3.0 Important Things to Know Before Extruding
3.1 Puller Wheel Storage
The plastic is pulled from the extruder nozzle using two wheels. These two wheels have soft
silicone tires, and use a spring to hold force between them for gripping the filament.
If left
stationary in one position for an extended period of time, the tires can develop a flat!
Therefore, it is important to disengage the spring and rotate the puller idler wheel out of
position when not in use to avoid developing a flat
. The following images depict Puller
operation and Puller storage positions.
Figure 5
: Puller idler wheel spring engaged (left image), and disengaged (right image).
3.2 Cleanliness
It is important to make sure your device is clean before use. We thoroughly clean each unit
before shipping, but dust accumulation occurs over time. Before extruding, inspect your extruder
hopper for dust and other contaminants.
If material other than the plastic you wish to
process makes it through the system, you risk defects in the output filament
.
Prot also uses two light sensors to read filament diameter output. We recommend
using a canister of dry compressed air (“computer duster”) to blow-out any dust or particles that
may obstruct the light sensor. We will show you how to know if there is dust getting in the way of
the LED or photoresistor in the “Light Guide Alignment” section 3.6 of this manual. If
compressed air doesn’t do the trick then we also recommend using a softer material (a skinny
piece of PLA filament works very well) to clean the photoresistor “slot” on the UI panel where
the LED shines light into.
Never use metal or anything sharp to clean the diameter sensors,
as permanent damage can occur
.
9
Summary of Contents for ProtoCycler+
Page 1: ...User Manual Rev 2 0...
Page 3: ...6 0 Congratulations 32 7 0 Appendix 33 2...
Page 15: ...14...
Page 16: ...15...
