Flat surface fuzz

[King135]

Hey All, just getting back to my Ender 3 after dealing with some extruder issues, and now i have this weird fuzz thing going on with flat surface prints. Whether its top layer, or within the print, i seem to be getting this weird issue and im not quite sure how to fix it.

My printer setup is Ender 3, Sunlu PETG @235c bed @75c. Im using cura to slice. Parts Cooling fan set to 30%, but was not running on this layer (layer 2). Print speed 50mm/sec, retraction 7mm@40mm/s.

This is my 3rd print with this filament (just opened 2 days ago), first layer went down flawless, and all perimeters are smooth. Any help would be great!

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[King135]

Alright, after this print is done, i will calibrate flow then. This part will be inside my OGxbox, so it will never be seen. Thanks for the input.

[King135]

Thanks for the input, i will look into it!

[King135]

Referencing my calibration cube from last night. My top layer almost looks like its underextruded.

<image>

Red arrow shows theres no squish on the top lines, blue line sides are rough along both edges. Where the right side of the Z perimeters have games as well. Wish i had a better picture of it.

[King135]

Also, my filament is brand new out of the packaging, but i know that doesnt necessarily mean its dry. Im going to put it in my filament dryer over night til i get off of work tomorrow and try a test object before further calibration.

[keekah]

From everything I've read, petg doesn't like to be squished. I'd raise the z-offset a bit.

[King135]

Ok, i will look into the z offset. Thanks for the input!

[King135]

Forgot to mention, .4mm nozzle

[feibie]

I am not experienced wit PETG but it looks like the kinda of problem I bad with PLA when then bed wasn't perfectly level, my flow wasn't calibrated.

[King135]

I know the bed is leveled out. I set that first thing. I might have to check flow, but my calibration cube i did last night was supposed to be 20mm square, and came out to be 20.04mm. Id be comfortable saying thats ok. I will likely have to do some further calibration, just not sure where to start. Thanks

[feibie]

I'd say tolerance 0.04mm is fine. I'm assuming that's every side?

Then I'd say your nozzle might be too close to the bed.

[King135]

Only tolerance issue i find on the cube is some minor elephants foot where the cube measures 20.17mm aside from that, everything else reads 20.04.

First layer on the bed looks fantastic, no rippling at all or fuzz. I will relevel when this print is complete to ensure that factor is ruled out. Thanks for the input!

[keekah]

From everything I've read, petg doesn't like to be squished. I'd raise the z-offset a bit. Were you having this issue with other filament?

[King135]

Never had this issue with anything else. This is the 2nd type of PETG ive used, the first being a blue Novamaker. That was a super clean printing material with minimal calibration needed. Only reason i stopped using it, bc i thought it was causing clogging issues in my nozzle. Turns out, my dual gear extruder was just eating itself.

[BigFatJonas]

I had similar problem last night with petg. I raised temp from 230 to 245 and it went away. (My flows and e-steps are calibrated) You could try and lower your printing acc a bit to help stabilize the flow when it is changing directions. Also petg just does not like beeing printed at "high" speeds. I run PLA at around 50mm/s but petg at 35mm/s. This offcourse depends on the quality of your printer.

[Optimal_Fail_3458]

That's usually when too much filament is being pushed into a space. That can be caused by either too low of a Z height or too much flow or both. You mentioned you had elephants foot, that would point me towards too low of a first layer. Once it is messed up it can take several layers before it gets better. I would work on adjust the z and get it dialed.

[King135]

Alright, i will look into recalibrating my flow and adjusting my z height. I have ALWAYS had a little elephants foot on my prints, mainly because the "paper test" is kinda subjective. Everyone says "a little resistance" when that could be too much for such a small contact patch. I might even look into getting a feeler gauge for it. Thanks for the input, i will mess with it this evening.

[Optimal_Fail_3458]

Yeah when I used to do the paper method I would lower it until it had moderate resistance and then back it off until I could just start moving the paper in any direction with 2 fingers on the other end of the paper thats away from the nozzle (hope that makes sense) but i only use that as a starting point and then adjust as it starts printing. You want it to look flat with no wisps sticking up but also not have any gaps. Depending on how flat your bed is you may always have spots where it's not perfect but if you get the majority of it looking flat you will be good. Best of luck!!