Strings and things

[Atocha]

I have a Makergear M2 24V V4.

Been having problems with blobs / zits / stringing etc. went through Simplify 3D's pictorial of bad prints looking for help. I've changed filaments ABS - PLA enabled / dis abled retraction (Distance, Speed Coast). I printed with temps ranging from 215 - 225 (PLA). The prints just look bad.

The current print had the following values.

Bed was leveled and re-leveled.

PLA 1.75 220 / 70
Nozzle Dia. .40
Ext Multi .9
3 top shells / 3 bottom shells
Retraction was off for this print but having it on proved little help.

[Jules]

Try lowering the extrusion temperature to about 205°. Stringing is usually an indication that you are printing too hot, and some PLAs can be printed at 180 -185° easily.
Leave Retraction at about 1 mm, and add a Retraction Vertical Lift of about 0.6 mm.

[insta]

You also have a 0.35mm nozzle unless you know for sure it's a 0.40mm

[Atocha]

I changed the setting as you mentioned and I thought it was printing great until it finished with the base. Once it started on anything vertical it just stopped extruding even after I bumped the temp to 210.

[Jules]

Take it up to 212 then. A lot of factors can affect this...room temp, how fast you are printing, whether you are running the fan or not. If those extrusions are really small, slow down the
Allow Speed Reductions down to 10% on the Cooling Tab.

Experiment by changing one setting at a time and see what impact it has on the print. You got rid of the strings, now you can take the temp up a little bit.

It's a balancing act.

[Atocha]

So frustrating! I found out that after printing the base. The filament retracts above the gripper wheel but the printer just keeps printing.

[Jules]

How much retraction do you have in your Slicer software? (PLA doesn't need more than 1 mm retraction....that shouldn't cause it to clear the filament drive gear.)