PLA Tuning - Stringing, how good does it get?
I've had my Prusa MK3S for about a week now and starting to get a feel for how it all works. Looking for some advice on how to tune the retraction parameters to address minor stringing issues. I don't need this to be perfect, I am trying to find the point of diminishing returns and develop a repeatable process for getting there with new filaments, etc. Here's what I've done so far:
- Bed is level (used the nylock mod process here)
- Z live tuning is good, just the right amount of squish and bottom of my prints are smooth
- Confirmed that the default settings for extrusion width and linear advance are spot on (impressive!)
I am trying to follow the process described on TTLExceeded, but as a n00b there's a lot of detail that isn't obvious to me.
Here's the stringing from a mix of default settings and up to 5 degrees of lowered hotend temp. Not optimal:
Next, I explored a grid of adjustments to retraction length and z-lift, things improved considerably:
Finally, I kept the same grid but increased the retraction and deretraction settings which seemed to degrade performance on this test.
Should I be happy with the optimal point I've found so far or are there additional things I could try for improving?
RE: PLA Tuning - Stringing, how good does it get?
I see the imgur embedding doesn't work. Here's the photo set: https://imgur.com/gallery/Low0cDN
RE: PLA Tuning - Stringing, how good does it get?
Just add the pictures using Add Media to add them to the forum gallery and then insert them into your post.
That angel hair stringing is usually associated with damp filament. It can also be removed in about 2 seconds using a blue flame jet lighter. A VERY quick pass will make them shrivel right up.
RE: PLA Tuning - Stringing, how good does it get?
My heretic view? These stringing models are a waste of time.
Okay, I'm obviously exaggerating. But it's way too easy to go down a bottomless rabbit hole of trying to optimize a multidimensional parameter space, just to find out that it's suboptimal for a different filament or model.
In my humble opinion the one thing that *consistently* has an impact on stringing is drying filament in a quality filament dryer. Number two is lowering print temperature if needed. With most quality filament, those two things should give you good results, and any residual stringing is nothing the trusted heat gun can't take care of.
I may invest more time for a specific model that I print over and over again but in general, I find there's little return on my time investment trying to chase the elusive "optimum" parameter set. But that's a pragmatist speaking who just wants to get shit done, your mileage may obviously vary.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE: PLA Tuning - Stringing, how good does it get?
Just add the pictures using Add Media to add them to the forum gallery and then insert them into your post.
All the photos got rejected due to being "too big", I figured hosting / embedding would be simpler.
Appreciate the feedback. I'll experiment with drying at some point, this stuff is fresh out of the box so I've been assuming it's ok. Sounds like my results aren't too bad and I agree that exploring multidimensional optimization is NOT what I got into this for 😀
RE: PLA Tuning - Stringing, how good does it get?
this stuff is fresh out of the box so I've been assuming it's ok
Which may well be a faulty assumption. You don't know how long it's been sitting in a warehouse before it got shipped to you. Yes, most of the time it's fine but I've had my fair share of freshly opened rolls of filament that clearly needed drying. More so with PETG and TPU, admittedly.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE: PLA Tuning - Stringing, how good does it get?
this stuff is fresh out of the box so I've been assuming it's ok
Which may well be a faulty assumption. You don't know how long it's been sitting in a warehouse before it got shipped to you. Yes, most of the time it's fine but I've had my fair share of freshly opened rolls of filament that clearly needed drying. More so with PETG and TPU, admittedly.
Is there an obvious way to tell if this is the case aside from printing something and it not going well?
RE: PLA Tuning - Stringing, how good does it get?
Unless it's so brittle that it's obvious, not really.
Mind you, with PETG I've seen examples of a specific color of Prusament printing awesome after a night of drying just to find that by end the of a day of printing it was stringing and blobbing like there's no tomorrow. That particular one (Neon Green) I can only print straight out of the drybox, with continuous drying.
But PLA is usually better behaved.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE:
Depending on the manufacturer, the specifications for moisture absorption (PLA) vary significantly. If the filament is brittle, I would definitely start a drying process.
wbr,
Karl
Statt zu klagen, dass wir nicht alles haben, was wir wollen, sollten wir lieber dankbar sein, dass wir nicht alles bekommen, was wir verdienen.
RE: PLA Tuning - Stringing, how good does it get?
In my humble opinion the one thing that *consistently* has an impact on stringing is drying filament in a quality filament dryer. Number two is lowering print temperature if needed. With most quality filament, those two things should give you good results
+1 what @fuchsr said.
Lowering your print temp by only 5C will not make a significant difference with stringing (depending on your starting temp). Try printing a temperature tower model to identify the best temp for the material you’re printing.
Cheers