I put mine before the extruder (BMG) but if you use an stock ender 3 extruder and the filament kicks out the side of the extruder on a jam then it won't detect it. Overall I prefer this over a switch anyday.
I bought 6 of these things for my small print farm and couldn't get them to work at all with my printers. I might have to try it out again thanks to this video. 😁👍👍
@@ChrisRiley indeed, although I was working many years with microcontrollers, I always come back to your tutorials, it saves me many hours of troubleshooting how to enable a feature :)
This video is gold. Basically it works for any configuration of board and firmware if you know which board, and what kind of filament detector you intend to install. I never get tired of coming back here. Thanks for the content.
The smart filament sensor is great. I have it on three of my printers. Used them with Marlin/Octoprint (host prompt support) and now with Klipper and RRF.
@@BackwoodsTinkerer [filament_motion_sensor btt_sfs] detection_length: 7.0 # The minimum length of filament pulled through the sensor to trigger # a state change on the switch_pin # Default is 7 mm. extruder: extruder # The name of the extruder section this sensor is associated with. # This parameter must be provided. switch_pin: rpi:gpio13 #pause_on_runout: #runout_gcode: #insert_gcode: #event_delay: #pause_delay: # See the "filament_switch_sensor" section for a description of the # above parameters.
So I found mine had some blobs of rubber on the rubber wheel which was making the filament pull-though a bit jerky. After cleaning those it has improved it. I've also swapped the spring for a weaker one - it still grips well but reduces the effort needed to pull the filament. Assuming my springs in my box have not been mixed up, the spring should be a "compression 7x12.5mm" from my Duratool D01893 spring kit.
I have one of these on my Ender 3 v2, mounted to the frame just before the extruder. With Jyers firmware, I was getting frequent false runouts. After changing the setting from 7mm to 25mm it works perfectly.
I have an Ender 3V2 with the 4.2.2 card and as I interpreted there is a connector on that card for this sensor. What motherboard do you have in your printer?
I also had this issues on my E5, running a 4.2.2 board. I thought it was the sensor but, after trying two other sensors, I dove into the internets. Found some others complaining of this issue. The update to the FILAMENT_RUN_OUT_DISTANCE fixed my issues as well. My thought is that the setting is pulling double duty somewhere and causing the issue. It seemed to trigger during travel in my prints.
I have the Ender 3 v2 (4.2.2 board) and tried this with no success. it immediately throws an error. Any suggestions? (I also have octopi running but still have it hardwired into Ender 3 main board)
Best timing ever. I ordered this sensor for my Taz 5 (modified by watching your videos). However, Banggood has it on backorder if anyone else plans to order from there.
I would never install one on my machines. Your video explained the details and validated my reasons to not install. I feed new filament right to it as it's running out as it's printing. This would get in the way. No I don't use stock tube configuration
I have a skr 1.4 turbo board using a tft 35 3.0 and the mini ups, a bl touch i could never get the sensor to work and took it off i don't know if it was because of the tft or if it is even possible to use it with all the other things i have on the setup. But i will try updating the tft and see if that helps. Thank you for the video!
Another great video! Advanced Pause is such a great feature, with multiple benefits. Shame few manufacturers take the time to fully configure it. I have had one of these on my delta for a year now. Little tricky to setup, but really like it. You mention the recommended placement was a bed idea, and it is! But could probably stress that it could still ruin a print being after the extruder, because the printer is not feeding filament during that 7mm, and could be a problem if printing an exterior surface. Mounting before the extruder makes it a mute point.
Good video. I hooked the same smart sensor up to one of my printers using Klipper and both Fluidd and Mainsail. I know why I switched, I had to change two lines of code from the simple switch sensor. I'm also using a direct drive which complicates the process, the filament is not constrained, so I am using a 75mm length. I'm in the process of testing my own sensor that is much lighter and may work even better.
@@ChrisRiley Thanks I will hold off purchasing it until you can review the v2 one. It was the one I was looking at too. Thanks again look forward to the video great job wit your videos please keep them up.
It works flawlessly with Klipper when plugged into either the control board or the RPi. That said, I am not happy with my sensor at all. It adds a ton of drag to the filament, to the point where it can actually cause under extrusion with some filaments in a direct drive set up. I have tried several tweaks to try an get it working better, re-tightening the bearing nuts so they are not over-tightened helps a bit. The entire housing needs to be redesigned so that it clamps over the filament like a scissor rather than a c-clamp.
when I start a print it goes right into filament change mode and if I go all the way through the process it starts printing again for about 1 second then goes right back into filament change mode
Hey Chris, thanks for the video. I noticed two things though. First was an enormous movement of the PTFE tube between the extruder and the sensor during retraction. Second, I was wondering if the device is using a quadrature encoder (two light sensors) or just a simple edge detect encoder (one light sensor). If it is just an edge detect, does it fail if the filament bounces when being pushed into a jam? Sometimes (most times) when the head jams, the filament moves forward slightly and then bounces back (overpowers and clicks the stepper). If the encoder is on an edge at that time, it will still think it's being driven forward because of the rising and falling signal from the detection scheme. It really needs a quadrature encoder with a small processor to count movement back and forward and only give the pulse out if it moved over a certain distance. Many DIY movement designs shown here on UA-cam only use one light sensor and can and do fail with filament bounce.
Again, good job Chris! I'm so happy not be crazy about loving this sensor after i saw an other realy bad review about it... I had face only one bug with the integration of the tft35 an octoprint: sometime it triger a false runout when i cancel a print. It seem to be a marlin issue, maybe about the 7mm calculation.
I've just received one of these. I haven't installed it yet but two things I have noticed after installing filament in to it. One is that it sqeaks! The other it that it adds a lot of friction. I would have liked it to be smooth and for it not to require so much effort to full it though. Have you reviewed any optical sensors yet?? If they are a good price I think I'd prefer one of those as they should be virtually friction-less.
Did anyone besides be notice at 12:50 just how loose the bowden fitting was on the extruder side? That'll play heck w/ tuning a profile. Definitely shouldn't be installed where BTT recommends it.
I’m very much a noob when it comes to changing anything in the Marlin firmware. Do I just download the firmware, open in vs code, make the changes, then recompile and load to the printer?
I'm afraid every printer is going to have a custom config. The easiest way is to use one of the custom config examples. github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/tree/2.1.x/config
I bought one like a year or more ago and forgot I had it. I plan to install it one day but it's not high priority because I so rarely run out mid print anymore. I have some large prints planned though so I need to get it set up.
ok im newish to 3dprinting but im curious how to do the firmware while running big treetech (my screen can switch between marlin/bigtreetech) not sure if its intertwined or how it works
Hello Chris, I would like to use one of these on my printer running on mainsail and Klipper. I have found commands and Macros that seem to be what I need but totally confused on how to implement. There is an M600 Macro for klipper, just seems like other commands are needed. Think you could do a video using the BTT Smart Filament Sensor with Klipper? Seems like "Capture" could be used then "Resume". But I'm sure more needs to happen than to simply pause, reload filament than "Resume" Things like moving to a safe area so the nozzle isn't just paused on top of the print. I see this all is done in Marlin but Klipper still has me baffled.
I bought one of these a long time ago to use with my Ender 3. It's an old board so I don't really have a way to connect it so I wanted to connect it to my Raspberry Pi, running Octoprint. I connected it to the Pi but couldn't ever get it working. I was hoping you'd cover the Octoprint connection method since it's printer board independent.
As always Chris , my config did not go so smooth. I immediately get false message that the filament is out. SKR pro 1.1 and BTT TFT 35 3.0. Could it be that the SKR common pins file says use PE15 as the runout pin and that pin is also used for stall guard/sensorless homing?(yes I am using sensorless homing) I have seen you switch out pins like this for conflicting features. ... see below OK so I was able to use the pins (and connector) for runout sensor 3 (PG5). I put PG5 in place where the PE15 was in the SKR pro common pins.h file. It actually worked. I couldn't have done it without you Chris, and your thorough and to the point videos. I also took your advice and set the runout sensor 3 pin to -1 so for now on when I use a new pin for something, I will check for conflicts. What we need next is a spaghetti sensor... LOL.. we have all made spaghetti
@@ChrisRiley A follow up. after 4 months I started having false filament jam detections. I thought it was the material and started messing with the sensitivity. No luck. turns out the wheel was not rolling as the filament passed by. I tried cleaning the wheel but it did not help. in the end I just bought another sensor and its been working ever since. Just thought I would share my experience- just in case anyone else is struggling.
My printer has a "filament missing" sensor already (Anycubic Chiron). If I followed the video, it seems like I would just need to make sure it was plugged into the same ports and that it had the same mode (normally open vs. normally closed switch) as the original detector and then I could just plug it in without modifying firmware. Is that correct: there is no need to set the type of sensor if your firmware is already configured for a sensor?
@@woodwaker1 That was why I expected the sensor type to need to be defined, but I did not see that in the video. I must have missed it: what is the tag to search for an the source code?
I have had nothing but troubles getting this sensor to work on Duet (RRF). I set the sensitivity to allow 25%-225% and it still gave me faults while printing. I finally had to disable it after troubleshooting and testing different settings I found on the forums :(. I had these issues on 2 separate sensors.
by enabling these should allow you to use the smart sensor plugged into the main board while printing thru a tft screen or octoprint. EMERGENCY_PARSER (in Configuration_adv.h) SERIAL_FLOAT_PRECISION 4 (in Configuration_adv.h) HOST_ACTION_COMMANDS (in Configuration_adv.h) HOST_PROMPT_SUPPORT (in Configuration_adv.h)
If your filament jams and it skips has the extruded grinds it do it sense that as a problem even if it’s like going +1mm and then -1mm? I feel like mine has failed me a couple times by jamming and not triggering
Ahh Id always thought it just detected runout using a crappy microswitch. Just ordered one of these. I have lots of filament spools near the end of their spool. This would be perfect to let me use them and hook it up to my print server to notify me when the spool has run out.
Thanks Chris! How does this "7mm" work when you are ironing a top layer? there is hardly any filament fed. Wouldn't it be better to use a smaller distance, like maybe 1 or 2mm?
@@spedi6721 A jam would not mater as much where the sensor is, but a run out totally does. The sensor has the 7mm built into it, you can't change that.
@@spedi6721 If the sensor is behind the extruder, as Chris has it installed per the instructions, a jam or filament break, will cause a massive gap while ironing. And there is nothing you can do about it.
I think it is better to place the filament sensor before to the extruder. Then you don't have to disassemble anything to pull out the remaining filament. To replace the filament, you just have to unload it with the extruder and you're done
Sensor triggers each 7mm movement, so marlin knows there isnt a jam, when movement is commanded and 7mm happens without the sensor triggering thats how marlin knows there is a jam. So it works with ironing, no problem
If the sensor is after the extruder, then yes.It will cause an issue in any print. Might not be obvious if it is doing infill at the time, but would if it was printing a external perimeter or top. Before the extruder is no problem, as the extruder still has filament to push.
When you have a runout sensor between the extruded and hot end you need to remove all the filament all the way to the hot end. If you don’t then there is a break between the new and old filament in the bowden tube. If there is a break there the extruded can not retract for 200-300 mm of filament (piece that remains in the bowden tube after the runout). By the time that break makes it too the hot end there is a >0% change your going to have a air gap between the two pieces. You will have likely stopped the print before that air gap due to how poorly the print is looking due to the effective 0mm retraction the break in the filament is creating. If you don’t think about it your next print will do the same until you realize you need a single piece of filament between the extruder and hot end or it pushes out that 200-300mm. Either Chris here or BTT didn’t think this through. I hate to say it but often times in the 3D printing space manufacturers assume you should know these basic things and don’t put it in the directions or don’t include directions at all. Chris should know this if he’s creating content for the masses to learn from. Regardless, you want a continuous piece of filament between the extruder and hot end in any scenario using any printer (Bowden or direct). If not then a vital function of quality prints (retraction) will not function. Always pull all the pieces out of the printer after a runout unless you are welding them together to form a single piece.
Great video! Had the same problem as others and just could not ever get mine to work on my Ender 5. I will have to give it a shot again just to make sure the sensor isn't just bad. BigTreeTech never bothered to respond so not very happy about that but their mini board is working great and this was only like $20..... I am looking to put mine before the extruder BUT I want to just feed more filament when it runs out. Would love to hear about doing that as I am not sure if I should set the unload to just 1mm and go from there or if I can turn the unload completely off and have the load routine just purge and continue. Hard to load filament on the BMG if I put the sensor after the extruder tahts why before would work way better ;)
This filament sensor works great until… You want to print with flexible filaments!!! (Like Ninjaflex). First, loading the flexible filament through the sensor is extremely difficult due to the heavy resistance of the sensor rollers. When printing, the flexible filament acts like a rubber band and 7 mm isn’t enough leeway to avoid throwing the filament run out error. The rollers add a lot of drag against the extruder. Now, when I print with flexibles, I bypass the filament sensor entirely and turn off filament sensing in Marlin through a g-code command. It’s definitely not ideal. Do to these difficulties, I am seriously considering returning to the micro switch run out sensor which does work with flexible filament.
I didn't really think about that, but I can see where this would be a real pain. Most of my flex prints are smaller, so I usually don't worry about runout.
Warning if you want to print flexibles and use this smart sensor, you're potentially going to have a real bad time. A good bit of advice is turning off holding timers, this will give you some insurance that you can unload and load filament without losing steps.
Hi Chris great video, appreciate that you used the newer mini E3 v3 board too. I was looking at the BTT github for their runout sensor and it says thay for version 2.0 of the sensor, you only need to set 3mm as the runout length. However, I cannot find any documentation on what makes the sensor version 2? Any ideas?
Link to Chris' host action commands for smart filament runout for Octoprint ua-cam.com/video/YDvFN51siMU/v-deo.html Great tutorial, cheers Chris! Any (park) settings recommendations for when the sensor is on the outside of the extruder?
Why is there so many good videos where discussion would be great with comments disabled.? It seems like a very counter productive way of growing your audience, as it just makes it seem like you turn them off if people don't seem to like your advice, or at least that's just how i interpret it without diggin further.
We turn the comments off of all the videos after they have been up on UA-cam a year. A lot of the content becomes out of date and we try to do a lot of revisit videos to keep it current. Most of all, it keeps the comments consolidated, so we can still answer them all.
The easiest way is to look on the chip itself if you have a magnifine glass. If you have a common printer, you can usually google it and find the board it uses and what chip it has.
I put mine before the extruder (BMG) but if you use an stock ender 3 extruder and the filament kicks out the side of the extruder on a jam then it won't detect it. Overall I prefer this over a switch anyday.
Thank you for your input.
I bought 6 of these things for my small print farm and couldn't get them to work at all with my printers. I might have to try it out again thanks to this video. 😁👍👍
I hope it works out! Let us know what how it goes.
I have had problems with direct drive - if the filament path is not constrained the length can be longer. I'm using 75mm and trying to get it better
Great video Chris!
Especially the Marling config part.
Thanks, I'm happy to help. Marlin can be a little tricky.
@@ChrisRiley indeed, although I was working many years with microcontrollers, I always come back to your tutorials, it saves me many hours of troubleshooting how to enable a feature :)
@@marsgizmo that's great to hear.
This video is gold. Basically it works for any configuration of board and firmware if you know which board, and what kind of filament detector you intend to install. I never get tired of coming back here. Thanks for the content.
Thanks!
The smart filament sensor is great. I have it on three of my printers. Used them with Marlin/Octoprint (host prompt support) and now with Klipper and RRF.
Yeah, I really like it.
Can you share your config for rrf
Any chance you can share the code you used to make the features work in Klipper?
@@BackwoodsTinkerer
[filament_motion_sensor btt_sfs]
detection_length: 7.0
# The minimum length of filament pulled through the sensor to trigger
# a state change on the switch_pin
# Default is 7 mm.
extruder: extruder
# The name of the extruder section this sensor is associated with.
# This parameter must be provided.
switch_pin: rpi:gpio13
#pause_on_runout:
#runout_gcode:
#insert_gcode:
#event_delay:
#pause_delay:
# See the "filament_switch_sensor" section for a description of the
# above parameters.
So I found mine had some blobs of rubber on the rubber wheel which was making the filament pull-though a bit jerky. After cleaning those it has improved it. I've also swapped the spring for a weaker one - it still grips well but reduces the effort needed to pull the filament. Assuming my springs in my box have not been mixed up, the spring should be a "compression 7x12.5mm" from my Duratool D01893 spring kit.
Good find, glad it's working better.
I have one of these on my Ender 3 v2, mounted to the frame just before the extruder. With Jyers firmware, I was getting frequent false runouts. After changing the setting from 7mm to 25mm it works perfectly.
Interesting, I will have to try that if I have issues.
I have an Ender 3V2 with the 4.2.2 card and as I interpreted there is a connector on that card for this sensor. What motherboard do you have in your printer?
I have the same 4.2.2. Just plug it in.
I also had this issues on my E5, running a 4.2.2 board. I thought it was the sensor but, after trying two other sensors, I dove into the internets. Found some others complaining of this issue. The update to the FILAMENT_RUN_OUT_DISTANCE fixed my issues as well. My thought is that the setting is pulling double duty somewhere and causing the issue. It seemed to trigger during travel in my prints.
I have the Ender 3 v2 (4.2.2 board) and tried this with no success. it immediately throws an error. Any suggestions? (I also have octopi running but still have it hardwired into Ender 3 main board)
great video Chris, as usual, I just love your style. Waiting now for the follow-up video...
Thank you! Hopefully, next week's video will be interesting for folks.
Best timing ever. I ordered this sensor for my Taz 5 (modified by watching your videos). However, Banggood has it on backorder if anyone else plans to order from there.
Thanks. There's a link for it on Amazon in the description.
I love this sensor, it saved my ass so many times with random jams, definitely worth it.
That's cool, I'm glad you liked it.
I would never install one on my machines. Your video explained the details and validated my reasons to not install. I feed new filament right to it as it's running out as it's printing. This would get in the way. No I don't use stock tube configuration
Thanks for your insight!
I have a skr 1.4 turbo board using a tft 35 3.0 and the mini ups, a bl touch i could never get the sensor to work and took it off i don't know if it was because of the tft or if it is even possible to use it with all the other things i have on the setup. But i will try updating the tft and see if that helps. Thank you for the video!
I’m having the same issue with the same board. Mine immediately thinks filament has run out as soon as print starts.
If you have problems using it through TFT , it's almost always a screen firmware issue.
Another great video! Advanced Pause is such a great feature, with multiple benefits. Shame few manufacturers take the time to fully configure it.
I have had one of these on my delta for a year now. Little tricky to setup, but really like it. You mention the recommended placement was a bed idea, and it is! But could probably stress that it could still ruin a print being after the extruder, because the printer is not feeding filament during that 7mm, and could be a problem if printing an exterior surface. Mounting before the extruder makes it a mute point.
Hey Scott, totally agree, the suggested mounting option just seems lazy.
Good video. I hooked the same smart sensor up to one of my printers using Klipper and both Fluidd and Mainsail. I know why I switched, I had to change two lines of code from the simple switch sensor. I'm also using a direct drive which complicates the process, the filament is not constrained, so I am using a 75mm length. I'm in the process of testing my own sensor that is much lighter and may work even better.
I was wonder how Klipper or REPRAP would work with one of these.
great work Chris. Where is the next video. Need to use the smart sensor using octopi as host. Is it possible?
Thanks! It might be able to work that way, but I'm not sure if there is a plugin that can read the input from this sensor.
Great Video Chris, I am looking forward to you doing a BTT Filament Sensor installation with Octoprint. I haven't been able to get mine to work.
Stay tuned for next week. It might help you.
@@ChrisRiley I can't find this video. It's 2024.
Did you make the video for setting it up in octoprint? If so could you direct me to it I would like to set it up. Thanks
These are really tricky to get them setup in octoprint. I am actually looking at version 2 soon, I will see if there is an option.
@@ChrisRiley Thanks I will hold off purchasing it until you can review the v2 one. It was the one I was looking at too. Thanks again look forward to the video great job wit your videos please keep them up.
It works flawlessly with Klipper when plugged into either the control board or the RPi.
That said, I am not happy with my sensor at all.
It adds a ton of drag to the filament, to the point where it can actually cause under extrusion with some filaments in a direct drive set up. I have tried several tweaks to try an get it working better, re-tightening the bearing nuts so they are not over-tightened helps a bit.
The entire housing needs to be redesigned so that it clamps over the filament like a scissor rather than a c-clamp.
That's too bad, I'll take a closer look. Thank you for your insight.
when I start a print it goes right into filament change mode and if I go all the way through the process it starts printing again for about 1 second then goes right back into filament change mode
They can be really sensitive. All you can do is up the sensing link until it works correctly.
So retractions won't really work for a few layers until the new filament hits the nozzle right?
Not sure I understand what you mean. When the filament runs out, it will park and load, so it would be the same as it was before runout.
Hey Chris, thanks for the video. I noticed two things though. First was an enormous movement of the PTFE tube between the extruder and the sensor during retraction. Second, I was wondering if the device is using a quadrature encoder (two light sensors) or just a simple edge detect encoder (one light sensor). If it is just an edge detect, does it fail if the filament bounces when being pushed into a jam? Sometimes (most times) when the head jams, the filament moves forward slightly and then bounces back (overpowers and clicks the stepper). If the encoder is on an edge at that time, it will still think it's being driven forward because of the rising and falling signal from the detection scheme.
It really needs a quadrature encoder with a small processor to count movement back and forward and only give the pulse out if it moved over a certain distance. Many DIY movement designs shown here on UA-cam only use one light sensor and can and do fail with filament bounce.
Thanks for watching! Yes, it's only a single and your right, jams would still be pretty hard to detect consistently.
Again, good job Chris! I'm so happy not be crazy about loving this sensor after i saw an other realy bad review about it... I had face only one bug with the integration of the tft35 an octoprint: sometime it triger a false runout when i cancel a print. It seem to be a marlin issue, maybe about the 7mm calculation.
Hopefully it's an easy fix.
I've just received one of these. I haven't installed it yet but two things I have noticed after installing filament in to it. One is that it sqeaks! The other it that it adds a lot of friction. I would have liked it to be smooth and for it not to require so much effort to full it though. Have you reviewed any optical sensors yet?? If they are a good price I think I'd prefer one of those as they should be virtually friction-less.
I haven't tried the optical ones yet, but it would make a good test.
Did anyone besides be notice at 12:50 just how loose the bowden fitting was on the extruder side? That'll play heck w/ tuning a profile. Definitely shouldn't be installed where BTT recommends it.
Those stock fittings are awful, I swap them with the printed solid ones.
I’m very much a noob when it comes to changing anything in the Marlin firmware. Do I just download the firmware, open in vs code, make the changes, then recompile and load to the printer?
I'm afraid every printer is going to have a custom config. The easiest way is to use one of the custom config examples. github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/tree/2.1.x/config
I bought one like a year or more ago and forgot I had it. I plan to install it one day but it's not high priority because I so rarely run out mid print anymore. I have some large prints planned though so I need to get it set up.
It definitely comes in handy for large and overnight prints.
ok im newish to 3dprinting but im curious how to do the firmware while running big treetech (my screen can switch between marlin/bigtreetech) not sure if its intertwined or how it works
Yes, if you have both TFT and EXP cables plugged in you can switch between them. Check this out. ua-cam.com/video/57f-sG0nFeM/v-deo.html
Hello Chris, I would like to use one of these on my printer running on mainsail and Klipper. I have found commands and Macros that seem to be what I need but totally confused on how to implement. There is an M600 Macro for klipper, just seems like other commands are needed. Think you could do a video using the BTT Smart Filament Sensor with Klipper? Seems like "Capture" could be used then "Resume". But I'm sure more needs to happen than to simply pause, reload filament than "Resume" Things like moving to a safe area so the nozzle isn't just paused on top of the print.
I see this all is done in Marlin but Klipper still has me baffled.
Hey Charles, I have looked at this in Kipper before and it is very confusing. This is something I hope to tackle in the comming weeks.
I bought one of these a long time ago to use with my Ender 3. It's an old board so I don't really have a way to connect it so I wanted to connect it to my Raspberry Pi, running Octoprint. I connected it to the Pi but couldn't ever get it working. I was hoping you'd cover the Octoprint connection method since it's printer board independent.
Connecting it to an extra endstop or something like that would be best. Next week's video might be interesting to you.
Could you do this for a ender 3 with direct drive and the BTT screen with the e3 mini board and with octoprint?
You can make it work with all this if you had the sensor plugged into the board and you used host action commands.
I have this on my CR10s pro, and I LOVE IT! Thanks for the video Chris! =)
CR10 is a good printer. Thanks for watching
Shouldn't it go between the spool and extruder?
I think it would work better that way, it's just finding a way to mount it.
When filament out then extruder will stop pushing filament, and how filament detector will be to know that filament end?!
It's because of the encoder, if the filament isn't moving it will trigger it.
@@ChrisRiley So BTT Smart Filament Detector have to work as moving detector.
@@MaciejN. Correct.
Chris do you do any paid phone calls to help someone with the TFT 35 and filament sensor? No matter what I do I cant get it to work right.
Hey, I don't do calls, but you can send me an email. brotherchris81@gmail.com
As always Chris , my config did not go so smooth. I immediately get false message that the filament is out. SKR pro 1.1 and BTT TFT 35 3.0. Could it be that the SKR common pins file says use PE15 as the runout pin and that pin is also used for stall guard/sensorless homing?(yes I am using sensorless homing) I have seen you switch out pins like this for conflicting features. ... see below
OK so I was able to use the pins (and connector) for runout sensor 3 (PG5). I put PG5 in place where the PE15 was in the SKR pro common pins.h file. It actually worked. I couldn't have done it without you Chris, and your thorough and to the point videos. I also took your advice and set the runout sensor 3 pin to -1
so for now on when I use a new pin for something, I will check for conflicts.
What we need next is a spaghetti sensor... LOL.. we have all made spaghetti
Lol, I'm glad you got it working!
@@ChrisRiley A follow up. after 4 months I started having false filament jam detections. I thought it was the material and started messing with the sensitivity. No luck. turns out the wheel was not rolling as the filament passed by. I tried cleaning the wheel but it did not help. in the end I just bought another sensor and its been working ever since. Just thought I would share my experience- just in case anyone else is struggling.
Is this sensor compatible with a Ender 3 V2 Neo? I want to buy one, but in the shop they said to me that is not compatible with...
I don't know much about the NEO, but it would need open pins and a firmware update.
How do you connect this to a Fysetc Spider 2.2 board?
You can set it up on what ever pin you wish, you just have to change it in the firmware.
Looked nice, need check my friend in BTT and grab few to check.
Let us know what you think.
It does not work on touch screen on tft35 only marlin mode .
True, it would only work connected to the board. Next week's video might be interesting to you.
My printer has a "filament missing" sensor already (Anycubic Chiron). If I followed the video, it seems like I would just need to make sure it was plugged into the same ports and that it had the same mode (normally open vs. normally closed switch) as the original detector and then I could just plug it in without modifying firmware. Is that correct: there is no need to set the type of sensor if your firmware is already configured for a sensor?
Your current sensor works as a switch - on or off. This works by the counting the on / off cycles and one must happen within the specified length
@@woodwaker1 That was why I expected the sensor type to need to be defined, but I did not see that in the video. I must have missed it: what is the tag to search for an the source code?
@@andy-in-indy 07:56 it's where you define the mm distance of filament runout
Thanks for the help here everyone, they are correct, you have to change up the firmware for this one to work.
I have had nothing but troubles getting this sensor to work on Duet (RRF). I set the sensitivity to allow 25%-225% and it still gave me faults while printing. I finally had to disable it after troubleshooting and testing different settings I found on the forums :(. I had these issues on 2 separate sensors.
It's very frustrating, isn't it? I have never had good luck setting up a filament sensor on Duet.
Will this sensor be able to work with a raspberry pi also? (I have seen your other video that shows how to do that with a limit switch.)
It "should" work just hooking it up to power and GPIO pins, but next weeks video might be interesting for you.
Hey Chris... must have been a while since I got any notifications that you had new content. Your remodel looks great!
Thanks, we worked really hard on it.
Not a fan of the filament path. However, I can see why it is that way.
Agreed.
i want the filament spool holder
It's this one www.thingiverse.com/thing:2910508
Will wait for next vid.. Could use something like this on my Frankenprinter since this is the only thing it doesn't have.
🙂 The next video has a lot of useful information.
Can sfs be installed on BTT SKR v1.3 ?
Sure, you just have to set it up in the firmware. Same pins are available for it.
@@ChrisRiley ok, thanks sir
by enabling these should allow you to use the smart sensor plugged into the main board while printing thru a tft screen or octoprint.
EMERGENCY_PARSER (in Configuration_adv.h)
SERIAL_FLOAT_PRECISION 4 (in Configuration_adv.h)
HOST_ACTION_COMMANDS (in Configuration_adv.h)
HOST_PROMPT_SUPPORT (in Configuration_adv.h)
Cool, thanks!
thanks Chris, very good explain👌
🙂👍
Hello. can you do a video installing the BIGTREETECH 3D Printer Part Smart Filament Sensor on a any cubic mega pro.
I'll look into it
Is the filament sensor moving during filament retractions?
Yes, it doesn't matter if it turns forward or backwards
That's it! Thanks Aoki
Why not put the sensor before the stepper?
That would be best.
What about klipper?
It's on the list of things to try for sure.
Could you make a video on this sensor on klipper?
I'll see what I can do
If your filament jams and it skips has the extruded grinds it do it sense that as a problem even if it’s like going +1mm and then -1mm? I feel like mine has failed me a couple times by jamming and not triggering
It should catch that error but I could see how it could still fail the print.
Ahh Id always thought it just detected runout using a crappy microswitch. Just ordered one of these. I have lots of filament spools near the end of their spool. This would be perfect to let me use them and hook it up to my print server to notify me when the spool has run out.
They're really handy.
I can’t find the filament run out sensor where can I find it ???
There's a link in the description
So why does it need to be between the extruder and hotend? Shouldn't you just be able to use it normally.
It doesn't need to be, that's just BTT suggestion. You can use it anywhere.
tried the Duet Magnetic filament monitor but its unreliable and constantly throwing off errors. Im hoping this will work better
Let us know what you think
Thanks Chris!
How does this "7mm" work when you are ironing a top layer? there is hardly any filament fed. Wouldn't it be better to use a smaller distance, like maybe 1 or 2mm?
If the sensor is before the extruder, it is no big deal. After the extruder is a really bad idea, lots of problems with that setup.
@@HackMonkey and why is that? Without a broken filament, the movement before and after the extruder is the same.
@@spedi6721 A jam would not mater as much where the sensor is, but a run out totally does. The sensor has the 7mm built into it, you can't change that.
@@HackMonkey but that all what you are talking about has nothing to do with my question.
@@spedi6721 If the sensor is behind the extruder, as Chris has it installed per the instructions, a jam or filament break, will cause a massive gap while ironing. And there is nothing you can do about it.
Hi Firmware marlin code can you give? my can you upload?
Sorry, I no longer have that version.
I think it is better to place the filament sensor before to the extruder. Then you don't have to disassemble anything to pull out the remaining filament. To replace the filament, you just have to unload it with the extruder and you're done
Thanks for the tip!
Would the 7mm of inaction cause problems with ironing?
Sensor triggers each 7mm movement, so marlin knows there isnt a jam, when movement is commanded and 7mm happens without the sensor triggering thats how marlin knows there is a jam. So it works with ironing, no problem
If the sensor is after the extruder, then yes.It will cause an issue in any print. Might not be obvious if it is doing infill at the time, but would if it was printing a external perimeter or top. Before the extruder is no problem, as the extruder still has filament to push.
Honestly, I am not sure, I don't know that I have ever tried ironing. The filament would need to still be moving not to trigger the sensor.
Hey Chris thanks for this video. Any updates on using with octoprint? I'm currently using the plug in but the settings are driving me nuts lol
The easiest way is to use it plugged into the board and use host action commands.
How do i connect it to a raspberry pi ?
It "should" work just hooking it up to power and GPIO pins, but next weeks video might be interesting for you.
Okay i can't w8 :)
Hope one day i can come to usa and meet you and take about 3d printing :) (and see more stuff in the usa)
When you have a runout sensor between the extruded and hot end you need to remove all the filament all the way to the hot end.
If you don’t then there is a break between the new and old filament in the bowden tube. If there is a break there the extruded can not retract for 200-300 mm of filament (piece that remains in the bowden tube after the runout).
By the time that break makes it too the hot end there is a >0% change your going to have a air gap between the two pieces.
You will have likely stopped the print before that air gap due to how poorly the print is looking due to the effective 0mm retraction the break in the filament is creating. If you don’t think about it your next print will do the same until you realize you need a single piece of filament between the extruder and hot end or it pushes out that 200-300mm.
Either Chris here or BTT didn’t think this through. I hate to say it but often times in the 3D printing space manufacturers assume you should know these basic things and don’t put it in the directions or don’t include directions at all. Chris should know this if he’s creating content for the masses to learn from.
Regardless, you want a continuous piece of filament between the extruder and hot end in any scenario using any printer (Bowden or direct). If not then a vital function of quality prints (retraction) will not function. Always pull all the pieces out of the printer after a runout unless you are welding them together to form a single piece.
Thanks for your insight
Will the same features work with Klipper?
I think so, but I've never tried it.
Keep getting false positive after pruge line. Need help please
Use the M119 commands to make sure the filament sensor is working.
@@ChrisRiley
filament: triggered
ok
this is what i got
Great walkthrough
Thanks for sharing :-)
Thanks for watching. Hopefully next weeks video is helpful too.
Great video! Had the same problem as others and just could not ever get mine to work on my Ender 5. I will have to give it a shot again just to make sure the sensor isn't just bad. BigTreeTech never bothered to respond so not very happy about that but their mini board is working great and this was only like $20.....
I am looking to put mine before the extruder BUT I want to just feed more filament when it runs out. Would love to hear about doing that as I am not sure if I should set the unload to just 1mm and go from there or if I can turn the unload completely off and have the load routine just purge and continue. Hard to load filament on the BMG if I put the sensor after the extruder tahts why before would work way better ;)
Thanks! If you keep it before the extruder, you should be able to just set those values to zero to keep it from unloading.
@@ChrisRiley Thanx man!
Will this detect jams in the extruder?
🙂👍
must be nice having a fast computer, mine took 162.57 seconds to compile
That's pretty good actually.
I have that and just didn’t like placement for it.
It's a little large.
Mount it to the frame before the extruder.
I had to deactivate mine. It tends to false alarms.
That's too bad. Is it the sensor or maybe something in Marlin?
Me too, but after changing from 7mm to 25mm it works perfectly, no more false positives.
that thing is Huge!!
Thank you ;) It is a monster, one of the draw backs.
This filament sensor works great until… You want to print with flexible filaments!!! (Like Ninjaflex). First, loading the flexible filament through the sensor is extremely difficult due to the heavy resistance of the sensor rollers. When printing, the flexible filament acts like a rubber band and 7 mm isn’t enough leeway to avoid throwing the filament run out error. The rollers add a lot of drag against the extruder.
Now, when I print with flexibles, I bypass the filament sensor entirely and turn off filament sensing in Marlin through a g-code command. It’s definitely not ideal.
Do to these difficulties, I am seriously considering returning to the micro switch run out sensor which does work with flexible filament.
I didn't really think about that, but I can see where this would be a real pain. Most of my flex prints are smaller, so I usually don't worry about runout.
Warning if you want to print flexibles and use this smart sensor, you're potentially going to have a real bad time.
A good bit of advice is turning off holding timers, this will give you some insurance that you can unload and load filament without losing steps.
Thanks for the tip!
Hi Chris great video, appreciate that you used the newer mini E3 v3 board too.
I was looking at the BTT github for their runout sensor and it says thay for version 2.0 of the sensor, you only need to set 3mm as the runout length. However, I cannot find any documentation on what makes the sensor version 2? Any ideas?
Thanks! Honestly, I didn't know there was a V2. I haven't seen specs for it anywhere.
And how do you distinguish it from v1.0?
sorry Chris,
I didn't think to search for "host action commands".
I'm glad you found it. :)
There is SO MUCH DARN SLOP in the sensor.
Perhaps you should've gotten extra retainer clips for the tube inlets.
Maybe. Thanks for watching
@@ChrisRiley :D
how about RepRap ?
I've struggled with filament sensors in RepRap.
Link to Chris' host action commands for smart filament runout for Octoprint ua-cam.com/video/YDvFN51siMU/v-deo.html
Great tutorial, cheers Chris! Any (park) settings recommendations for when the sensor is on the outside of the extruder?
Thank you, it's hard to say, it's what ever works best for the config. I like it in the front right. So X MAX -10 and Y MIN + 10
Binned mine way back, never worked properly, and is a bad design.
I'm sorry to hear that.
@@ChrisRiley Yup. In fact, I still have it boxed, and anyone is welcome to it for free, if they pay postage? UK here. Awful thing.
Why is there so many good videos where discussion would be great with comments disabled.? It seems like a very counter productive way of growing your audience, as it just makes it seem like you turn them off if people don't seem to like your advice, or at least that's just how i interpret it without diggin further.
We turn the comments off of all the videos after they have been up on UA-cam a year. A lot of the content becomes out of date and we try to do a lot of revisit videos to keep it current. Most of all, it keeps the comments consolidated, so we can still answer them all.
ua-cam.com/video/0WDfluszvd0/v-deo.htmlsi=ohg2UChvQrzztyCs&t=620
How do you know which processor you're using?
The easiest way is to look on the chip itself if you have a magnifine glass. If you have a common printer, you can usually google it and find the board it uses and what chip it has.
ok you skip on how to even start this firmware stuff for us beginners
These are a deep dive on how to get going on a SKR board.
ua-cam.com/video/oHMZ0ocTYvM/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/j2FL_mY_LsY/v-deo.html
yo first
WOO HOO!!!