Capricorn XS Premium Extra Low Friction PTFE Bowden Tubing
Capricorn XS Premium Extra Low Friction PTFE Bowden Tubing
Premium PTFE Capricorn XS tubes with high level of lubrication.
The XS series of professional PTFE tubing is made from the highest quality Teflon.
Thanks to Capricorn's special blend of very low friction additives, it has a deep blue color.
Extremely low friction
High precision
Lower retracion
High temperature resistance
Ideal for flex filaments
Sold by 1m (e.g. 2pcs = 2x 1m) More
Manufacturer: CapricornProduct code: 557 Shipping and Payment
Premium PTFE Capricorn XS tubes with high level of lubrication.
The XS series of professional PTFE tubing is made from the highest quality Teflon.
Thanks to Capricorn's special blend of very low friction additives, it has a deep blue color.
Extremely low friction
High precision
Lower retracion
High temperature resistance
Ideal for flex filaments
Sold by 1m (e.g. 2pcs = 2x 1m) More
Manufacturer: CapricornProduct code: 557 Shipping and Payment
High Lubricity Additives make XS Series tubing the lowest friction Bowden tubing on the market. These are not a coating, but are inside the PTFE. Less friction means more responsiveness, less retraction, more accurate prints, less slippage, wear, and tear on the extruder, and less clogging when printing chunky filaments such as some woodfills or ironfills.
Lower retraction means time saved every time the extruder retracts. Over the course of a print, a few milliseconds here and a few there add up to a lot of time saved.
1.9mm ± 0.05mm Inner Diameter A tighter inner diameter tolerance than traditional tubing reduces the "wiggle room," or buckling, inside the tube, allowing you to print flexible filaments even on the longest Bowden systems.
High Temperature Resistance - The high-temperature additive improves the thermal properties of the PTFE, allowing it to print at higher temperatures for longer duty cycles. XS tubing will operate at even higher temperatures than TL serie.
Technical Specifications
PTFE, or Polytetrafluoroethylene, is a synthetic polymer commonly used as a coating for non-stick pots and pans. It is the slipperiest substance known to man, and is said to be the only surface to which a gecko cannot stick. Although Bowden tubes can be made from several different polymers, PTFE is generally considered the best because of its high melting point and low coefficient of friction.
1.75mm Bowden tubing, because of its small diameter, is made with an expensive paste extrusion process. Very precise equipment is needed to obtain a consistent shape and internal diameter. Additives such as colorant are difficult, because the PTFE doesn't readily want to mix with anything. Plain white PTFE is the cheapest and most common.
Capricorn tubing is manufactured using the most sophisticated equipment currently available. It always comes out perfectly round, and the diameter stays as consistent as possible.
TL Bowden Tubing is made from pure virgin Japanese PTFE resin. This resin is not only translucent, it is also slightly softer and more flexible than average PTFE.
TL tubing features a 2.0mm nominal inner diameter. This makes it well suited for printing larger or uneven diameter filaments such as wood and metal flake filaments. Higher end wood filaments especially have a tendency to be "chunky," containing large bits of real wood.
XS Bowden Tubing is also made from the highest quality pure virgin Japanese PTFE, and formed using the paste extrusion process. However, Capricorn have added a "Secret Sauce" which lowers the coefficient of friction. This additive also makes the tubing dark and opaque.
XS tubing has a nominal internal diameter of 1.9mm. This smaller diameter makes it ideal for printing flexible filaments, because there is no room for the filament to bind up inside the tube. The low friction coefficient allows any filament to glide through the tube with ease.
Technical parameters
Competitor's Opaque White Tubing | Competitor's Translucent White Tubing | Capricorn Premium TL Series | Capricorn Premium XS Series | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Additives | None | None | Blue Color | Blue Color and Secret High Lubricity Additive Mixture |
Best For Chunky Filaments | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Best For Flexible Filaments | No | No | No | Yes |
Can See Through | No | Yes | Yes | No |
Pulling Friction * | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
Color | White | White, Clear, or Translucent | Blue, Translucent | Dark Blue |
Density (kg/m3) | 2100-2200 | 2100-2200 | 2100 +/-100 | 2300 +/-100 |
Hardness | 50-70 | 50-70 | 55 | 60-65 |
Inner Diameter (mm) | Typically 2.0 to 2.1 | Typically 2.0 to 2.1 | 2.05 +/- 0.05 | 1.90 +/- 0.05 |
Linear Thermal Expansion at 250 °C | No data | No data | 3.4-3.6% | 2.2-3.3% |
Material | Cheapest PTFE, FEP, or Other Polymers | Better PTFE, PFA, or Other Polymers | Highest Quality Pure Virgin PTFE | Highest Quality Pure Virgin PTFE |
Melting Point (°C) ** | Variable, as low as 220 | Variable, as low as 220 | around 300 | up to 340 |
Outer Diameter (mm) | Typically 3.9 to 4.1 | Typically 3.9 to 4.1 | 3.95 +/- 0.05 | 3.95 +/- 0.05 |
Roundness (ϵ) | Variable | Variable | < 0.1 | < 0.1 |
Stiffness *** | High | High | Medium | Medium High |
Thermal Conductivity (W/m-k) | No data | No data | 0.25 | 0.25 |
Wear Rate (gm/s) | No data | No data | 0.01 | 0.01 |
Young's Modulus (GPa) **** | Variable | Variable | 0.5 | 0.53 |
* Pulling Friction is calculated as the average force required to pull 1.2 meters of 1.75mm PLA filament through 1 meter of tubing at a constant speed, relative to 1 meter of cheap white reference tubing. Note that although we observed the friction of the TL series to be about the same or even slightly lower than XS series, it also has a larger internal diameter.
** Temperatures were approximated by heating samples of all tubing simultaneously, observing how quickly each one began to deform. Printer failures may happen at significantly lower temperatures
*** Other Bowden tubes may vary significantly in stiffness, depending on the material from which they're made. Tubing generally tends to be more flexible than most, with the TL being more flexible than XS, partly because of the difference in additives, and partly because the XS has a greater cross-sectional area (XSA) due to the smaller internal diameter.
**** Young's Modulus (YM) is the measure of elasticity of the material. XS Series additives give the PTFE a slightly greater YM than the TL Series.
Safety precautions
PTFE is a flouropolymer, which exists in a state of matter known as a "glass." This means it does not "melt," like an ice cube, but rather slowly gets softer and softer as it gets warmer. Eventually it will either become a liquid, or catch fire.
Between room temperature and catching fire, all polymers emit tiny amounts of harmful gasses, known as "off-gassing." The hotter they get, the more they will emit. See Chart*
Because PTFE tends to have better temperature resistance (meaning it stays firmer at higher temperatures before significant deformation) than lower quality PTFE tubes, a number of users have reported success using it "inside the hot end."
This is not something you should do willy-nilly. Just because it works, doesn't mean there aren't precautions to be taken. If you use PTFE, or any polymer for that matter, inside the hot end or anywhere excessive temperatures may be experienced, you will potentially create harmful off-gassing. Not only that, but the polymer you are extruding may be creating harmful gasses as well.
We strongly recommend running your 3D printer in a well ventilated area, away from children and pets.
In a classroom environment, we encourage printing with PLA, and staying away from higher temperature materials, whether you use Bowden tubing or not.
Always have adult supervision when operating a 3D printer.
Keep razor-sharp Bowden tubing cutters out of reach of children.