MK3s Stringing 😢 HELP! Retraction settings or Hardware fix?  

RE: MK3s Stringing 😢 HELP! Retraction settings or Hardware fix?

That is very fine gossamer stringing. Just be aware that much of the advice you'll encounter on the Internet is for much more severe stringing, and use a light touch with slicer settings. It is very important that your slicer settings match the actual physical characteristics of your printer and filament. If not, it's easy to get slight over-extrusion that can cause exactly this problem. There are 2 issues I've found that can contribute to the problem.

1. If your slicer filament settings don't match your actual filament. From your pics, I assume you're using Prusament, but please confirm. Also be aware that PrusaSlicer ships with Prusament and Prusa filament profiles that vary. Confirm you've matched your slicer selection to the spool. 
2. Although PLA doesn't absorb moisture as readily as PETG and some other filaments, it can absorb some. Have you tried another spool or drying your current spool?

I've put all my notes on the topic here. Give those suggestions a try. Since recognizing the underlying issues, I've been successful mostly eliminating fine stringing with a 0.4mm nozzle. Here are recent results with PETG:

That pic shows results starting with 0 retraction, 0 z-lift and no wiping at front left, and increasing retraction by 0.2mm left-to_right and front-to-back. After this calibration, I can use 0.2-0.4mm retraction, 0-0.4mm z-lift and no wiping for most PLA and PETG filaments. 

RE: MK3s Stringing 😢 HELP! Retraction settings or Hardware fix?

Bob, thanks for the wonderfully detailed reply.  This benchy was printed with the G-code on the SD card provided from Prusa.  I figured it was a good idea to use their gcode as a start and then I can start slicing myself (adding in more issues 😅).

But it does have me wonder if the gcode they sliced with had the filament I choose.

Ill research more tomrrow.  Thanks!

RE: MK3s Stringing 😢 HELP! Retraction settings or Hardware fix?

I also found that 10 seconds with a heat gun can save me hours of calibration 😊 

RE: MK3s Stringing 😢 HELP! Retraction settings or Hardware fix?

Posted by: @rainer

I also found that 10 seconds with a heat gun can save me hours of calibration 😊 

There is a point at which you hit diminishing returns, definitely. I've been able to eliminate most gossamer stringing, but depending on environmental and filament issues, still see some. A quick pass with a heat gun cleans it up nicely. The key is getting your settings as close to real-world parameters as possible, IME.

RE: MK3s Stringing 😢 HELP! Retraction settings or Hardware fix?

@bobstro

I guess the main point is that there's stringing, and then there's stringing. Stringing, as in serious amounts of excess material, definitely needs to be worked out through tuning of parameters. Angel hair stringing, on the other hand, I just run the heat gun over and call it a day. Most of what I saw in the OP's picture, I wouldn't waste any time on trying to "fix".