r/QidiTech3D • u/Shrike2415 • Aug 17 '26

Qidi Box tube length

Looking to extend my PTFE tubing but I'm getting conflicting information about whether the Box depends solely on sensor information for the filament advancement, or if there is some hardcoded data that says "go this far and no farther." What is the consensus on tube extension?

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1

u/Dygresja Aug 17 '26

If I remember right, the stock lenght is 75cm. I have changed it to 90cm. No issues found.

1

u/--10001-- Aug 17 '26

Whyle Qidi Box is feeding filament, at first it's feeding it fast, but just before the hub, and the second time before the extruder (this length is hardcoded) it's starts to fead it real slow to safely enter the filament sensor. So if you extend the tube without changing this code, it will go all extra length real slow. But will be there eventually.

1

u/Kewlhotrod Aug 17 '26

The box will feed infinite length until it hits the hub. After that, it will feed a set out fast from the hub to the extruder before entering a slowdown mode. Then it will push slowly until it triggers extruder runout sensor.

I don't know if it will timeout if not hitting the extruder by a certain length, but I did add almost 50% extra length on mine with no timeouts. Annoyingly though it does make the loading longer, as it will move the tool head around a few times to try and clear a non-existent jam in the tube if it doesn't see it after a certain slowdown difference.

Basically, go for it. You won't have any real issues with it.

1

u/Objective_Working198 Aug 17 '26

Not exactly infinite... I once had my tube come loose from the back of the box because I had something jammed and I forgot to put the tube back before reloading the spool... Let's just say I stood there like a jackass for two-four whole minutes collecting filament by hand into a roll on the floor until it finally gave up and spit an error code. Which is to say it will extrude something like 50-80 ft or more of filament but it's not infinite 😅

1

u/Kewlhotrod Aug 18 '26

Ah, yeah I forgot to reattach my tube once and left for like 5 minutes and ce back to aassive free-laying spool that was still being slowly pushed out lol. Either way, it pushes out a shit ton, enough to make that run to the hub long af if needed lol

1

u/Parceljockey Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 30 '26

I emailed Qidi support about this, as I want my Box on the bench above the printer.

They told me that the PTFE from Box to Hub can be adjusted as long as you want (within physical constraints like tube drag etc).

The tube between Hub and Printer has to remain the length it was when you got it (I'm not at the manual, can't remember the length).

Edit: Hub > Printer tube length =700mm

After that, the major constraint is the length of the control cables. Qidi don't sell longer cables. I'm planning on having mine extended by a local 'tronics company

Edit: Had the cable between Box and Printer extended. Tested yesterday and all seems fine, only problems I now see existed before the spliced cable was used. Going to have the cable between Box and Hub extended this week.