Just bought an Ender!

[Haggisman]

0.3mm has come out perfect

From left to right:

Original 200c (210 initial layer), 0.8mm retraction length, 0.25mm/s retraction speed
190c, 0.8mm retraction, 0.8mm retraction length, 0.25mm/s retraction speed
190c, 1.3mm retraction length, 0.25mm/s retraction speed (cancelled as I could see it was going badly)
190c, 0.8mm retraction, 0.8mm retraction length, 0.45mm/s retraction speed
190c, 0.8mm retraction, 0.5mm retraction length, 0.45mm/s retraction speed
190c, 0.8mm retraction, 0.4mm retraction length, 0.45mm/s retraction speed
190c, 0.8mm retraction, 0.3mm retraction length, 0.45mm/s retraction speed

 

[Sinbad2000]

0.3mm has come out perfect

From left to right:

Original 200c (210 initial layer), 0.8mm retraction length, 0.25mm/s retraction speed
190c, 0.8mm retraction, 0.8mm retraction length, 0.25mm/s retraction speed
190c, 1.3mm retraction length, 0.25mm/s retraction speed (cancelled as I could see it was going badly)
190c, 0.8mm retraction, 0.8mm retraction length, 0.45mm/s retraction speed
190c, 0.8mm retraction, 0.5mm retraction length, 0.45mm/s retraction speed
190c, 0.8mm retraction, 0.4mm retraction length, 0.45mm/s retraction speed
190c, 0.8mm retraction, 0.3mm retraction length, 0.45mm/s retraction speed

interesting, the longer retraction must "break" the thread inside the extruder, allowing it to drip out...

 

[Haggisman]

Yeah, that's what I suspect, time to do another actual print and test it properly!

 

[Haggisman]

Sad times...

None of the thicker "spikes" I was getting before, but now looks like it's been attacked by a spider!

Any ideas?

Don't really want to be printing a load of these to test it out, as they take 5 hours each time!

It's easily salvageable as they're so thin I can just trim them off, just a pain :/

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Looks like a retraction/travel issue
Have you tried using cheps profiles on cuts
I find these to be the best by far for getting decent prints

 

[VeNT]

Sad times...

None of the thicker "spikes" I was getting before, but now looks like it's been attacked by a spider!

Any ideas?

Don't really want to be printing a load of these to test it out, as they take 5 hours each time!

It's easily salvageable as they're so thin I can just trim them off, just a pain :/

try a lighter to melt them.
it's worth turning on prusaslicer's option for reducing open space travel.

 

[Haggisman]

Looks like a retraction/travel issue
Have you tried using cheps profiles on cuts
I find these to be the best by far for getting decent prints

I spent ages yesterday tweaking my retraction settings to get a nice clean retraction tower, why would that have worked, but left this in such a mess?

I haven't - "cuts" = "cura"? I haven't used cura much to be honest, I tried Prusa, and found the UI and functionality really intuitive and easy to use, but I'll give it a go

try a lighter to melt them.
it's worth turning on prusaslicer's option for reducing open space travel.

I'll give that a go, frustratingly, other than the cobwebs, this is probably the cleanest one of these I've printed so far

 

[Chaos666]

welcome in the world of 3d printing.
Retraction on long travel is something i was dealing with for some time.
do you use Z hop in the silcer? that can increase stringing
i would also suggest doing a temperature tower to see how temperature affects prints.
i do not have to many problems with PLA but with PETG i was getting similar issues like you and lowering the temp was solving the issue as well.
at what speed you are printing?

 

[Haggisman]

welcome in the world of 3d printing.
Retraction on long travel is something i was dealing with for some time.
do you use Z hop in the silcer? that can increase stringing

Doesn't look like Z hop is enabled

i would also suggest doing a temperature tower to see how temperature affects prints.

I'll give that a go, thanks

i do not have to many problems with PLA but with PETG i was getting similar issues like you and lowering the temp was solving the issue as well.
at what speed you are printing?

An excellent question... 200mm/s I believe?

 

[Chaos666]

First thing I would suggest is to slow down. When you are doing retraction tower printer never gets up to speed. On those long straight lines you have on your print it can. Just because printer is capable of 200mm/s doesn't mean it will be always OK.
I would suggest going 100 or even 70 just to check if it helps.

 

[Haggisman]

First thing I would suggest is to slow down. When you are doing retraction tower printer never gets up to speed. On those long straight lines you have on your print it can. Just because printer is capable of 200mm/s doesn't mean it will be always OK.
I would suggest going 100 or even 70 just to check if it helps.

Thanks - that makes sense, I'll give that a go on the next one

 

[Chaos666]

any luck?

 

[Haggisman]

Yes, I watched one of cheps videos on TPU and followed the settings on there, dropped the temperature down quite a bit (default profile was at 250, ended up getting the best results at 210), increased the retraction, and also added some lightning infill.

Result: No more holes in the top, barely any stringing, and no melted tail. There appears to be a little bubbling or something on the top still, maybe I need to up the infill density a little more, but a significant improvement

 

[Chaos666]

good to hear.
that is what 3d printing is all about
tinkering