Filament monitor for FlashForge printers

[Ward]

lol why don't people check how much filament they have BEFORE starting a print ?
The slicer tells you how much you'll need. It's not rocket science :-)

These days I don't get snags or snaps - you just need to buy the right filament. Had a few when I was starting out.

Never run out of filament - 'cos i check before starting a print.

But there are going to be alot of people who don't take sensible precautions and if you've got a bunch of machines going, a sensor might be a good idea.

I would be grateful if you could tell me how to do that.
I know that software like S3D tells you how much filament you will need but lets say for example it says I need 2500mm of filament. (random number)
How do I know I have at least that much and not 2400mm ?
Would I have to take it off the spool and measure it?

I wonder if you could use something like this (if you made a groove to guide the filament) ?
It would be even cooler if you could set it to count DOWN from the total length of the filament on the spool backward to zero. :-)
Provided there's accuracy.
0-9999-9M-Mechanical-Length-Counter-Meter-Rolling-Wheel-Z94-F.jpg_350x350.jpg

[toybuilder]

I would be grateful if you could tell me how to do that.
I know that software like S3D tells you how much filament you will need but lets say for example it says I need 2500mm of filament. (random number)
How do I know I have at least that much and not 2400mm ?
Would I have to take it off the spool and measure it?

I wonder if you could use something like this (if you made a groove to guide the filament) ?
It would be even cooler if you could set it to count DOWN from the total length of the filament on the spool backward to zero. :-)
Provided there's accuracy.
0-9999-9M-Mechanical-Length-Counter-Meter-Rolling-Wheel-Z94-F.jpg_350x350.jpg

Well, we don't have filament odometer implemented in the Tunell monitor, but that is one of several potential future updates to the product that I had in mind when I redesigned the Tunell monitor to the current version.

On Mightyboard machines (like the FlashForge Creator), there is a filament odometer feature. It's a bit hidden in the Utility menu, but it's definitely there!

BTW, we've further lowered the price on the Tunell monitor for our Black Friday weekend sale (we've got stuff up to 50% off).