Stringing: moisture first, settings second

People rebuild their retraction profile for a week before checking whether the spool is simply damp. Do it the other way round.

Test for moisture

Listen at the nozzle. Popping and hissing means water in the filament, boiling as it passes through the melt zone. PETG and nylon can pick up enough moisture in a few days on an open shelf.

Drying times

• PLA and Silk PLA — 45 to 50°C for 6 hours
• PETG — 65°C for 6 hours
• PLA-CF — 55°C for 8 hours
• Store in a sealed bag with fresh silica immediately afterwards

Only then, retraction

If the filament motor rides on the print head, start at 0.8mm and work up in 0.2mm steps — going past 2mm is how you turn a stringing problem into a blockage. If the motor is fixed to the frame with a long tube to the head, start at 5mm instead. Getting these the wrong way round is the single most common cause of self-inflicted clogs.