Hey folks,
I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I’m printing PETG (https://kingroon.com/collections/petg-filament?) on my Neptune 3 Plus. It’s sort of like it starts (almost) ok, sticks to the plate just fine, then a few layers up it seems to almost have inconsistent extrusion (or maybe even trouble pulling the filament?) leading to holes, etc. till the model just falls apart. See linked photos for about where I give up each time.
I’m printing with Cura and 240C printing, 90C on the build plate. 45mm/s (I’ve gone down from 60mm/s). Retraction on, no z-hop. 60% fan, though I’ve tried it with 20% and 100% fan as well.
The filament is in a dryer at 55C. Funny enough I printed basically perfectly (without drying, straight out of the bag) with default settings the first time I printed. The second time and on, have had this problem… and have had it in the dryer.
Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Edit: In case its useful, I’m printing this piece: https://file.io/D9jxYq4KOrL7 which is a small remix of a piece from https://www.printables.com/model/130507-bolt-action-pen-for-pilot-g2-cartridges
It may be worth going a little hotter. I do 245° (250° if a steel nozzle) and 5° hotter for the first layer. Part cooling no more than 20% except for bridging. I dry it it 60° with plenty of hot air flow.
Have you cratered your tip recently? I was having lots of problems similar to yours that were solved when I put in a new tip
This looks like heat creep and/or clog. Check the hotend fan (not the part cooling one). If it starts happening after a while, it’s either that or the nozzle has cooled too much. But if it happens with lower speed as well, then I wouldn’t say it’s that it’s the latter. Try increasing the temperature. I’m printing mine at 270°C. Also I keep the bed at 70°C but that’s not important. I’ve had issues like that with bad conducting nozzles (hardened/stainless steel) and thermistors not properly seated on the heat block. When this happens, pause the print, try feeding the filament by hand and see if there is any resistance (can you feel the clog). Try increasing the temperature, reduce the retraction distance to try and avoid it. I’m printing exclusively with petg for years now, never had issues like this due to moisture. You get more stringing, yes, but no failures on actual printing.
Ive had PETG sitting in my 40% humidity basement with no issues, I think thats a partial clog from retraction. If you have a direct drive try 1-2mm of retract, 3-4 for bowden. This will ooze more, but that’s the tradeoff
Have you dried it?
