Calibration - Box, top layer issues

[netdefilr]

I moved from Repetier Host to MatterControl. Printing ABS mainly to PLA.
ABS was printing fine, but PLA is having some issues. I've attached a picture as it maybe obvious whats wrong to others.
But the top layer on a box is having issues printing. I noticed the Seemecnc config for PLA was set to 210 degrees opposed to
190, so I tried that among many other variable changes. Any ideas? Using a Rostock MAX V2.

[jckrieger]

What is your layer height set to? Mine printed the calibration box fine at the stock .25 and .2 mm layer heights, but it takes more top layers to make anything smaller than about .2 mm look good. I know a guy with a makerbot that uses 12+ top layers over infill to end up with something presentable on top. You can also try increasing the bridge flow ratio to help reduce the chance of the filament tearing during the bridge.

[netdefilr]

I started with .25 layer, 5 top layers. It worked. Then I printed .2 with 5 layers, it was meh. Did it with 6 top layers and it came out well.
After that I tried printing the t-800 terminator at .25 scale from thingiverse. Attached is how it came out. Usually the hot end does not look like this either.

Using Mattercontrol, but set the Speed: 120% on the Rostock itself as PLA jams happen when its at 100%. I just wonder if dipping into Mattercontrol is not worth it.
Seems to fix all the common annoyances that repetier host has but printing successfully is not common. Sometimes I wonder if I had the Makerbot setup with all the software customized for the printer, would it provide better results?

[netdefilr]

Reprinting at 210 extruder and 7 top layers. While most of my issues I assumed were with the feed motor, I removed the PTC connector, cut and was able to extrude or retract filament just fine. It appears to be in the hot end, so I bumped the heat up a bit and fed some extra filament I had laying around through it. Flowed just fine. The reason I did this was the filament motor "skips" when trying to extrude at the end of the previous print. That's because it's stuck in the hot end I believe. Looking for any suggestions as I'm at the end of this hobby, it's blown away my patience. I did have a lucky spree of printing at one point and printed out 4-5 inch high objects in PLA just fine using Repetier Host.

[BenTheRighteous]

Why is your nozzle covered in plastic? That should not be happening.

Is your PEEK fan installed and working? If you inspect the nozzle, is it cracked or broken?

[netdefilr]

There's three issues that I have that don't seem to go away.

1. The extruder motor that extrudes/retracts the filament stops extruding. The hobnob seems to eat away at the filament over time. So why does this happen? Maybe I touch on that in 2 and 3. But the filament is aligned properly as the assembly guide instructs.

2. The filament as it goes into the Ez Struder stops. It can move forward, but its hitting something with the PTC connector. If you angle it just right it goes in. I don't think this is causing any major issues because once the filament is in the right spot, it moves up and down no problem.

3. The hotend seems to not flow the filament properly. It's more than likely a PLA jam issue. As a possible fix, I tried disconnecting the PTC from the Ez Struder and used an air compressor to blow air into the Bowden tube and down the hotend, while the hotend was on 190c. This caused the jam to blow out. I've tried this twice now and it seems to do the trick.

4. One of the latest prints still has issues in it. Support mentioned to dial down Retraction speed from 110 to 60. At first this appeared to fix the next print. But now, there's still gaps in the print. The model was grabbed from Thingiverse and repaired with Netfabb prior to printing.

5. I'm not sure how often I should recalibrate or use the auto level feature in MatterControl. It sounds like you do it once, then never have to do it again. I've done it several times as I try to troubleshoot prints.

With the air compressor used, it cleared out the ez struder easily. It may have also cleared out shavings that went into the Bowden tube. I wondered if that's why the filament couldn't make it into the tube originally. I think it may have cleared the Bowden tube as well as the hotend without any issues. Any advice is appreciated

[netdefilr]

Prior to the bracelet above, I printed a Terminator head after clearing out ez struder, Bowden tube, hot end. Support said to go from 110 retraction speed to 60. After doing so, the Terminator head printed well. I then printed a larger terminator head and during the night MatterControl crashed on my Mac. This killed the Rostock print. I believe it caused another PLA jam. After clearing out the ez struder, Bowden tube and hotend again, I tried printing again. This time by SD card. The bracelet is the latest print that's showing major issues. During the bracelet print, I saw the temperature set to 190 drop to around 185c.

Attached to this message is the previous successful print of the terminator head.