Retraction problem (not retracting)_Prusa i3

Hi,

My friend and me are currently working on his Prusa i3 and there are some retraction problems. If we set the printer to retract in Pronterface - it does so, but when it is printing it does not retract - quite the opposite - it extracts more (the length that is set to retract in slic3r). Furthermore - if we set the retraction and extra extrusion (we thought that the two might be switched in slic3r software) it extrudes the length of extrusion + retraction. We tried 3 different versions of slic3r and two versions of Pronterface on 2 different computers. We are currently printing without any retraction but the prints would look much better if the retraction was set on.

We also tried my settings in slic3r (for my Prusa i3) - same results. Maybe the firmware although it were my settings (for my Prusa i3 which works fine).

Thanks in advance!

Maybe the extruder acceleration is set too high that it may not be able to retract be is able to unretract, extruding more than intended. Try lowering acceleration. Try between 1000 and 2000mm/s². Also try different retraction speeds, start with 20mm/s, if that goes well try higher. Also check the motor current. You'll need to find a balance between current, the maximum acceleration and speed. Also make sure retraction length is between 0.5 and 6mm depending on what type of extruder you use (direct or bowden).

---

--
Kind regards
Imqqmi

NFAN CoreXY printer:
[reprap.org]

Also check if retraction is activated in the firmware.
Marlin supports this and it can mess with the normal retraction settings.

I had to slow my Wades retraction down to 20 mm/s or else it would vibrate and not move.

Thank you all. I will try everything that you said when I get the time. Where can I activate/deactivate retraction in marlin? Configuration.h? I can't find it.

I do it in Slic3r here: Printer Settings > Extruder 1 > Retraction > Speed

Retraction acceleration is in Marlin; mine is set to 3000:

#define DEFAULT_RETRACT_ACCELERATION 3000 // E acceleration in mm/s^2 for retracts

Hello everyone,

at the end it was the stepstick... Sometimes it would pass the current to the motor, sometimes not... I swapped it with another one and all works well now.

Thank you!

Makes a good reminder to keep some pare parts so one can exchange parts to make sure it not failing hardware...