Extending Tube Life

Over time, the replaceable splice tube in the splice core will wear out and eventually need to be replaced. The rate at which the tube wears is dependent on several factors including the filaments being used, splice settings, and amount of filament that has traveled through the tube, in addition to the number of splices.

Here are two suggestions to help extend the tube life of your splicer tubes:

Tuning the splice settings to reduce the compression factor by 2-3 units has been shown to extend the tube life extensively. For certain filaments, reducing compression will require heat to be increased in order to maintain splice strength. For example, success has been found with some PLA filament by changing the default 0,0,0 splice tuning settings to 2,-3, 2 (increased heat and cooling by 2 and reducing compression by 3. Please note that increasing heat and cooling will cause a compromise between splice time and print speed). If you change your splice settings, it is always recommended to run splice tuning on your Palette screen in order to ensure that the filament brand you are using works well with the new settings.

Using filament with a tolerance of +/- 0.03 mm or smaller has been found to extend tube life by reducing the likelihood of splicer jams and the rate of tube wear. When you are purchasing filament, take note of the diameter tolerance indicated by the manufacturer. Some filament will have a tolerance of +/- 0.05 mm and, while that will work with Palette, it is recommended to opt for the tighter tolerance if available.

If you have any additional questions, please send us a message at support@mosaicmfg.com.