Ender 3 (Creality) filament guide and runout sensor

cults3d

I printed the Filament Roller Guide that was created by Holspeed on Thingiverse but I also wanted to mount a filament runout sensor so I remixed the filament guide to mate with the runout sensor that I had originally created for my CR10S that mounted on the aluminum extrusion. You are going to need the following hardware. 1 Creality end stop switch / runout switch 2 M3 nuts 2 M3 x 16 cap head screws 1 5 mm diameter ball bearing 2 small pieces of Bowden tubing 1 608 bearing or 625 bearing 1 M4 x 16 cap head screw 1 M4 nut 2 printed spacers Insert the ball bearing into the pocket that transects the filament path and then insert the plug side of the switch into the rectangular opening and pivot the switch into place, taking care that you don't damage the switch actuation lever. Insert the 2 nuts into the recesses on the bottom and screw the cover to the housing. Insert a piece of Bowden tube into each side and trim as desired. I needed a way to increase the longevity of my filament runout sensor because I print with a lot of abrasive materials. The filament was eating up my switches like crazy. So I tried roller switches and that didn't work much better as the filament was always too difficult to get past the rollers for one reason or another. Then I came up with the ball bearing idea to allow the filament to "roll" through and minimize the friction and use the ball bearing to actuate the switch. It was a real challenge to get the tolerances correct, and to keep the ball bearing under control. I hope you enjoy my efforts.