Problem with printing TPU

Bambu Lab X1 Series Troubleshooting
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1

Hello everyone,

I printed TPU95A from GEETECH for the first time. The print didn’t work several times and I tried several times with different settings. Without success. Every time one side sags somehow and there is more filament on one side than on the other. I do not know why. It’s not even.
I print with the standard Bambu settings for TPU (220 degrees, automatic lidar calibration and print bed leveling done).
With a maximum of 30mm/s, 0.16mm layer height, 0.4mm line width. The cooling is off for the first 2 layers.
I use the Orca Slicer. However, I only have such a problem with TPU.

Would be very grateful for any help! :slight_smile:

side view
side view1920×1440 90.3 KB

side view
side view1920×1440 92.7 KB

Orca Slicer
Orca Slicer1920×1167 143 KB

2

It does not look like there is more filament on one side vs the other, but rather like the layers are not bonding and curling up.

Is the side that is curling up directly facing the aux fan on the left side wall of the X1…? This looks like an uneven cooling problem to me. Try turning off the aux fan.

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3

The aux fan was already set to 0% :confused:
Or does it maybe help to switch off the component fan on the hotend? This was set to 100% from the 2nd shift.

4

Hello,
I have not tried this with our Bambu products yet. We do however print quite a bit with TPU. Among our arsenal of printers, we have a very large (6ft tall) Delta-style printer that we use exclusively for TPU. Our settings are a tad bit higher on the hotend with no auxiliary cooling fans. We print TPU very slowly, running faster has yielded results almost identical to your print. We use these prints as flexible gaskets to capture CO2 and methane in agricultural feeding devices used to study emissions in cattle and similar livestock. Anyway good luck. If needed, I can check what speeds we are printing at when we return to work after our long holiday weekend.

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5

Seeing that you are using Orca Slicer, have you done the Calibration exercises with your TPU?

6

It seems that there is absolutly no bonding between your layers, I would try to print hotter, a lot hoter, 235°C and wihout any fan.

7

I did all calibrations in the Orca Slicer. It looks like Z-Hop has been a problem. I turned this off and got better results with other TPU prints. But I will also try printing at a higher temperature and without a fan.

8

Calibrate your filament in OrcaSlicer (at least temperature, flow rate & pressure advance), use the results to modify the Bambu preset, rename to something like GEETECH TPU 95A Black and save the new settings. Use that filament profile for all prints with that filament. You can turn off the lidar flow calibration before printing to save some time and filament, you’ve already done the flow rate calibration.

It does no good to calibrate your filament settings if you then use the standard Bambu presets.

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