Filament Settings & Drying Reference
Typical starting settings for every common FDM material, in one table. These are ranges for mainstream brands — your spool's label wins if it says otherwise, and a temperature tower settles the exact number.
| Material | Nozzle °C | Bed °C | Fan | Enclosure | Drying | Density | Shrinkage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLA | 190 – 220 | 50 – 60 | 100% | No — keep it open | 45 – 50 °C, 4 – 6 h | 1.24 | 0.2 – 0.5% | Easiest material. Softens around 60 °C, so not for hot cars or anything near a heater. |
| PLA+ / Tough PLA | 200 – 230 | 50 – 65 | 80 – 100% | No | 45 – 55 °C, 4 – 6 h | 1.22 – 1.27 | 0.2 – 0.5% | Runs a little hotter than plain PLA; check the brand's range. |
| Silk PLA | 200 – 225 | 55 – 60 | 100% | No | 45 – 50 °C, 4 h | 1.20 – 1.25 | 0.2 – 0.5% | Weak layer adhesion; print slower and hotter than plain PLA for strength. |
| PLA-CF | 200 – 230 | 50 – 60 | 80 – 100% | No | 50 – 55 °C, 6 h | 1.25 – 1.32 | 0.1 – 0.3% | Hardened nozzle, 0.5 mm or larger recommended. Matte, stiff, brittle. |
| PETG | 230 – 250 | 70 – 85 | 30 – 50% | No | 60 – 65 °C, 4 – 6 h | 1.27 | 0.3 – 0.8% | Strings when wet or too hot. Glue stick or textured plate — it can bond to smooth PEI permanently. |
| PETG-CF | 240 – 265 | 70 – 80 | 30 – 50% | No | 65 °C, 6 h | 1.28 – 1.32 | 0.2 – 0.5% | Hardened nozzle. Much stiffer and less stringy than plain PETG. |
| ABS | 230 – 260 | 95 – 110 | 0 – 20% | Yes — warps and cracks without | 70 – 80 °C, 4 h | 1.04 | 0.8 – 1.5% | Fumes; ventilate. Acetone-smoothable. Enclosure at 40 °C+ is the real fix for warping. |
| ASA | 240 – 260 | 90 – 110 | 0 – 20% | Yes | 75 – 80 °C, 4 h | 1.07 | 0.5 – 0.8% | UV-stable ABS; the outdoor choice. Slightly easier than ABS. |
| TPU 95A | 210 – 235 | 30 – 50 | 50 – 100% | No | 50 – 55 °C, 6 – 8 h | 1.21 | 0.5 – 1.2% | Print slow (20 – 40 mm/s), minimal retraction, direct drive strongly preferred. Absorbs water fast. |
| TPU 85A / softer | 210 – 230 | 30 – 45 | 50 – 100% | No | 50 °C, 8 h | 1.15 – 1.20 | 0.5 – 1.5% | Direct drive only; very slow. Some are too soft for stock extruders. |
| Polycarbonate (PC) | 260 – 300 | 100 – 120 | 0 – 20% | Yes | 75 – 80 °C, 6 – 8 h | 1.20 | 0.6 – 1.0% | All-metal hotend required. PC blends (PC-ABS, PC-PBT) are more forgiving than pure PC. |
| Nylon PA6 / PA66 | 250 – 280 | 80 – 100 | 0 – 20% | Yes | 75 – 80 °C, 8 – 12 h | 1.12 – 1.15 | 1.0 – 2.0% | Extremely hygroscopic — dry before every print, keep in a dry box while printing. Garolite or glue. |
| Nylon PA12 | 240 – 270 | 70 – 90 | 0 – 20% | Recommended | 70 – 75 °C, 8 h | 1.01 | 0.8 – 1.5% | Absorbs less water than PA6 and warps less. |
| PA-CF / PA-GF | 260 – 300 | 80 – 100 | 0 – 30% | Yes | 80 °C, 8 – 12 h | 1.15 – 1.25 | 0.2 – 0.6% | Hardened nozzle. Fibers cut shrinkage and warping dramatically; the practical engineering nylon. |
| HIPS | 230 – 250 | 95 – 110 | 0 – 20% | Yes | 65 – 70 °C, 4 h | 1.04 | 0.7 – 1.0% | Support material for ABS (dissolves in limonene) or a lighter ABS alternative. |
| PVA | 190 – 210 | 50 – 60 | 100% | No | 45 – 50 °C, 6 h | 1.23 | — | Water-soluble support. Ruined by humidity within days; store sealed with desiccant. |
| Polypropylene (PP) | 220 – 250 | 85 – 100 | 20 – 50% | Recommended | 60 °C, 4 h | 0.90 | 1.5 – 2.5% | Sticks to almost nothing except PP tape or a PP sheet; warps badly. Chemically resistant and tough. |
| PET (unmodified) | 240 – 270 | 70 – 90 | 20 – 40% | Recommended | 65 °C, 6 h | 1.30 – 1.35 | 0.5 – 1.0% | Stiffer than PETG, higher temperature tolerance, less common. |
| Wood-filled PLA | 190 – 220 | 50 – 60 | 100% | No | 45 – 50 °C, 4 h | 1.15 – 1.28 | 0.2 – 0.5% | 0.5 mm nozzle or larger to avoid clogs; temperature changes the colour. |
| Lightweight foaming PLA (LW-PLA) | 230 – 260 (foams above ~230) | 50 – 60 | 100% | No | 45 °C, 4 h | 1.2 → 0.5 – 0.6 after foaming | 0.2 – 0.5% | Flow must be cut to 40 – 60% when foaming. For RC aircraft and cosplay. |
Reading the table
Nozzle temperature ranges span the common brands; within a brand the range is narrower and printed on the spool. Lower for detail and less stringing, higher for strength and speed. Bed temperature is for a PEI or textured sheet; glass and glue-stick setups often want 5 – 10 °C more. Fan is the part cooling fan after the first few layers — materials that need an enclosure generally want the fan off or low, because cooling is what makes them crack between layers. Shrinkage is what the shrinkage calculator corrects for; it's a starting value, not a guarantee. Density is what the length-to-weight converter uses.
Drying filament
Every filament absorbs water from the air; the only difference is how fast and how much it matters. Wet filament pops and hisses at the nozzle, strings badly, prints with a rough or foamy surface, and is weaker. PLA takes weeks in a humid room to get noticeably wet; PETG and TPU days; nylon and PVA hours.
The drying figures are for a purpose-built filament dryer or a food dehydrator with an accurate thermostat. A domestic oven is risky — most can't hold 50 °C reliably and a spool of PLA that sees 65 °C fuses into a solid block. Times are for a spool that's been sitting out; a badly wet spool of nylon can take a full day. After drying, keep the spool in a sealed box or bag with desiccant, or print straight from the dryer.
| How wet is it? | Signs | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Dry | Quiet extrusion, glossy walls, clean travels | Nothing. Store it sealed. |
| Slightly wet | Occasional faint pop, a few extra strings, slightly matte finish | Dry for the table's time. Usually fully recovers. |
| Wet | Steady crackling, heavy stringing, bubbles or rough surface, weak layers | Dry for 1.5 – 2× the time, then check by extruding in the air — it should come out smooth and silent. |
| Very wet (nylon, PVA, TPU left out) | Foamy extrusion, blobs, prints that fail on the first layer | Dry 12 – 24 h. If the filament has gone brittle or discolored, it may not come back. |
Enclosures
"Enclosure" in the table means a closed chamber that traps heat, not a dust cover. ABS, ASA, PC and nylon shrink as they cool, and a part that cools unevenly warps off the bed or cracks between layers. A chamber that sits at 40 – 60 °C keeps the whole part warm until it's finished. Printers with a stock enclosure (Bambu P1S/X1C, Prusa Core One, Voron) handle these materials well; an open bedslinger can manage small ABS parts with a brim and no fan, and struggles with anything larger. PLA and PETG, conversely, print worse in a hot enclosure — PLA can soften and jam in the extruder — so open the door or the lid.
Hardened nozzles
Any filament with fibers or particles — CF, GF, glow-in-the-dark, metal-filled, some matte and wood filaments — will wear a brass nozzle out in a spool or two, visibly widening the bore and ruining dimensional accuracy. Hardened steel, tungsten carbide or ruby-tipped nozzles solve it. Fiber-filled materials also clog small nozzles; 0.5 – 0.6 mm is the safe choice, and 0.4 mm works with care.