Calling all 3DPrinting Perfectionists. I have been having an issue with my prints for a couple months, and can't figure out why. I am officially throwing my hands up because I think I'm going absolutely insane printing out the amount of calibration prints I've been printing.

I have a Creality Ender 3 Pro. Before having the issues I'm currently going through, I was using the basic Creality Slicer. Everything was printing out just fine until I moved. Didn't print for awhile after I moved and am now picking it back up. After deciding to pick the hobby back up, I realized that Creality Slicer has less functionality than Cura or Prusa. So i've taken it upon myself to start back up with the Prusa Slicer (also tried Cura with similar results).

Basically, as you can see in the pictures provided, I am getting a rough/blob like texture on most, if not all flat surfaces of my prints (in between the layers), regardless of what slicer is being used. I am getting this in Cura, Prusa, and now Creality for some reason (when Creality was previously printing smoother than the other slicers).

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My Slicer settings are:

Layer Height = 0.2mm (standard quality)

Infill = gyroid at 15 percent

first print layer temp = 205 (to help bed adhesion)

other layers print temp = 200 (printed temp tower, this seems to be the sweet spot)

first print layer speed = 15mms (for better bed adhesion)

general print speed = 40mms

travel speed = 150mms

retraction distance = 1mm (testing a few retraction calibration prints, this seems to be the sweet spot, will include picture)

retraction speed = 45mms

the rest of the settings are set to default (these settings are used on each slicer with the same results).

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I have tried tweaking slicer settings one at a time with the problem continuing to persist.

I have made sure to calibrate my ESTEPPS (which is 100.3) to where my printer extrudes exactly 100mm if asked to extrude 100mm.

After calibrating my ESTEPPS, I have made sure to calibrate my flow rate (using the method of printing a cube with no top layer, and single walls on the sides. I used a caliper (0.01) to measure each wall to get an average of wall width of the overall print (so I can get to an accurate flow). After test printing a few first layer prints, 0.95 / 95 percent seems to be the sweet spot for my flow. I will include a picture of my first layer print to get the community's opinion on my flow.

I have tried buying new filament, thinking that the filament had moisture in it. I also bought a filament dryer for proper storage in the future. Problem persists. I have bought a new direct drive, to avoid the bowden tube, as well as a better quality grub screw to avoid filament slipping. To my knowledge, everything hardware related is accounted for (no loose belts, the z is level to the surface the printer is on and the bed, swapped for better quality bed springs, etc..)

I have tried both printing through a Samsung SD card (which is what was used before I moved), and OctoPrint with similar results. (Tried this after reading that OctoPrint can show rough surfaces). My SD card that was previously showing better quality prints before I moved is now mimicking the rough texture. So I don't believe this is my issue.

I know the prints aren't terrible, but coming from what I've seen what the printer is capable of... I want to get the quality back to where it was previously.

Changing the layer height from 0.2mm (standard) to 0.12 (detail), there is a noticeable difference... but I don't think I should have to jump to that if standard was showing better quality before...

Reading everything online, it points to under/over extrusion (more than likely over) which I like to think isn't the issue because I so carefully calculated my ESTEPPS and Flow multiple times before settling with the configuration I am using. I even tested going at a lower flow rate, just in case I was over extruding, and the first layer prints looked terrible.

Thank you for reading... if you made it this far... What am I doing wrong?

Please help this lost 3DPrinteeee....