New to printing and need some help

phester28

I've read a bunch and watched numerous videos.

I've inherited a used Voxelab C2 Aquila (creality V2 clone)

Using Cura for my slicer

I've done bed levelling with paper and so far got a reasonable bency (once cleaned up), cog and bag clip and a fish with articulated joints

But first layer or two (even if print is slowed down and or hotter) is very hit and miss and can ruin the print.

I have also printed some cone tests and played with retraction distance and speed and then played with temperature but still have very light strings near the top of the cone

the only constant so far is it its old PLA (which I will test a new batch next week) and then bake the current one.

I have varied speed and temp both up and down for the first layer but it can be random if it sticks and pulls the print away from the bed on a subsequent layer.

You can see from second pic that the squares are not complete. Its like it pushes a smudge on the initial extrude and stops short on the return journey (if that makes sense)

Is there anyone who can guide me what to start with and what calibration prints are better than others

StRiKeR

get a gold texture plate, you won't have first layer issue again, I print mostly ABS or ASA, rarely PLA, I don't even need brim on a 300mm x 240mm print

phester28

just to close this out, stringing is lessened by retraction settings. the fist layer is almost always levelling.

I found you have to have the bed at operating temp and also the nozzle at a elevated temp say 150. clean the nozzle and only then auto home. The Z shift home can move by 0.1mm from cold to hot.

Then level with your paper (post it) for the correct amount of drag.

that should fix most issues. non sticking of areas of the bed after that is most likely bed adhesion