remove connection between 2 seperate objects

[JuliusCaesar 0]

Hey guys,

We bought an Ultimaker 2 couple of weeks ago and it's amazing

However we encountered some problems:

We use 2.85mm PLA filaments.

as you can see in the picture. There are lot's of small filament parts between those two objects.

We use the cura "ultimate" settings. Do you know which parameters I probably have to adjust to get rid of this unwanted connection between the 2 objects?

greets Julian

[gr5 2,173]

This is called stringing. Usually al you have to do is check "retraction enabled". Not sure if that is enabled for you or not. If that already was checked then also make sure your move speed (non extruding moves) is a high speed - at least 150mm/sec. Also white filaments tend to leak more than other colors - try lowering the temperature by about 10C. So if you were printing at 210C try 200C. Also maybe increase your reraction distance. The default on the ultipanel is 4.5mm - try going up to 5mm or even possibly 5.5mm. I would play with these last two parameters (temperature and retraction distance) while it is printing - in the tune menu.

You should be able to reduce the stringing by quite a bit but you probably can never get it completely gone with white pla. But it will come off with almost no effort using your fingers or using a candle flame.

[JuliusCaesar 0]

Thx for your reply,

Retraction was already enabled

the movement speed was at 150mm/sec. I increased that speed to 180mm/sec.

I lowered the temperature from 220 to 210°C as well.

Where do i change the retraction distance? Is this minimum travel in the retraction settings?

[stu_le_brew 42]

as gr5 said - retraction distance is in the tune menu, that's on the front panel of the printer

also retraction speed is there too

btw love your name - you just have to be based in Rome ?

[JuliusCaesar 0]

thx for clarifying:)

unfortunately I still got some strings. I tried to increase the z hop as well but that did not help.

What material would you recommend which doesn't have stringing. We ordered some colorfab XT samples (red,green, woodfill and copperfill). Haven't tried those yet.

@stu_le_brew: nope I'm not from Rome. I'm German, but the nick is close to my actual name

[stu_le_brew 42]

I most often have travel speed at 200, also your layer height seems low - I don't think I have ever gone that low my minimum is 0.06 which produces very high quality prints.

If you are keen to get very high quality you may want to look into the "Olson Block" (http://3dsolex.com) which allows you to change the size of the nozzle, so you could then try a 0.25mm nozzle

[cloakfiend 995]

For good quality print i find the filament also matters. i have the best luck with warm red from colorfabb that prints anything great. i did not have so much luck with their green or black even.

And dont waste your time printing 0.04. you wont need more than 0.06. also there is no point putting yours objects so far apart, you may as well just print one at a time and then you will have no stringing at all. Printing many things at once also reduces quality as the head is constantly leaving and returning to the object and different layers are cooling at different temperatures due to the other objects on the bed. When if you print one object the head stays on that object and the side are smooth rather than with lines on them. Also try to print as cool as you can until you hear the clicking noise. That is the secret to these printers, the coolest you can get away with means the cleanest surface you can get, and the best quality in general.

Also make sure to keep your nozzle clean and you don't need to buy anything else for your printer in my opinion. The olsson block is only good it you plan on using special materials that degrade your nozzle hence changing heads often otherwise there is no point in getting it. I have been using the same nozzle for about a year now with no issues what so ever.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Guest

[gr5 2,173]

If you want extra high quality, 50mm/sec is much too fast - that was probably a contributor to the stringing - it's printing at 50mm/sec and then has to stop suddenly. I usually print 35mm/sec for high quality.

Regarding filament quality - it seems to me that the brand isn't as critical in your case - white is just a difficult color to create and hence lots of additives. So any other color from the same brand will probably print better. This is just my personal theory - not sure if this theory about filament manufacturers is true. Having said that I print lots of white parts.

.04 is just insanely thin. You may end up with better quality (and obviously get your part much sooner!) with .1mm.

[cloakfiend 995]

I got stringing with leaf green, but Warm red is safe for me. I don't normally print much at a time for risk of failure, but i'm quite confident now.

Colorfabb Warm Red, 207 degrees, 30mm/s, 0.06layerhieght. All basic settings on UM, didnt change anything else, walls and top/bott 1.2mm. Just some lamposts im doing....

No stringing, but i also agree with gr5 and say white is probably the worst colour to work with, its too globy, and melty, and any other colour will be better. I only use white for atomic pulls.