Too much retraction on fine settings?

[Blizz 53]

Tried a print on high quality for the first time. Model sliced with Simplify3D on its standard PLA - High settings. Right of the bat I noticed that it doesn't seem to be moving enough material to print, but I figured it was because of the fine support it had to start with and bad adhesion. So I restarted with a raft and that seemed to do the trick.

This morning - getting up with a lot of hope - I woke up finding the printer print invisible filament. This is what I saw:

 

The filament under the bowden was chewed on, so it was in the tube at some point, but it seems that it was gradually retracted out of it, leaving the printer with nothing to print with.

 

Any pointers of stuff I can try? I feel less green than a week ago but I'm still green nevertheless

 

[SandervG 1,518]

Usually when there is an obstruction somewhere the filament just gets chewed, but not consistently retracted.

(the reason it grinds is because it can not go anywhere).

So I think maybe there was some mistake in the gcode and it kept retracting more then it was priming (pushing it forward.) Have you already tried Cura?

I am not very familiar with simplify3D so I am not sure about any settings which leave room for play or how well tuned in it is..

 

[Blizz 53]

The problem is that its a very intricate design (one of Nervoussystem) which requires plenty of support. I haven't had the best experience with Cura in that department. I will try however Thanks for the reply.

Filament wasn't ground at all however, it just had the regular "track marks" on it from being passed through the feeder. Which is why I figured it got retracted too much. Also there is flow without obstruction it seems, so I don't think it was that.

 

[SandervG 1,518]

The filament should always have teethmark, if not there is not enough pressure.

It should look like the lace in your shoes, a very consistent teeth-mark.

If there are irregularities, that can be an indication something is not working a full 100% (doesn't have to be a problem right away).

If you have doubts you can upload a picture of the teethmark

Still a setting could be off in simplify3D where it pulls back more filament then it is pushing back.. (just a guess..)

You could also try to slice it again in simplify3D and double check those settings.

Another thing you could check, is if the teethed sleeve on your extruder motor is still fixated. See if you can mark it with a marker and if this mark has moved after a print. (don't think this has anything to do with it, but it could rule out a mechanical cause).