Rostock Max v2 Perfect PLA/Horrible ABS Prints - Help!

[nscali]

Hi All,

I have a Rostock max v2 with Tricklaser arms, E3D v6, stock extruder, trucks, and extruder platform. I use Buildtak sheets on my build plate because I love the finish it gives PLA prints as well as being much easier to remove prints. For calibration I will either use a .051mm feeler gauge, paper, or if I really want to do it right I will break out the tricklaser tool mount and slip my dial indicator into it. (Considering whether I should switch to magnetic arms to make changing tools easier)

Ever since I got my printer I have struggled to print ABS. It seems no matter how much I mess with the calibration, e-steps, temperatures, etc. ABS prints always turn into a gloppy mess on the build platform. At first I thought this was due to the temps or over-extrusion because it seems like there is more material being spit out than when I print PLA. If I print a single layer out of PLA the result is a perfectly smooth shiny surface, but with ABS it is rough, uneven, with large globs of material everywhere.

For settings I typically start with the Seemecnc default profiles and print at 228/80 for ABS but I have tried as low as 224 and as high as 240 and everywhere in between. In addition, I have messed with different speeds and layer heights with no effect. Having just done a dial indicator calibration I know it is spot on, so what am I doing wrong here? I thought it was the buildtak, but I see now that they advertise support for multiple materials, and I have had the same problems using masking tape, pei, and glue sticks.

I do not have a layer fan on my machine currently, will adding one help with this issue by cooling the abs which in turn will help to "freeze it in place" once its extruded?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Polygonhell]

How many different rolls of ABS have you tried?
Some rolls of plastic, can be really bad to print, both PLA and ABS.
ABS is usually easier to get good looking prints out of, minus the warping and splitting larger parts tend to exhibit.
If your printing ABS very hot, or trying to print a steep overhang, a layer fan can help, but generally they cause more problems than they solve.
If your seeing Blobs deposited, it can often be retraction related, usually missed steps on a prime operation. Try printing with retraction disabled, you'll get strings, but you can see if the existing settings are causing other issues.

[nscali]

@polygonhell - I usually almost exclusively use Hatchbox supplied filament, although I have tried spools from different manufacturers and gotten the same results. When printing I typically can't get far enough into the print to get to the overhangs, if there are any. This "globbing" of material happens almost immediately after I start printing, large flat planes are especially vulnerable to this. The ABS has rough ridges where the PLA is totally smooth except for the slightest banding from the extruder tip. When the extruder passes over these defects it slowly collects bits of material on the tip till it breaks off and lodges in another part of the current layer which apart from the rough as heck banding can cause some MAJOR problems in the print later on .

If I am using Mattercontrol, are these good settings for retraction?:

Length on Move: 6.5mm <- this seems too big??
Speed 110 mm/s
Z Lift 3
Min travel 5mm
Min Extrusion 1.5mm

I am going to double-double check my extruder e-steps (Currently at 81.25) because that is all I can think of at the moment. Then I am going to print something in both PLA and ABS so I can illustrate the differences, perhaps that will shed light on this.

Update*****

Here are the photos (excuse the condition of my build plate trying to get as much use as I can out of each Buildtak):

My PLA prints aren't perfect but I am happy with them.

Here are three generations of ABS prints, slowly making progress, but I am still getting small globs and rough ridges, and having adhesion problems as well toward the center. Dropping Z height to see if that has any effect..

Thanks

[Polygonhell]

I'd run retraction no faster than 45mm/s.
As I said try it with no retraction at all, when your trying to debug problems the easiest way to do it, is to simplify everything as much as possible, slow down to 20mm/s, turn off retraction and see what you get, if that's OK, you can start playing with retraction, and then increase speeds.