I have tried every different setting for External ABS, and my print layers always get smushed together. I’ve tried reducing extruder flow which helps, but then it creates a problem of too little material around small holes in the model.
I am using HATCHBOX ABS 3D Printer Filament and I have had very good results ( I can’t post links to it because I am a new user 
). I also have the Micro Swiss All Metal Hotend with SLOTTED Cooling Block for Zortrax M200 installed with a silicon insulator.
Settings:
Printer: Zortrax M200
Profile: Last settings
Support type: Automatic
Support: 20°
Material: ABS-based filament
Nozzle diameter: 0.4 mm
Layer: 0.14 mm
Quality: Default
Infill: 30%
Fan speed: 0%
Seam: Normal
Outer contours: 0.00
Holes: 0.00
Surface layers Top: 7
Surface layers Bottom: 4
Support Lite: Yes
Smart bridges: Yes
Support offset: No
First layer Density: 100%
First layer Print speed: 100%
First layer Flow ratio: 100%
First layer gap: 0.23 mm
Raft Enabled: Yes
Raft layers: 6
Platform-raft gap: 0.20 mm
Raft Density: 100%
Raft Print speed: 100%
Raft Flow ratio: 100%
Print speed: +0%
Extruder flow ratio: +0%
Top layer infill (%): 100
Bottom layer infill (%): 100
Extrusion temp.: 235
Platform temp.: 80
Retraction speed: 36
Retraction distance: 0.8
Support Density: 4.00 mm
Gap XY: 0.31
I hope that helps.
Thanks so much for your help, Peacekeeper! It turns out my Z-Axis was not tightened properly. One screw was too tight, and some others too loose. I had skipped some screws that I couldn’t reach with a normal screwdriver, and I just got some allen wrenches to get to them. So I think the reason the print wasn’t working at lower temperatures was because the filament did not get close enough to the build plate.
I tested the temperatures and it seems that 245 is ideal for me to get the least melting together of layers. I am using the all metal Z-TEMP, if that matters. I suppose your Micro Swiss with insulation is better at retaining heat which is why you can get away with the lower temperature.
Now I am going to find the best First Layer Gap setting, and I’ll report back.
While the temperature and first layer problems have been fixed, I continue to have problems on the Z-Axis.
Here are my settings:
Estimated print time: 5h 29m
Material usage: 17.49m (42g)
Printer: Zortrax M200
Profile: Last settings
Support type: Automatic
Support: 20°
Material: ABS-based filament
Nozzle diameter: 0.4 mm
Layer: 0.14 mm
Quality: Default
Infill: 30%
Fan speed: 0%
Seam: Normal
Outer contours: 0.00
Holes: 0.00
Surface layers Top: 7
Surface layers Bottom: 4
Support Lite: Yes
Smart bridges: Yes
Support offset: No
First layer Density: 100%
First layer Print speed: 100%
First layer Flow ratio: 100%
First layer gap: 0.50 mm
Raft Enabled: Yes
Raft layers: 4
Platform-raft gap: 0.20 mm
Raft Density: 100%
Raft Print speed: 100%
Raft Flow ratio: 100%
Print speed: +0%
Extruder flow ratio: +0%
Top layer infill (%): 100
Bottom layer infill (%): 100
Extrusion temp.: 245
Platform temp.: 105
Retraction speed: 36
Retraction distance: 0.8
Support Density: 4.00 mm
Gap XY: 0.31
First off, here is some infill on the bottom:
!
you can see the pieces sway, that might be the result of using LITE support. But the main problem is the support is completely stuck to the print, requiring a knife to remove. I had the same problem on the first layer until I upped the gap to 0.50 mm.
Next, you can see the pitting around a hole. I don’t think this is a huge problem. I tried increasing extruder flow by 15% which made it go away, but it created lots of other problems.
!
Next is a small hole on the top of the print. It prints with correct aspect ratio:
!
Next is a larger hole on the side of the print. You can see that what should be a circle is squished. This is what I was talking about as the Z-axis problem:
!
Furthermore there is some warping upwards on the bottom of the print the further away from the center of each piece you go. I tried upping the platform temperature from 80 to 105 and it’s still the same.
Any help on any of these issues would be appreciated, but mainly I think the biggest problem seems to have to do with the Z-axis or something about the layering.
Thanks,
Evie
I tested the retraction settings, and by making it 2.5mm at 20mm/s the holes are less warped, but I still have a big problem with support being stuck to the raft. Here is my calibration result, maybe that reveals something?
I realize this is a bit of an echo chamber, but I solved the problem. It turns out the 3 calibration screws under the bed were not tightened all the way. I didn’t realize this was the case because I actually needed pliers to tighten them (I got calluses trying by hand), but now everything works great!
Glad you figured it out. Nice troubleshooting. Happy printing 
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Update… my success I previously reported was short-lived. I did learn a lot about calibrating those three screws:
- I sanded down the perforated board to remove residue.
- I tightened the 3 calibration screws by HAND while holding the screw still from above with an allen wrench.
- The above made auto calibration work much better
However, after all this, I have still had numerous problems with extrusion either not happening at all, the extruder clicking, and still get layers “smushed” togehter.
Turns out the main problem was that the height detection at the beginning of each print was off by a fraction of a millimeter (close to 0.5mm)
I now know this because I got a 3rd party “height sensing” modification that completely fixes the problem.
Now I know what to look for! If you see that the first layer of the raft has a polk dot pattern on it, then the extruder is too close to the board. It has to look like a thin noodle, not a “smushed” noodle!
Maybe this problem occurred because my perforated board is worn down. It’s clearly worn down because I see the red copper layer on the contact pads.
However I think the height sensing modification is a better investment than getting a new perforated plate, because it seems to be a more resilient system.