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Jason Charney
(@jason-charney)
New Member
Makerbot filament spools

I run a university makerspace and we are finally discarding our very problematic Makerbot Replicator 5 for a new Original Prusa i3 MK3S+. We have a ton of Makerbot PLA rolls left over, which have 1.25mm filament, but the spools are oddly shaped (thin and wide). Does anyone have any experience using these on the Prusa spool holder, and if so how did you get it to feed into the Prusa correctly? I'm asking because I took one of the Makerbot rolls to do a longer print on my personal Prusa and ended up with a huge mess and clogged hotend when I came back hours later. I am not sure if this is because the filament was tangled (regardless of the spool shape) or if it misfed because the diameter of the spool is much wider than that of other filaments. Any thoughts?

Posted : 18/08/2021 7:41 pm
cwbullet
(@cwbullet)
Member
Put them on ebay

I would hand them off for a price on eBay.  

--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog

Posted : 18/08/2021 8:40 pm
Jason Charney
(@jason-charney)
New Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Wish I could

Ah, if my university allowed that for things they originally purchased, I totally would!

BTW I noticed a typo in my original post -- the filament is the standard 1.75 mm, not 1.25 mm diameter.

This post was modified 3 years ago by Jason Charney
Posted : 18/08/2021 9:13 pm
Diem
 Diem
(@diem)
Illustrious Member
RE: Makerbot filament spools

Makerbot PLA rolls left over, which have 1.25mm

Are you sure of the diameter?  Most Makerbot filaments are 1.75 mm which Prusa printers swallow happily...

You can respool filament or print the 2kg spool holder which should be big enough..?

https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/469-spool-holder-2kg

And if they're old stock it would probably pay to dry them first.

Cheerio,

Posted : 18/08/2021 11:39 pm
Xanthe
(@xanthe)
Trusted Member
Assuming you are using the frame top filament holder...

Try moving it so that the Makerbot reel is positioned centrally above the frame on one of the arms.  If the Makerbot reel tries to 'jump' off the end of the arm you may need to print a larger endstop.

The reels aren't so wide as to cause issues with the position of the feed to the extruder in themselves, but the narrower the reel, the more force is needed to turn it.  If this is the problem you may need to put them on a ball bearing carrier.

Posted : 22/08/2021 6:46 pm
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