extruder feeding solved with a piece of foam/sponge
I didn't think my printer was in a particularly dusty environment… but I occasionally had problems with the extruder failing to grip the filament. The motor would still turn and I'm using a Wade tensioner with more than enough tension. The problem was dust on the filament, accumulating on the wheel, essentially clogging it.
I cut a piece of a kitchen cleaning sponge (kinda foam, not a metal scrubbing one!) and started feeding the filament through it. After a few hours I could indeed see some dust accumulating around the filament on the sponge. Easy to wipe off there. No more feeding/tensioning problems!
So I'm just passing that idea on: solve you dust-related tensioning problems with sponge.
