Help Prusa MK3s won't print Matterhackers TPU

[tonythedrony]

I just got my TPU from matterhackers to print some GoPro mounts, and my Prusa i3 MK3s can't handle it. I've printed a lot of TPU with it before, but this one just refuses to extrude. When I first put I knew something was off because it was extruding very slowly, too slowly out of the extruder. This happened a bunch, and it just does not to want to extrude. It was really hard to remove the filament, as it streched a lot, but I got it out anyhow. I thought the extruder was clogged, so I put in some PETG to get the clog out, but the PETG flowed beautifully. Why is this happening?

[daveefordays]

I just got my TPU from matterhackers to print some GoPro mounts, and my Prusa i3 MK3s can't handle it. I've printed a lot of TPU with it before, but this one just refuses to extrude. When I first put I knew something was off because it was extruding very slowly, too slowly out of the extruder. This happened a bunch, and it just does not to want to extrude. It was really hard to remove the filament, as it streched a lot, but I got it out anyhow. I thought the extruder was clogged, so I put in some PETG to get the clog out, but the PETG flowed beautifully. Why is this happening?

Hi Tony,

Can you please send a link of the filament you ordered? I will check the specs.

Personally I stick to using Sainsmart filament as it tends to be the best quality.

[tonythedrony]

Here is the link:

https://www.matterhackers.com/store/l/pr...k/MDLG8558

Hope it helps.

[daveefordays]

Here is the link:

https://www.matterhackers.com/store/l/pr...k/MDLG8558

Hope it helps.

interesting, it looks like okay stuff and I dont see why you would have an issue.

Traditionally it can be hard to tell if tpu is snagged inside your hotend because its flexible, sometimes you need to twist it around a bit in there to make sure it's all the way in and not caught up.

Make sure your hotend temp is set to 230C like they say on the website

if you're still having a problem try cutting the first 2 feet off of the roll and try again, this should give you a fresh bit of filament incase there was maybe some contamination at the end.

Interested to see how you go.

[SnowLeopardFPV]

It looks like the Matterhackers PRO Series TPU has a shore hardness of 90A (specified in the datasheet HERE) which is softer than most other general purpose 94A / 95A TPU filaments. I had similar issues to you when trying to print using 85A TPU on my MK3S and went through weeks of frustration. On the spool it said to print using 190°C-210°C so I just took that as gospel and never even thought to try higher temperatures. I just thought it was a problem with my MK3S. It was only when I started increasing the hot end temperature and eventually got to ~240°C that I then started getting some usable prints from it, although they still don't come out as well as with 95A TPU. I could probably spend hours trying to tweak various other settings but in the end I confined that spool of TPU to the cupboard for emergency use and I now just stick to printing with 95A TPU (mostly SainSmart).

If you look through the comments under the Q&A's at the bottom of the MatterHackers web page (also notated below), you will see a couple relating to the MK3S, so you aren't alone in having issues with that TPU on a MK3S.

I have had generally good luck with this material. I love the properties of it. I would like some advice on reducing some stringing. I use Prusa MK3S with the Generic FLEX setting. I get a big string from the purge line to the skirt and from the skirt to the print. I am using a 240 degree print temp and my speeds are all around 30.

This has totally jammed my hotend on Prusa MK3 I do not reccomend