the end of the purged filament and pull it away right before it begins printing on the part. It minimizes the oozing.

[@SnifterRoux]

Where and how do I tell the extruder to slow down when loading filament?

[@RickyGode]

On mine it’s under “control” then “advanced” then scroll down to load length. I had to play with this number a bit as the lengths of the Bowden tubes may vary.

[@johanrosberg6165]

When i use the change filament extension it doenst work. It just keeps going. Ender 3

[@FrancoisJuniorCloutier]

Yes me too ! When I use pause a height it's same! I have ender 3 basic too

[@ewanreynders6112]

Same problem with Cr10s pro. It just keeps on printing

[@jenkins88p4l]

same here with Ender 3

[@Der_Kleine_Mann]

😬, I just found out that "filament change" and "pause at hight" require a different layer to be set to get the correct transition result. I should've watched your video before trying it 🤷‍♂️

[@ImposibleGR]

THANK YOU !!

[@ScienceMinute42]

How would i do this with creality print?

[@RickyGode]

I have no idea. I use Cura. Isn't creality print just rebranded cura? I think they might have post processing scripts, but you will also need to have the firmware that supports it.

[@Tht1guy63]

Soooo the start of the vid till cura is kinda pointless i feel. I never had to monkey with any of that. I just add the script at the layer i want in cura for my model backs out then i do my swap and purge and off we go.

[@Billyo234]

How does the machine use the settings u set in the beginning of the video when the g code has its own settings when u make the script

[@RickyGode]

If I think I'm understanding you correctly. In the beginning of the video I'm using the filament change setting on the printer. Using the little interface on the printer, there is a setting where you can choose the temp, how much to retract or feed and then save it on the printer's eprom. I made my gcode in cura match the same settings I found that work on the printer for consistency, plus I knew the retract would completely pull the filament clear of the extruder and the feed value would just start purging the filament out of the hot end.

[@Billyo234]

@@RickyGode when you say u changed the g code to match is that the script you show where u changed it to 400 or did u do somthing else to change the g code to match

[@RickyGode]

@@Billyo234 I see now, I went to "C:\Program Files\Ultimaker Cura 5.2.1\share\cura\plugins\PostProcessingPlugin\scripts" and found the FilamentChange.py file and "right clicked" and chose "open with" and used notepad so I could edit it and found these lines of code below: "later_retract": { "label": "Later Retraction Distance", "description": "Later filament retraction distance for removal. The filament will be retracted all the way out of the printer so that you can change the filament.", "unit": "mm", "type": "float", "default_value": 300.0, "enabled": "not firmware_config" and changed the default value of 300 to 425 so that Cura G-Code matched what I input into the printer.

[@RickyGode]

@@Billyo234 I also think I meant to say, "I edited the FilamentChange post processing script in cura to match my printer's setting" LOL

[@Billyo234]

@@RickyGode gotcha lol that’s a lot I don’t print multiple colors enough to change that I don’t think my first multi color prints were in the last two day thanks for breaking it down for me

[@buildwithtom]

Good idea :)

[@RickyGode]

It really helps that I'm not fiddling with the gantry.

[@euroriderdk]

Nice

[@RickyGode]

Thanks!

[@Zeltroix]

You should really look into upgrading to the mriscoc professional firmware, it's far better and more updated than the jyers one.

[@RickyGode]

Really? I've never heard of that one. I think the jyers firmware has sort of stalled out. What improvements does mriscoc have over jyers?

[@nikolaythird1454]

Greate!

[@CraigSteinhoff]

Yea i wish filament change was supported by all printerd

[@Tom-ik5sc]

I've never understood why people use "pause at hight" when this is designed specifically for changing filament

[@RickyGode]

That's what I thought as well, but it seems that the "M600" or change filament command isn't enabled by default on many firmwares. For me, the "change filament" script is way more reliable (especially when changing colors 5 or 6 times during a print) Those videos will come soon!

[@Tom-ik5sc]

Oh I see. Thats interesting. I have an SV01, and even though I've recompiled the firmware a few times, and replaced the motherboard, I think it was always activated from the start. It's definitely a better option, especially since it leaves the hot bed on. I look forward to any more videos you'll do on this

[@RickyGode]

@@Tom-ik5sc Here is a quick one. I'm not 100% finished with it yet photos.app.goo.gl/harmmZjD3U2RwdET8

[@Tom-ik5sc]

@@RickyGode That's awesome

[@stevewollschlager469]

I do not use change filament due to the fact that my ender 3 extrudes way too much filament after the change and the Z height is too close to the bed to clean it off. I can not change the script as I get a notification stating that I do not have permission to edit the script. Any way around that please let me know, I would very much appreciate it.