How To Dry Tpu Filament In Oven? (Drying Filaments)

How To Dry Tpu Filament? TPU is a type of rubber that can be used in 3D printing. It is usually made from polyacrylate, which gives it its elasticity. However, this also means that it absorbs water and will not dry out easily. If you want to make sure your Tpu prints come out correctly, you’ll need to know how to dry the material before use. Here are some helpful tips for drying Tpu:

– Use an oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93C) for 10 minutes
– Place the plastic on a flat surface with help of weights like books or stones
– Wipe off excess moisture using paper towels or cloths

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How to dry Tpu filaments?

Hi, my name is Oleg and I live in Russia. Today I want to share my experience with the drying of Tpu material. So the problem with TPU is that it absorbs water from the air very fast, even if you have a dry climate inside your house/room. Mine is not so dry land but still surface of filament becomes moist after 1-2 days.

Maybe somebody knows how to make it drier?

Yes of course there are some desiccant packs for this purpose but they are expensive and hard to find here in Russia. Then I found another solution for this problem.

First, what you need to do – get an automatic fish tank water drier (see photos below). It has a fan on one side that sucks air through the other side and through the tank with a desiccant inside. So evaporated water from the fish tank will be sucked away as well as air moisture. For this case, I used a special plug for this drier to feed the filament into it.

To do that you need to solder/weld a new connector on the filaments wire and use it instead of the original plug. Fan speed is adjustable so you can change it during the drying process depending on the wetness of the filament (when the filament was dry, I lowered the fan speed). This system runs almost 5 days non-stop and dried my TPU part completely.

How To Dry Tpu Filament?

Drying TPU filament in the oven?

I know it’s the most frequent question people use to ask when they get TPU.

The filament is coming with a high humidity level that is very bad for the quality and will cause problems in 3D printers during the printing process such as:

-Filament grip on hotend nozzle, extruder gear, and motor. Resulting in less extruding efficiency and jamming under the higher temperatures of 200+ degrees Celsius.

-Decrease or lost of adherence between layers (aka pillowing effect).

It was really hard to find proper information about how to dry TPU properly. So I decided to share my experience here! 🙂

When we talk about drying; we need an oven, aluminum foil some patience. Here you go!

Note 1: For the first few hours, you’ll get bubbles between layers. Don’t worry about it! It’s completely normal and will be gone in the next hour or so.

Note 2: Allow filament to cool down after finishing baking. Do not try to unload before it’s 100% cool! You may damage something in the extruder if you do it.

Step 1 – Setup

Preheat oven for ~15 minutes at ~100°C (210°F). Yes, I’m using a very simple method of preheating the oven with only 15 mins boost time instead of full power for an hour or more as many people do; but I’m still able to dry filament properly even it takes a longer time than usual.

Note: If you’re using an oven that has metal wire racks inside then use the aluminum foil that is very sticky and thick enough to cover the gap between wires. Wrap filament with aluminum foil tightly, place it in the oven, and start baking! Do not forget about preheating time before starting the actual drying process!

Step 2 – Filament Baking Process

Bake for ~30-45 minutes at 100°C (210°F). Turn off the oven and let the filament cool down slowly in the oven without opening the door. Note: After turning off my oven, I leave it for ~2 hours because sometimes when we unload filament from a hot oven; it may lost some adherence between layers especially if baked longer than 40 mins or at a high temperature.

Step 3 – Unloading from O V E N – Do not try to unload filament immediately after turning off the O V E N!

Just let it cool down completely inside the baking oven before removing it. Be very gentle when removing the aluminum foil. If you need to save some filament for the next printing session, keep in mind that most of the water is already gone after this step and you just have to store your filament in an airtight container or seal a bag with minimum possible humidity level.

I hope this article helps someone who had problems with the TPU drying process due to high humidity levels when they get it from their favorite fab shop!

How To Dry Tpu Filament?

Drying filament in the dehydrator

The 3D filament is extremely hygroscopic. During the printing process, small amounts of humidity are absorbed by the molten plastic, which can have a negative impact on various properties of finished prints. While this may not be apparent in everyday use, it is often dramatically visible in 3D printed objects that require high tensile strength or other properties related to water absorption.

The best way to mitigate humidity-related problems is by storing the filament in an environment with low relative humidity (RH). Unfortunately, not all filament is stored properly before being sold. This means there might be moisture left inside thus changing its mechanical characteristics even if kept sealed since it was manufactured.

Many companies dry their filaments for weeks at elevated temperatures prior to sale, but most filaments available to home users do not have this treatment.

In the past, I have seen many methods used by users to dry filament, including heating it in an oven for a couple of hours at 40-60 ˚C or leaving it out in the sun.

In my case, I bought a dehydrator from [Michael] and got rid of moisture issues arising from time to time with various filaments. After drying you can see a huge difference in color between a dried and a wet filament:

I use my food dehydrator which is almost silent and lets me sleep while doing its job. A quick test showed that keeping 3D printed objects in a low humidity environment can keep them from warping during printing as well.

TPU filament drying temperature (filament dry)

Hi, I have the filament manufacturer recommended the printing temperature for TPU (eSun) to 245°C – but on my Printrbot + it only has a max temp of 230°C. Any idea how many degrees off is that? Someone told me that TPU starts to decompose under 300°C I’m using Simplify3D. Thank you! Best regards, Mikka

The advice your friend gave you is for ABS or PLA which are both prone to warping when printed too hot. As far as the quality of your print goes there’s not much difference between 245 and 230 in terms of material properties so if anything I would move down from 245 rather than up from 230 since with each degree C your nozzle gets hotter the risk of damaging your nozzle also goes up.

Even though you are moving away from the recommended filament temperature for this type of filament it is not going to cause any problems with TPU as long as you don’t go all the way down to 230°C and no higher than 245°C (which is the maximum that your printer will allow). Just make sure you use a material that was formulated for extrusion temperatures no lower than 245°C. And if you’re wondering why I’m recommending a different brand considering eSun has been used by almost everyone who prints TPU – well, there are two main reasons:

1) When printing at higher speeds it can be difficult to keep track of whether or not you’re still at the right temperature or if your extrusion is just right or whether it has stopped due to overheating. With eSun that becomes more of a problem since they use a slightly different formulation which works well on normal PLA settings but when trying to print TPU using these settings it would be difficult to get consistent results from one printer to another. So I do not recommend eSun for high-speed prints with this type of filament.

2) The formulation used by eSun can sometimes cause problems when printing flexible filaments since it does not have enough flexibility and elasticity by itself so a 100% infill is required in order to keep the object from splitting while under stress. This is actually something I’m going to experiment with next as I have had a few reports of splitting issues from other people printing flexible filaments.

How To Dry Tpu Filament?

Can you dye Tpu?

A quick search on the internet will reveal to you that many people have been asking this exact question.

In fact, I found myself wondering the same thing last year but I never ordered any Tpu to give it a try.

It’s still not too late however as a couple of days ago a friend who is a 3D printer owner came over and gave me some TPU filament which he didn’t need anymore. What should we do with all the colors given to us? Yes, make some dyes out of them!

I cut about 10cm from each spool and boiled them for about 30 minutes with 1 liter of water. Then just let it cool down to room temperature and voila 2 liters of dye are ready to use.

It’s very easy to do and the color is deep and brilliant. I used a metal spoon but next time I will probably try with a plastic spoon instead, to avoid getting any black marks from the metal.

The good thing about Tpu dye is that it keeps its color even after washing many times (actually, it’s still as new). The bad thing, however, is that if you are using hard water then your colors might be more or less intense depending on its concentration of Calcium Carbonate which some dyes are very sensitive to. Anyway, all you have to do is do some testing at home first until you find the perfect ratio of dye/water for your water.

Oh, and forgot to tell you but I also did the same with Nylon filament which is a bit more difficult since it doesn’t dissolve in boiling water (even after heating up for a couple of hours). Instead, I used Ethyl Alcohol from the hardware store and let the nylon pieces soak in them overnight. Same result!

Can you paint Tpu?

Yes, you can.

First, the filament has to be printed with a hotend of your choice at a perforated bed, or on one that is covered with tape. After that, you have to heat up the print to make it soft again and turn around its position, this way the paint will stick better when sprayed with normal smooth-on.

After this step paints it in every color you like with any possible method (paintbrush/spray can etc.), but don’t forget to cover all areas which shouldn’t be painted! The last thing is set in the oven for about 2 hours at 100°C in order to cure/harden it. Now your object is complete and ready for use!

It would even work without the oven, but it will be more flexible then.

Eco ABS can also be spray painted!

You can also use this method to paint TPU.

How To Dry Tpu?

Is it possible to print with two colors on Da Vinci 1.0 AiO?

You can upload and print objects that contain 2 or more colors, but there is a technical limitation: the printer will always start printing with the first filament loaded in the extruder, continue with the other one and stop as soon as you run out of filament of either color. If you want to use for example white and black ABS, load both filaments at once (in any order) directly next to each other at the entry of the extruder.

I know my object contains multiple parts which need different settings, how can I do this?

At first, I suggest uploading all objects as single ones, so Ultimaker Cura will automatically use the settings of the first object you selected. This way it is also easy to change colors or material after import if needed.

Afterward go to “Machine” -> “Printing environment”, now your printer should be set up for this job!

I decided now that I want to print my object in two parts, what do I have to do?

At first select, all objects that need different settings in Ultimaker Cura, then right-click on them and choose “Split”. Now rename each of these parts according to its setting (for example: name one part “Left Upper Part” and the other one “Right Lower Part”) and move them together in order to prevent they touch each other, afterward you can use the preview in Ultimaker Cura and hide/move parts if needed. Now everything is set up and you can choose “Print each object separately” for your printer!

Is it possible to print TPU flexible material?

Yes, you can print TPU filament with a special hotend which heats up to 265°C and has a nozzle of only 0.4mm for this purpose. You also have to perform some tests in order to find out how many mm/s are actually needed at the different settings (which depends on your specific setup).

If these numbers are too low, try slowing down before retrying again with higher values since otherwise, the extruder might jam.

Ultimaker Cura 3.3 also allows you to adjust the speed during infill at different speeds in order to prevent material slipping and reduce print artifacts, which is especially critical for flexible materials.

What problems might occur when printing TPU?

When printing with normal PLA settings, you might get stringing on the object since it slips through the nozzle very fast since it’s so flexible. This can be solved by slowing down before retrying again with higher values since otherwise, the extruder might jam.

If this fails too, try increasing flow rate at given percentages (for example from 0.9 to 1.0) until a reliable result is achieved – but keep in mind that this number might change after a while or even get worse again.

Another possible problem is that the printer might skip/drop steps which cause visible artifacts on your object (printouts like squares, stripes etc.). If this happens, try to reduce speed before retrying again with higher speeds since printing too fast (without reliable calibration) could cause this problem.

How To Dry Tpu Filament? (cre: fillamentum)

Is it possible to generate support for TPU?

Yes, Ultimaker Cura 3.3 has a dedicated setting for “brims” in order to generate supports out of thin lines when needed by your object.

Keep in mind that you have to adjust these settings according to your needs – depending on how much you need supports or if you can slow down when creating them since they are very thin and flexible!

What about enabling manual support?

When you select “manual supports”, please be aware that these do not save the object and it will print without any support if your printer can’t handle a specific situation (for instance overhang).

This is especially critical when printing flexible materials such as TPU since it might cause problems like holes within your infill. Ultimaker Cura 3.3 has special settings for this setup, though – so try to combine it with other options in order to get a reliable result!

Is Tpu safe?

Both 3D printing filaments are safe to use. TPU is a non-toxic material and should not be kept near food. It does not wear away easily which means that it is a very durable 3D printing filament.

TPE, which stands for Thermoplastic Elastomer, also works well. It does not come apart easily but can be used near food because it is non-toxic as well. Both filaments can print objects that are meant to bend or stretch such as toys or clothes for babies/kids

TPU stands for thermoplastic polyurethane, a polymer that has both elastic and plastic properties, says Scott Heimendinger, director of scientific affairs at MakerBot Industries, a leading provider of 3D printers. “Let’s say you have a rubber ball on your desk,” he said during a demonstration at this year’s SXSW Eco conference in Austin. “You could deform it as much as you want and as fast as you want.” In other words: It stretches. With TPU printing on an early Makerbot 3D printer – which Heendinger calls the “gold standard” of TPU printing – he took the ball, hit it with a hammer, and then ran it over with his car. It bounced right back into its round shape, no damage done.

Heimendinger said that the filament is also flexible enough to bend around your finger without breaking. ” If I can make something soft, elastic or bendable, I’m not limited by design,” he said. “I can actually use this material in any way.”

How To Dry Tpu Filament? (cre: shop)

What are some possible health effects of Tpu? (specialized filament dryer & Dry PLA filament)

TPU does not usually produce an odor while being used.

However, if you try using ABS with a TPU nozzle attached to your 3D printer (which is very difficult), then you will get PLA fumes! That’s because ABS is what some refer to as “Toxic Plastic”. Basically, if you ever print with ABS then be sure to do it in a ventilated area or outside.

Printing TPU hardly gives off any fumes at all.

As for the health effects of having TPU fumes around you, we don’t really know much about that subject.

However, we do know that one of the components in TPU (Hexamethylene diisocyanate) is an irritant and can probably cause respiratory issues and other problems over time. That being said, most 3D printing filament uses Hexamethylene diisocyanate so this likely applies to pretty much all 3D printer filaments on the market.

What’s the best way to store TPU? (Store dried filament)

It’s not required, but it can be a good idea to store your 3D printer filament indoors so you won’t have issues with moisture, bugs or animals chewing on it.

It should also be stored away from direct sunlight and other sources of UV radiation. Many people even recommend keeping your filament in a sealed container so that dust and dirt don’t contaminate it over time.

How To Dry Tpu? (cre: prusaprinters)

When will TPU first become available?

We don’t know exactly when we’ll have our very first roll of TPU for sale…

But we do have a MakerBot 5th gen extruder that works well with both ABS and TPU so you can get started experimenting with flexible filaments right now.

TPU hardness scale (dry petg filament)

The hardness of TPU material is also called Shore hardness. The terms Shore D and Rockwell hardness (HRC) are often used interchangeably for measuring TPU hardness.

The Shore Durometer scale measures the indentation hardness of non-metallic materials, plastics, and elastomers in particular, using a standard indenter under a defined load and time span. It provides numerical values that can be correlated with tested results rather than physical testing each sample.

Conclusion

To dry the TPU filament, the best way is to use a heated chamber. It’s important that you do not exceed 230 degrees Fahrenheit and also be sure to turn off any fans in your drying chamber. If these steps are followed correctly, then it should take about 1-2 hours for your material to completely dry out.

After this time frame has passed, it will be safe for storage or further processing if desired. We have found that our customers really like using this method because they can monitor the process without worrying too much about damaging their product with excess heat so long as they follow all of our guidelines!

Further Reading:

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