terry1956
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2017 2:48 pm

Settings for TPU

Hi, what are people finding the best settings for printing TPU. At the moment I have the speed at 25mm as any higher the filament just sticks in the gears. The print is so slow it’s just silly. Is there a better way. The printer is an ender 3.
airscapes
Posts: 403
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2018 10:35 am
Location: Philadelphia PA Area

Re: Settings for TPU

No, unfortunately slow is the word of the day. These are my notes on the settings that work for me on my direct drive machine

Ninjafles 0.5 Auto .6 92-3 0.173 225/40 No Retraction if you can get away with it Speed 6mmS

So .5 nozzle extrusion width auto (.6), extrusion multiplier .92-93, Filament diameter 1.73 (or actual measured) nozzle temp 225 bed 40, retraction off or if on, .3-.5 mm at a speed of 6mmS

Print speed depends on the model but bettween 10 and 15mmS . Much slower than 10 and the plastic leaks out of the nozzle faster than it is moving and creates voids too fast and you get drive issues.
Drive tension on my machine is just a screw that pushed the bearing against the drive with no spring. It is crucial to get this "JUST" right too loose and it slips, too tight and the filament gets squished and will not move forward.. Once I found the right spot, that setting has worked fine for all other filaments thus far. I only use it for things like rubber bands, vibration dampers, gaskets etc.. so very simple shapes.. and small sizes..
Good luck
S3D-Chris
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:52 pm

Re: Settings for TPU

Check out our Materials Guide Flexible filament article for TPU settings: https://www.simplify3d.com/support/mate ... /flexible/
airscapes
Posts: 403
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2018 10:35 am
Location: Philadelphia PA Area

Re: Settings for TPU

Forgot to say, a gravity feed spool set up is almost 100% required unless you want to hand feed it..
Gavity Feed small.jpg
PicoTreed
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:14 am

Re: Settings for TPU

Hi, there's no magic formula.
Anyway I can give you some tips:

  • Extruder: use a Flexion extruder (dial to position 2).
  • Print slow: max 1800 mm/min for a shore 80 TPU; consider also to lower the speed for first layer (ex. 50%) and for perimeters (ex. 85%).
  • Extrusion: be sure to set the correct values for filament diameter and density. Set the "Extrusion Width" to manual, matching your nozzle diameter, so the "Extrusion Multiplier" value will depend on your extrusion tests.
  • Temperature: bed at 40 °C, nozzle at 230 °C for first layer and 225 °C for following layers.
  • Cooling: 0 for first layer and 30% for following layers.
  • Retraction: guides are near useless, you have to experiment by yourself.

Have good luck!
R&D for 3D printers, materials & software.
Syner707
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2018 1:59 am

Re: Settings for TPU

This might seem odd but have had great results depending on model will occasionally get string but easy enough to flush cut or razor blade clean,

Machine- Cr10s pro
Hotend- microswiss all metal hotend
Filament- ninjatek cheetah TPU
Nozzle- .4mm
Extrusion multiplier- 1
Extrusion width- .4mm
Retraction- off
Coast- .10mm
Bed temp- 52 deg C
Nozzle temp - 252deg C
Cooling- layer 1 off, layer 2 70%
Default print speed- 60mm/s
First layer speed- 50%
Outline underspeed- 60%
Solid infill underspeed- 75%

Have been printing mask after mask with those settings and haven't had one fail thus far the lower layers come out clean and on point for dimensions on the mask model specifically stringing does occur on the upper layers of the model but nothing that not manageable other models same setting have produced a clean finish no stringingImage

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