Pressure Advance Calculator
Find the right Pressure Advance setting for your firmware and extruder setup.
Get recommended starting Pressure Advance values based on your firmware and extruder type, then fine-tune with a test print.
pressure_advance- 1Set pressure_advance: 0 in printer.cfg (disable first)
- 2Run tuning command: SET_VELOCITY_LIMIT SQUARE_CORNER_VELOCITY=1 ACCEL=500
- 3Run: TUNING_TOWER COMMAND=SET_PRESSURE_ADVANCE PARAMETER=ADVANCE START=0 FACTOR=0.005
- 4Print a square tower model (e.g. square_tower.stl)
- 5Find the height where corners are sharpest with no bulging, multiply by FACTOR
- 6Enter the calculated value as pressure_advance in printer.cfg
Pressure Advance (Klipper) and Linear Advance (Marlin) compensate for the elastic compression of filament inside the extruder system. When the print head accelerates, there is a delay before plastic actually flows from the nozzle; when it decelerates, residual pressure causes unwanted oozing. Without compensation, you see bulging corners, inconsistent line widths, and blobs at the start and end of perimeters.
This calculator provides a recommended starting K value based on your firmware type, extruder design, and filament material. Direct-drive setups typically need a K factor between 0.02 and 0.08, while Bowden systems range from 0.3 to 1.0 due to the longer, more compliant filament path. The value also varies by material — flexible TPU requires higher K values than rigid PLA because the filament itself compresses more.
After entering the suggested K value in your firmware configuration, print a Pressure Advance test pattern to fine-tune. Look for the section of the pattern where line widths are most consistent — that corresponds to the ideal K factor. Proper Pressure Advance tuning, combined with accurate retraction settings, eliminates most extrusion-related print defects and is especially impactful at higher print speeds.