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Solved Having heck of a time with Sainsmart TPU

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by combustion8, Apr 20, 2017.

  1. combustion8

    combustion8 New Member

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    I have the PTFE tube in but my filament is still getting bound up... happens usually towards the end of my print, just stops printing and when I remove the filament is all knotted up. Is there a trick I'm missing?
     
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    How slow are you printing?
    SLOW. Really slow is the only way to make that work with a GregsWade.

    Lots of other posts about this, drop the speed a lot...
     
  3. combustion8

    combustion8 New Member

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    Yeah I've tried 20mm multiple times... is there a trick to getting the PTFE in there correctly?
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    No, but you may have to go slower than that :)
    I routinely go NO faster than 15mm and often slower.
     
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  5. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    if I dont want to risk a failure I'm under 10mm/s. The gregs wade just isn't ideal for flex...can it work....OH YEA....is it slow....SO SLOW
     
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  6. combustion8

    combustion8 New Member

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    Thanks I'll give that a shot, what other settings do you typically use? Temps, Retraction etc...?
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Temps are a fools game, everybody will have a different environment.
    Run tests across the range, but I normally print that on the hot side.
    Retraction is usually NONE or very little for flexible.
     
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  8. combustion8

    combustion8 New Member

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    Sounds reasonable.. seemed 220 was best for me with no retraction.. I'll try slower speeds and see if that does the trick... otherwise I may upgrade to the titan extractor and e3d.
     
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    The titan is really designed for that sort of filament so it will be easier to get it going. There is at least one project/mod thread on folks making that switch.
     
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  10. combustion8

    combustion8 New Member

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    Well I got to about 80% and it just keeps jamming.. guess my only option is to install a Titan extruder.
     
  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It takes a lot of tweaking to get settings that work for NinjaFlex and other soft flexibles.
    We generally use SemiFlex if we want flexible... NinjaFlex is too flexible for many parts.

    The Titan extruder (and others -- check thingiverse) were designed for that type of filament, most extruders (like the GregsWade on the Robo) were not.
     
  12. combustion8

    combustion8 New Member

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    So I took apart my extruder and increased the radius of the filament intake to accept a PTFE all the way to the hot end.. working perfectly now! Not sure why they didn't just do this in production... printing sainsmart tpu great at 20mm. Loving this printer!
     
  13. ElsaCline

    ElsaCline New Member

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    Hi...I also run a high travel speed which allows less time for oozing from the nozzle on travel moves and can reduce stringing and blobbing. I run 25-30mm/s print speed and 120mm/s travel speed.
     
  14. BrooklynBay

    BrooklynBay Active Member

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    I have a Flexion Extruder which was designed by the inventor of Ninaflex filament. I'm able to print TPU or TPE at the same speed as PLA, ABS or PETG. It's worth looking into.
     

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