Inland PLA+ Stringy
Hi everyone,
I just unboxed my first 3D printer yesterday, the MK3S+ and MMU2. I have not yet installed the MMU, wanting to have a little fun out of the box. The included filament that was shipped with the printer seemed to print fine, so I ran down to my local Microcenter to purchase 6 boxes of Inland PLA+ in assorted colors.
My wife, being a French teacher, wanted me to print an Eiffel Tower. No problem, I said. But, the print is looking like it came out of Creep Show, with spiderwebs throughout. I lowered to nozzle temp to 205, but that is not helping. Now I'm reading about retracement (or something like that). Remember, I'm a total noob. 🙁
On a 28 hour job, with 24 hours to go, I feel like I should cancel this, and regroup my thoughts, but I have none. My question(s) to the group is/are:
1) Can I change retraction in the middle of a print job?
2) Does anyone have a good filament profile for Inland PLA+ that I can load in the PrusaSlicer?
3) Do I need a different nozzle?
4) or, am I too noob, and don't not realize what is truly going on?
Thank you for any help you can give this complete novice.
RE: Inland PLA+ Stringy
My guess, your zOffset is too high. Did you run a first layer calibration?
RE: Inland PLA+ Stringy
You might also include a picture so we can see. you'd almost certainly want to kill the print job. You might also zip up and attach the .3mf file you used. I was in your situation back in Nov. I've learned a great deal since then and now I'm printing PLA, PETG and TPU with relative ease. it has been a process though. Each filament can have it's own particular idiosyncrasies. I did find though that once I did know what I was doing, the same PETG profile worked for most of my brands of PETG, and similar for PLA and TPU. The first thing I was doing wrong though was not figuring out my zOffset. This led me to slather on glue, tape, etc to get things to stick in the first place and do crazy stuff like make my extrusion width .8mm.
And I'll also add that I just got my second printer a couple days ago and the zOffsets for the different filaments are VERY different from the first one. Both unit were bought assembled by prusa. So on printer #1 for something in PETG I set the zOffset to -0.240, but on the new printer I had to make it -1.028 or else I'd get zero adhesion at all.
I use this method, and I believe most other experience users on here would agree. https://forum.prusa3d.com/forum/original-prusa-i3-mk3s-mk3-assembly-and-first-prints-troubleshooting/life-adjust-z-my-way/
Do one of those for each filament type you plan to use, i.e. PETG, PLA, TPU etc. Once you have one that looks right, keep the square and write on it what the zOffset was to get that square. That will be what you want to make sure is set before printing that type of filament for a real project.
RE: Inland PLA+ Stringy
@ssill2
I did, but didnt feel overly comfortable with the results. Its became a guessing game. Will try it again with the link someone saved in this thread.
I paused the printer to snap a photo.
RE: Inland PLA+ Stringy
@ssill2
Thank you for all this helpful information. 3D Printing has a definate learning curve.
The zOffset from my calibaration run is at -1.5. I will try to re-run calibration. This was the best setting that allowed the PLA+ to stick to the the PEI sheet.
RE: Inland PLA+ Stringy
@tom-drought
What you're looking for is for the each strand extruded to stick to the one next to it. when you pull up the square it should come up as one. At that point you should be close to the right zOffset for that filament type. As I had mentioned the setting for PETG will be different and for TPU different still. I've not printed with ABS/ASA or anything else but I have to assume those will have different settings too. The trick is remembering to set the correct zOffset when switching between materials.
I've also found, with PTEG in particular that the infill pattern used also makes a diff. you want to avoid any pattern that crosses itself in the same layer. So something like gyroid works well. Otherwise it will stick to the nozzle and build up and drop somewhere in your print, A.K.A a booger
I recommend getting comfortable with all this before you add the MMU in the mix. I'm still waiting on mine to show up and I totally expect that to disrupt things for a bit until I learn it.
RE: Inland PLA+ Stringy
@tom-drought
I've not had to modify the retraction settings for PLA filament at all. That's not to say you wont' have to for some brands. PETG and TPU definitely require a bit of tuning for retraction length, speed, etc
RE: Inland PLA+ Stringy
@ssill2
Based on the procedures from JeffGordon's Life Adjust Z atricle, I reset my zOffset from -1.5 to -1.305. This is now spot on. I'm re-running the Eiffel Toewr, and its looking much better, but still has some stringiness to it. Not as bad.
Its drafty near the printer, and wonder if this would play a part in the issue.
RE: Inland PLA+ Stringy
yeah, you'd definitely want to keep the temperature stabilized, especially if you get into some more advanced materials that can be prone to warping if the you get changes in temperature.
I have have two of these( https://boxomoenclosures.com/) and they work pretty well. I just got the second one with mmu pass-thru holes to go with my second printer.