Great to hear!

Glad to hear that!

I hope the video helps with TPU. I really love printing with the stuff, especially since the Sidewinder does it so well. I actually own a few other printers, but the Sidewinder has quickly become my favorite because it works so well and quietly. Thanks for watching.

hey Nick, can you make a video on this? and send it to me :D

@@MATLOCKE269 No. I pretty much gave you all the answers in my comment. Dig through your slicer for these settings and tweak them. Make a small sample piece to print and test the changes. One other thing I forgot to mention is the brand of TPU filament. Sainsmart used to be my go to. Until I tried Priline. My prints on the Sidewinder with my settings and Priline are insanely clean gorgeous prints in TPU.

You might want to check your retraction settings to help reduce some of the stringing.

I have used the Z hop retraction and it helps reduce a a great of string when going to the next layer on a larger print. On small items it doesn't really help because as the hot TPU is extruded onto the next level, if the previous layer was small it hasn't had enough time to cool so the new layer sticks and slightly pulls.

I believe the stock extruded is .6 or .4. I switched my nozzle a few months back it’s a .6.

You will need to slightly loosen (to tighten) the wheel behind the extruder idler arm until it applies the right amount of pressure to grab it.

@@make_and_remake I tried this to no avail. what are the odds my stock extruder gear is stripped vs some other problem?

It worked very well using just a simple glue stick. I’ve printed without any glue, but it seemed that wider objects required glue. Of course I use a brim or a raft to help stabilize the print when necessary.

Layer heights were 0.15 mm for all prints.

I generally use Cura for my slicer. When I print TPU I have a feed rate of 25mm/s, a bed temp of 60 degrees and a nozzle temp of 210-218 depending on how flexible I need the item. I also have a layer height of .15 -.2 I also use a infill between 10%-30%.

Hello! The minor layer shifting could be from a simply bed leveling issue. The one thing I really like about this printer is the leveling menu because it uses five points that you can continually go back and forth between. In other words, you can freely go from point 1 to point 4 and etc. You might need to do some micro-adjustments to the leveling by going back and forth between the points. There also could be issues with that filament roll holder on top because it's a bad design from a physics standpoint. I'm using an old cart for my printer so I took some 3/4 inch PVC piping along with some elbow connectors and attached it to the sides of the cart. It costed lest than $5 for it. I will make a short video detailing the cart and set-up. Thanks for watching.

Greetings, I made a basic video describing the cart I used along with the PVC pipes. It may help if you are thinking trying to condense the footprint of your printer and supplies. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/htNga81nxNfan6c.html

First, let me say thank you for watching. If you are having some issues with TPU jamming the printer with other filaments, there might be too much pressure applied to the filament loading lever. You could also try using some cleaning filament to help remove some of the residue left over from the TPU. However, it could also be time to change your nozzle, perhaps to a high quality all metal micro swiss nozzle. www.amazon.com/Plated-Resistant-Volcano-Compatible-Filament/dp/B01LZBMOE2 www.amazon.com/NovaMaker-Cleaning-Filament-Dimensional-Accuracy/dp/B0746J454J/ref=sr_1_3?crid=21A1P8XNNDXP8&dchild=1&keywords=cleaning+3d+filament&qid=1616192819&sprefix=cleaning+3d+fi%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-3

Thanks, iused an acupuncture needle to clean out the heated head and the realigned the intake and fed the tpu through slowly. Thank for the response. In printed the nijaflex amazingly well.

All the TPU I used and currently use is from SainSmart. Here are the four used in the video: www.amazon.com/SAINSMART-Flexible-Printing-Filament-Dimensional/dp/B072FSBKGR/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=sainsmart+tpu+white&qid=1602188357&sr=8-3 www.amazon.com/SAINSMART-Flexible-Printing-Filament-Dimensional/dp/B0728LNLX7/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1YS379Y8071JB&dchild=1&keywords=sainsmart+tpu&qid=1602188322&sprefix=sainsmart%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-4 www.amazon.com/SainSmart-Flexible-Printing-Filament-Dimensional/dp/B00TI3JUVA/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-drs-ajax1_0?crid=1YS379Y8071JB&cv_ct_cx=sainsmart+tpu&dchild=1&keywords=sainsmart+tpu&pd_rd_i=B00TI3JUVA&pd_rd_r=f5504534-d0b5-4e73-9e40-61caf28fbc23&pd_rd_w=uoN4b&pd_rd_wg=sOgjU&pf_rd_p=2af54486-024b-43c2-a014-77f8e1ab2526&pf_rd_r=9BCNB3S8BR74H4SERYR9&psc=1&qid=1602188322&sprefix=sainsmart%2Caps%2C169&sr=1-1-25b07e09-600a-4f0d-816e-b06387f8bcf1 www.amazon.com/SainSmart-Flexible-Printing-Filament-Dimensional/dp/B00TI3JUTM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1YS379Y8071JB&dchild=1&keywords=sainsmart+tpu&qid=1602188322&sprefix=sainsmart%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNElLMVk2TE1ZSVdCJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDI4MzkwMVhLNFVCMzJDTlNNTyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTMyNDY0MVI1MFgzOUFLSVI5NSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

@@make_and_remake Thank you.

I think you are right -I should had addressed retraction in some aspect. However, for my purposes I really didn't need to adjust it because most of my prints have turned-out very well using the standard retraction settings I use for PLA. Nevertheless, I do see how in specific situations that retraction would be helpful. I also think in the future I'm going to do a full in-depth look at infill settings. Thanks for your feedback and I'm curious to hear what you find-out when you make some adjustments to your TPU.

Wow! That's strange because for the last week I have been working on a new review of a printer and just started using the Prusslicer to generate some gcodes to compare to Cura and Simplify 3D to reduce any bias in the review. Nevertheless, it seems stable and I'm impressed with the features. I anticipate using it a lot more to try and get some better prints. I'm all about open-source software.

@@make_and_remakeThanks for the quick reply Jason. I am new to all of this, however I'd like to start printing TPU with this machine. I have been using Prusaslicer since I opened the box 3 weeks ago. I just wanted to know what settings you were using in Prusaslicer or if you had possibly created a profile for TPU.

Greetings. The first thing you want to do is make sure your bed is leveled. Also, you may need slightly more clearance than normal because the expansive properties of TPU. Next, I recommend you use some glue to hold the print down. I have also found using a brim or raft also helps ensure the filament adheres to the bed. Lastly, make sure you have slowed down the print speed because otherwise the TPU cannot extrude at the correct layer height. Thanks for watching.

@@make_and_remake Does glue really help with adhesion? The only thing it does for me is it dries and is easier to take off the print after.

I have found it does help. Yeah, after awhile it starts to build up and can be nasty looking, but it does work. However, when it comes to the sidewinder, I find myself using either a raft or brim for most prints. Otherwise the print wants to slide around adjust which creates layer height issues.

Yes. This was all stock. I didn’t replace the idler arm until later. What is happening when you attempt to print? Is it getting stuck or just making a mess?

@@make_and_remake i can get it to print the first layer and then building up from there it's a globby mess

What is the feedrate you set in the gcode? Also, I’m not sure how your filament has been stored but TPU is like a sponge so the humidity builds up in really fast. You may need to dry the filament for a few hours before using.

I will try that because I’m very curious about the speed and nozzle temp. However, I have not used the Ninjatek filament. I bought some other name brands recently to design some controller overlays for students with disabilities. Even in those cases I found that when I went to fast it really created layer height issues and the items wouldn’t hold up very long because they layers separated too quickly. I’m going to buy some Ninajtek to see if I can print faster because printing class sets of these items is taking forever! Thanks for watching.

This.