Please help with "bird's nest" -like print failure

Hello all, first-time post here. I've printed dozens of PLA prints on my Prusa Mini+, and encountered a new type of failure today. The print had done several layers successfully before I left it for the night, but when I came in this morning I found that it had failed in a way that I haven't seen before. The layers got very thin and wispy at some point and were not adhering completely to each other. I think this may be what I've read about people calling "under-extrusion"? Is that true? What might some possible causes be, and steps that I could take to remedy them? When I tried to print again today, this failure behavior was evident even in the first layer.Thanks in advance!P.S. - my print temperature was set to 220 C. The filament's recommended temperature is 195C to 220C. The printer's stock temperature was 215C, but I bumped that up to 220C when the printer started occasionally clogging at the nozzle a while ago.

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Originally Posted by JoshBurner

I think this may be what I've read about people calling "under-extrusion"? Is that true?
What might some possible causes be, and steps that I could take to remedy them?

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Under Extrusion YES.
Possible causes

1. Teflon tube deformed / burnt.
2. Slicer configuration error. "I did this somehow configured 3 mm filament when using 1.75mm filament.
Photo Below. Fish should be solid not fishnet


Attachment 16782

Could also be a slight blockage or even a Stepper motor that is failing, or a F/W issue/change, or lastly have you possibly changed your Esteps to a lower value?

That happened to me, I've changed the teflon tube for a tighter one that I had laying arround and helped. But the best improvement was to decrease the speed between 60 and 80 mm/s.I've also thought that increasing the temperature will increase the extrusion speed, but after many tries It never worked; it just clogged the nozzle.Also check if your extruder makes a clicking noise, that's a proof that your printer is going too fast.

clogged nozzle most likely. Even the best filament can have the occasional bit of crap fall into the vat during manufacture.

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

clogged nozzle most likely. Even the best filament can have the occasional bit of crap fall into the vat during manufacture.

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Which is always amazing on an 8H print.

Thanks all for the responses. Doing a cold pull and increasing the print temperature by 5 degrees did the trick and I was able to print several more successful prints. However, the problem is back again today. I raised the temperature to 240C for a few minutes (to melt out any PLA that may have been clogging, as its working temperature is supposed to only be 215C), purged some material through the nozzle, let the temperature drop to 175C and performed cold pulls, and heated the empty nozzle back up to run a cleaning needle through it a few times before reloading my filament. All of this was unsuccessful in fixing the issue this time though. To my knowledge, I haven't changed any of the settings that you guys mentioned (what is F/W?). I even went in and cut my retraction distance and speed by 50% each, per the advice that I saw in some articles about filament clogging mid print. No luck though, even when I bumped the printing temperature up by an ADDITIONAL 5C... is it possible that something about my machine is wearing out that would cause the nozzle to not be reaching the temperature that it thinks that it's reaching? Or does this seem like something other than a temperature problem?

have you changed the filament spool ?

I have arule that if one roll of filametn clogs more than once i throw it away.
Or you could send it back I suppose.

I had some amazing silver/grey pla last year. Just the best stuff to print with ever, 3 rolls perfect. One killed clogged.
I pulled a bunch of filament off the spool. Then tried it again, clogged.
Pulled 50 metres or so off and tried again. Clog.
Threw it away.

I think som,etimes the colourant just doesn't get properly mixed or maybe some of the other additives are not right.
As manufacturers refuse to state what's in filament - it's all guesswork.

But a spool that clogs more than once will most likely continue to clog through the whole spool.

[QUOTE=curious aardvark;158984]have you changed the filament spool ? I have arule that if one roll of filametn clogs more than once i throw it away. Or you could send it back I suppose. ]Oooh, that makes me shudder, but I'm from Yorkshire. At near on £20 a roll I find it difficult to throw, althou I have a roll of black that often gives problems, naffed off I checked the label and its pla+ never ordered this Grrr.

lol I feel your pain, i was born in yorkshire.
And while i said I;d thrown the reel of grey/silver away.
It's actually sitting on the floor behind me.

I mean, at some poit I must have ause for 200 metres of thin plastic, doncha think ;-)

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

lol I feel your pain, i was born in yorkshire.
And while i said I;d thrown the reel of grey/silver away.
It's actually sitting on the floor behind me.

I mean, at some poit I must have ause for 200 metres of thin plastic, doncha think ;-)

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When I started I had real problems with adhesion and glooping.. in the end I put a dehumidifier in the room and run for a few days, these a massive difference, I now bag them up after use, always dry always works.

Never had humidity issues.
Just lucky I guess,
that said in winter my workshop can drop as low as 11c and hit over 30c in summer.
But there's plenty of air througput and that seem to keep the humidity to around 45-55% year round and I've yet to find any filament that has problems at that level.