Frankly I don’t remember. It has been a while, though I know it was at least since they started disallowing it because I had my fake PLA profiles.
I’ve got one that says “3D filament” on it, but that’s not super helpful. I’m just moving my lab around a bit, but after I solve another weird issue with what looks like ~0.2mm Y axis misallignments and I’m happy everything is behaving, I’ll run some stuff and post results.
I can say I’ve been using generic or very cheap 95-98A stuff that is fairly hard. I have some lightly softer clear stuff, hopefully I’ll be able to try more and get back to you.
Ok. I’d have loved to find some name brand filament around, or at least used something dry, but I did neither.
The red stuff, SainSmart (got to replace my Yoyi from back in the day which was great) is several years old, kept under partially depleted dessicant.
That clear I just opened, some amazon cheap stuff, “giant arm”.
At first, I tried calling them PVA, especially with the warning about drying it, I figured this would be the easiest loading.
Loading went fine, but my first print was ugly (13mm3/s, turned out it was printing at 220, a little low). Twice on the unload, the clear filament (which was in a weak AMS slot I’ve had issues with in the past) didn’t completely cut, leaving <100um uncut. I’m still on my original cutter which has 1,000 hours (no idea how many cuts).
Then I told the AMS it had PLA and I used my “TPU-as-PLA” profile (just the settings copied over from Bambu TPU), and hit print and went to work. Came back expecting it to be stuck but instead everything was perfect, see pictures.
I don’t know what more to say - it CAN work, and it would make life SO much easier not to have to lie to the machine. I could deal with all the warnings and caveats in the world, but don’t leave me telling the machine there’s PLA in it and then getting serious issues when some download off MakerWorld blow up the machine because the UI forces me to lie to it.
Hey everyone - I just found this Video about using the AMS for TPU (by taking out the pre-tension springs).
Has anyone tested this? His channel has only has 115 Followers, but that doesn’t mean he might not be right. If this works, that would be awesome!!
Other than that, I would really like to know with what brand you are printing (worry-free). I figured that everything from 94A (40D) upwards should work without problems.
You can apparently avoid this step by following the hint in the Video:
Deactivating the “Skip AMS blacklist check” in preferences.
It is probably the case that he simply tried it out with a TPU that can transport the AMS. Because you definitely can’t use just any TPU or just any Shore hardness. The AMS cannot transport TPU types that are too soft. He simply discovered for the first time how to switch off the test etc. and thought it would be good to publish this in a video. This is how many people proceed when they are new and discover new things.
Because you definitely can’t use just any TPU or just any Shore hardness.
Well that’s obvious… Whats your conclusion then…?
I just tried 90A TPU with my AMS and it errored out at first try.
So 95A would be my next best - Can anyone name any brands? Shores that surely work - and still are flexible?
any >90A hardness TPU that I’ve tried has worked without issue
If that’s the case I’m either just unlucky, doomed or the announced 90A is not 90A.
Considering the fact that I had various issues with that Company it might be the shore not being correct.
I had a very nice conversation with Richard (from DUDV2) and yes, its a small US Company. He actually offered me to send it to Europe, but as I have had problems with customs in the past… therefore I’m not so confident about it. Also I might need a quick restock and that would be a problem too.
But hey… if you can buy it, please do so. It really seems to work.
What temperature are you guys printing at? Last time I tried it, almost every brand of TPU 95A I’d printed managed to get jammed by the 2nd or 3rd filament change in my AMS, if not every single one. I’m definitely in a warmer indoor environment (typically ~22C). I actually tried specifically after multiple people mentioned it, and pretty much ended up wasting a ton of time trying to make it work, messing with tension, shortening PTFE tubes, etc.
Just curious, because I get the impression it’s one of those situations where people either have pretty good success or pretty terrible success with it. Maybe it’s some subtle AMS change. For reference, I had the same issue dealing with PVA (before Bambu released their PVA), where I noticed that damp PVA was flexible enough that it would jam in the AMS during long prints due to moisture absorption, if I didn’t prebake it and ensure there was fresh desiccant in the AMS. Kind of generally seems whatever it is about my (first) AMS, it just wouldn’t work. If I have time I might try going out and finding any brands people are having luck with .
I sure wish there was feedback/input from Bambu.
I now have two AMS’s, a very early kickstarter one and another from a year later.
I had few issues (none jamming) with my TPU prints. That said, I had endless issues with my MMU back in the day where another friend it seemed to just work for.
I should revisit this. I haven’t bought much TPU in a long time. I’ll make my own test model (the one I posted earlier I got a copyright strike for…) and post.
Can you post something that didn’t work for me to compare to? I guess a 3mf or whatever. You could put it on MakerWorld and add a link.
I used it yesterday, with my “TPU-faked-as-PLA” filament profile, but I still have to worry that something will print from Makerworld with what the AMS considers to be PLA and will damage my machine.
When you say ‘You can’t load TPU into the AMS’, are you saying that it physically will not work, or that the software does not work the way you want it to?
My thought was that if you used the 'Skip AMS blacklist, that you could then software-wise accomplish your need.
Sure, but then we are talking about what flavor of unreasonable work-around.
The issue with lying to the machine - I load in TPU. I say it’s PLA.
I print a speedboat, the AMS uses the “PLA” and tries to ram 4 pounds a minute of TPU through the system and jams everything up.
If it KNEW it was TPU, it could handle it with kid gloves. Basically, “ignore blacklist” should be a function on the AMS, not a function of the slicer.
There is no AMS software. There is Bambu Studio software. If you use the ‘Skip AMS blacklist check’, can you then use the TPU as you would like without lying to the machine?
If not, what errror do you get and when do you get it?
If you know that something works but don’t allow it straight and only through tricks, no words are needed.
It’s may like by the Prusa mini, which was magically able to print faster overnight with a magical update (just after the A1 went on sale - what a funny coincidence). There are just things that you don’t forget because it shows the rooted structure of actions. The underlying company philosophy and what to expect in the future. Ok, after a companies takeovers, opponents who put pressure on, unexpected outbreaks can come in an unexpected direction.
Communist states can have very strange peculiarities when it comes to leadership and to follow the rules of the boss. Even stranger than in countries where someone has their finger on a line of text and says: That’s what it’s written here… i.e. people who can read but cannot think also say nothing, were raised to remain silent to survive in a slow dying structure
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