Changing Filament Tips

Changing Filament Tips

After the jam when I changed filament, I've learned quite a lot and now I don't get jams any more.

First of all, I can't seem to unload my filament.
When I press Filament --> Unload, it comes back out a bit but then gets stuck.  I can't pull it out any further and I hear a clicking sound of the gear struggling against the filament still inside the mechanism.

So what I do is Filament --> Load and extrude the filament after cutting it as far in as I can.

At first when I did this I cut the filament like the middle diagram below.  This is only a good idea if you're putting NEW filament in and there's NO filament in the extruder already.  What this does is it makes it hard to push down since you have a sharp edge facing out.

Now I try to do what is on the right.  Cut it flat, and then cut my new filament flat and then push it through while it is extruding.  You have to go slow, basically at the speed of the extruder but it works 100% of the time for me so far (really just 3 out of 3).

Lightly the new filament through until it comes out and give it some more until it is consistent like below.

When you see on color turn into another, you've got it down for success!

 If you hear a clicking sound, pull the filament out and try re-feeding it at a different angle (90

degrees to what you did before.  To release the filament before you pull it out, push the level on the left side of the extruder unit down while pulling it out (to unpinch your filament).