Received my Artisan recently and I’m mid-way through a very large print (3 days) that will exhaust the 500g spool of PLA that came with the unit. I bought additional PLA, but it’s a different manufacturer. I am worried about using PLA from two different sources in a single print.
Should I take the chance and use the different filament I have on hand so I can complete the print now or should I let the machine sit at the runout recovery screen for a couple days while I wait for more Snapmaker filament to arrive?
The different filament will most likely show in the print.
Sitting for a few days with the hot bed on can also be risky, but with proper closure of the enclosure you are likely to be able to keep the print stable enough to continue the job almost seamlessly. There is probably going to be some minimum layer shift for one layer or so especially if the change is on a higher layer (away from heated bed → some shrinkage).
I would go with leaving the print on standby until I get the same filament but I would also want to order more than one replacement spools so that I can reprint if needed.
Tell us how it goes.
Best of luck.
The print finished after 62 hours. I had less than 2’ of filament left so I didn’t need to use another spool. The print (a full size skull candy bowl) came out nearly perfect. I’m going to try some laser cutting next.