Can I print TPU on a Bambu/direct drive vs bowden printer?

Feed ordinary TPU from the spool holder on a short tube. Do not send it through the AMS or AMS lite. Bambu marks that path not compatible, and the comments that actually answer the question say the same thing: dry the spool and keep the PTFE short. Flexible filament, the AMS, drying, and storage are the rest. Ender-3 filaments is the Bowden case, where TPU is not even on the original model's list.

The table and the printers

Bambu's filament guide marks TPU compatible with open-frame and enclosed printers, and Not Compatible with the AMS and AMS lite. The soft-filament note names TPU 95A, 85A, 83A, and 80A. The nozzle table lists TPU for AMS, TPU 95A HF, TPU 85A, and TPU 90A at 200–250 °C (392–482 °F) and says a hardened nozzle is not required. It also says 0.2 mm is not recommended for TPU. The catalog rows are tighter than that wiki window: TPU 95A HF and TPU for AMS both list 220–240 °C (428–464 °F) and a bed of 30–35 °C (86–95 °F), and both dry at 70 °C (158 °F) for 8 hours. Prusament TPU 95A lists 220–240 °C (428–464 °F) and a bed of 55–75 °C (131–167 °F), dried at 60 °C (140 °F) for 6 hours. TPU is the hub.

A1 lists 300 °C (572 °F), a 100 °C (212 °F) bed, AMS lite, and a pre-installed 0.4 mm stainless nozzle. Direct drive is blank because the FAQ used for that record does not say. A1 mini lists 300 °C (572 °F), an 80 °C (176 °F) bed, AMS lite, and a stainless nozzle. Hardened nozzles are sold separately on both. TPU does not need one, on Bambu's table.

A Bowden extruder is a long tube between the feeder and the hotend. Creality's comparison table calls the original Ender-3 Bowden and does not list TPU for that model. The score-62 comment on the TPU thread is the practical version of that geometry: minimal PTFE, filament fed toward the hotend, spool dried first.

The threads

r/BambuLab 1lyrd5i is an A1 combo with no spool holder and an AMS that cannot take TPU. The score-55 comment says load TPU and pick a generic TPU profile. It does not say to force the AMS.

r/BambuLab 1jrz7xv is the start-here thread. The score-62 comment says dry it on arrival, use as little PTFE as possible, and prefer a dry box. Wet TPU bubbling in the hotend is the failure they name. The score-22 comment's 60A-to-60D span is a description of the material family, not a spec for the three rows above.

r/FixMyPrint 14g1pmc is scarring. The score-12 comment says look at Z, grease, and dust. No excerpt was supplied for the other two Bambu links.

Questions