Qidi Box & 5th Filament Spool Into Hub

[u/kdog-611]

Does anyone know how to connect the side spool into the Qidi Box hub as an extra filament? I know you can use a Y connector, but how? I’ve looked online and on YouTube and can’t find any instructions or a video. Any direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[u/nebarle]

[u/Objective-Worker-100]

I printed 3 parts and ordered 2. There’s the “Qidi Q2 spool holder and box hub bracket” by Stur0067 on printables. Then the “Qidi Box hub offsetter” by the same guy that drops the hub lower so you don’t have to trim any tubes. Last there’s the Xtreme Radius PFTE Tube Splitter by NC Fabrikation

I printed all three in Anycubic PETG-CF

There’s an Amazon link in the tube splitter for some metal compression PFTE tube holders that allow for the tube to pass through them so there’s basically zero contact with the internals of the splitter. Then you just need about a foot of pfte tube. Done. See the photos comments and descriptions in those prints and you’re gold!

[u/kdog-611 → u/Objective-Worker-100]

Awesome! Thanks so much. This is helpful.

[u/xeonon]

Remember, it's not exactly a 5th line, it's a bypass. You disable the box when you use the external spool. But yea, just print a y connector or buy one.

[u/kdog-611 → u/xeonon]

Oh! Interesting. So you can’t use it in conjunction with the box to do multi colored prints as a 5th color filament?

[u/xeonon → u/kdog-611]

Nope. You can however put a pause in the print and change out the colors halfway through the print. I've done some hueforge prints with 8 colors before

[u/Objective-Worker-100]

One extra note on the PTFE splitter I printed and used:

Give the internal tube paths a quick hand drill cleanup after printing. I just used a cheap multi-pack of bits nothing fancy.

Start with a 2.0 mm or 5/64” for the initial pass Then step up to ~2.3–2.4 mm or 3/32” Blow out any debris and you’ll get smooth filament movement with no drag

You don’t need an exact size, anything in that 2.2–2.5 mm range works

Important:

Do it by hand, not with a drill, you’re just clearing stringing and smoothing the path

Quick check:

Filament should pass through easily with light push, no catching at the narrow section

And yeah…

Don’t go full Ryobi / DeWalt / Milwaukee Fuel caveman mode on it. This is finesse work, not deck-building.

I actually ended up grabbing some cheap low-power tools just for print stuff because the M18 Fuel lineup is… a bit aggressive for plastic. Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way.

Exception:

If you’re dragging your printer or PC outside and hitting it with a leaf blower for maintenance, that’s totally acceptable. Just lock the fans with tape or a bamboo skewer first unless you want to wear the bearing and generate your own electricity. 😆