Original Prusa i3 K.I.S.S. Reverse Bowden Tube

I noticed one of my filament reels had a single-loop tangle in it which put a lot more strain on the X-gantry during a print, causing changes in the layer height that affected the print. It was luckily able to complete the print without completely tangling, but it made me think it was finally time to implement a reverse bowden to eliminate any filament tugging from affecting prints.

Everything I found was SERIOUSLY OVER-ENGINEERED plus under-engineered in some respects, since the compression fittings used at the extruder side prevented simple things like removing a bulbed filament end on filament change (!)

After a little review, I slapped together the simplest (and I think BEST) reverse-bowmen kit for the Original Prusa i3. It consists of a single print, doesn't require any compression finings, adds near zero extra moving mass to the X-gantry (the mass of the PTFE tubing only) and isn't burdened down by the issues I mentioned above.

Ladies and gents, I give you the Original Prusa i3 K.I.S.S. Reverse Bowden Kit !

It prints in about 30 minutes, uses compression fitment on the reel end, and simply butts up against the existing filament entrance on the gantry for any MK2 and MK3 (and original i3 maybe ?).

All you need is a length of 2mm I.D. / 4mm O.D. PTFE tubing of about 22" (56cm). I used this:
https://amzn.to/2D7VfBP

Enjoy !

-=dave

Print instructions

I noticed one of my filament reels had a single-loop tangle in it which put a lot more strain on the X-gantry during a print, causing changes in the layer height that affected the print. It was luckily able to complete the print without completely tangling, but it made me think it was finally time to implement a reverse bowden to eliminate any filament tugging from affecting prints.

Everything I found was SERIOUSLY OVER-ENGINEERED plus under-engineered in some respects, since the compression fittings used at the extruder side prevented simple things like removing a bulbed filament end on filament change (!)

After a little review, I slapped together the simplest (and I think BEST) reverse-bowden solution for the Original Prusa i3. It consists of a single print, doesn't require any compression fittings, adds near zero extra moving mass to the X-gantry (the mass of the PTFE tubing only) and isn't burdened down by the issues I mentioned above since you can easily remove filament directly from the extruder since there is no modification to the extruder entrance necessary.

Ladies and gents, I give you the Original Prusa i3 K.I.S.S. Reverse Bowden Kit !

It prints in about 30 minutes, uses friction fitment on the reel end, and simply butts up against the existing filament entrance on the X-gantry for any MK2 and MK3 (and original i3 maybe ?).

All you need is a length of 2mm I.D. / 4mm O.D. PTFE tubing of about 22" (56cm). I used this:
https://amzn.to/2D7VfBP

Enjoy !

-=dave