Estimating remaining length of PLA reel?

terrypin · 23 Jul 2021 at 09:43

I assume that my first reel of 1.75 mm PLA is close to some standard.
https://www.crealityofficial.co.uk/collections/filament

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lchl7q26tb8lqya/PLA-Creality.jpg?raw=1

I don't see it specified on the site but does anyone know the approximate weights of a full and empty 1 kg reel please? I can then weigh it on my kitchen scales to estimate the remaining length. Wouldn't like to run out before a print finishes.

Terry

bulb66 · 23 Jul 2021 at 10:04

Assuming it's a 1kg spool, it will be 1kg of filament and approximately 220g spool.

The problem is the spool differs between manufacturers, I might have a Creality spool, I'll check and if I do I'll post the weight.

J.

bulb66 · 23 Jul 2021 at 10:11

Ok, interesting results and proves my point.

I have 4 empty spools, 2 clear plastic spools were 250g and the other 2 were black plastic and 185g.

The closest in design to the one you picture is 185g.

terrypin · 23 Jul 2021 at 12:21

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zyhhnqlsvh0w2ta/SecondCrealityPLA.jpg?raw=1Thanks for the fast reply. My second reel from Amazon has just arrived and its total weight (including the plastic sealing) is 1230g. Say 1220 spool + 1kg filament, so 220g of black PLA. As you see, it looks a heavier reel:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zyhhnqlsvh0w2ta/SecondCrealityPLA.jpg?raw=1

So I'll guess 190g spool weight for the present one. Its total weight of 440g, implying I have about 250g left. Does that look reasonable from the screenshot?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ghzvzw7zh3izqc9/FirstReel23Jul21.jpg?raw=1

Pity the Ender 3 V2 doesn't accumulate usage by either weight or length. Do any home user 3D printers do that?

Terry

bulb66 · 23 Jul 2021 at 16:00

So I should say, some times you may get less than 1kg of filament. When I sold filament my supplier/manufacture sent my under weight spool all the time which I had to either send back for a refund or sell cheaper. Cheaper brands might do this and pass them off as 1kg filament.

I would say that, that new spool is actually a 250g spool as I have an empty one, that I weighed.

I would say it's better to over estimate the remaining filament if you are expecting to come close during a large print.

For the printer to track the amount of filament used for each spool you swap between, it would 1) need to know when you change to another spool (QR code on the spools) and 2) actually measure the filament passed through a sensor extruded and retracted. I believe newer ultimaker printers has a spool management system.

OR you could track this yourself, someone I know has created a website for people to log their filament. You can take a look here, https://www.filament.uno/

terrypin · 23 Jul 2021 at 18:51

Many thanks for your feedback.

ScoobyDoo · 23 Jul 2021 at 22:48

If your running octoprint/pi then its worth installing the filament manager plugin. Keeps track of how much filament you are using. Doesnt need any hardware to do this, basically you tell it youve installed a new reel , say 1kg and then every print deducts from this and you can see how much (approx) you have left.