What is the benefit of using auto filament feeders if you don’t use the spool holders on the sides?
My setup loads filaments from the back, outside of its enclosure. It seems the auto feeders are one extra step, you have to manually put filament into each auto feeder anyway. You might as well go straight into the extruder, bypassing the auto feeders. That would make loading and unloading filament much faster. Unless auto feeders do something else other than push the filament into the extruders.
No, they don’t. The automatic feeders are merely a convenience, so you can set one off loading while you prepare the next filament (a time saver when you have four to load – so long as you alternate sides).
It would be great if they could also unload filaments, but as a single motor is multiplexed between two feed tubes (by running it one way or the other), that’s not an option (although I think it would be possible to have a manual change-over between loading and unloading).
You need to bypass the auto-feeders for the likes of TPU, so there is no reason you can’t ignore them all the time. Some people have relocated them using extension cables.