Poor Bed adhesion
Having trouble with bed adhesion (again). Can't get ASA to stick to it, I have to wash it with soapy water every couple weeks to get even PLA to stick to it, as well as printing at 20% normal speed (20mm/s). Anyone got any alternatives to the textured PEI sheet for a 500 size VC3? The PEI doesn't seem good for much
13 Replies
I had problems with sticking to PEI until I scuffed it up slightly. I lightly sanded it with 800 grit sandpaper. Since then PLA holds so well I usually have to pry it off the build plate
deep-jadeOP•16mo ago
not a bad shout, I'll give that a go. Never had much luck with the PEI sheet, the ASA slides off it like its teflon
tempted to grab a sheet of G10 and attempt to adhere it evenly to a thin sheet of steel so the mag plate still keeps it down. heard good things about it, just wanted to know if anyone had seen a drop in replacement for the PEI
update, sanded the bed with some 800 grit, still no adhesion with ASA
foreign-sapphire•16mo ago
I had good luck with a DimaFix spray after having similar issues.
deep-jadeOP•16mo ago
Worth a shot. I’ll give that a bash
Try raising your nozzle a bit.
ASA does NOT like to get squished into the bed
I noticed I had immensely better adhesion (bed at 100C) with the nozzle .05mm higher than what I use for PLA or PETG
deep-jadeOP•16mo ago
I'll give that a go, not sure it's the main issue though, I get lift even with PLA, tried all different degrees of squish. solution at the moment is to run the first layer at 20% speed, the bed also required periodic cleaning with soapy water. been like it since I got it a couple of years ago
Go to a drugstore or office supply store and get the largest version of these (or order from Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/Elmers-Disappearing-Purple-School-E562/dp/B00143SNPG?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1 Cleans up with water and towels and works well with ASA.
Elmer's Disappearing Purple Washable School Glue Sticks, 0.77 oz, 3...
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deep-jadeOP•16mo ago
Been reluctant to coat the bed. On my old Ultimaker 2+, I made up an ABS slurry (neat acetone with natural ABS dissolved into it till at maximum concentration), I’d coat the bed with that, brushed on in strips till the acetone had boiled off, left a matte surface. ABS prints used to take it off, so I’d recoat after printing, PLA would stick well, but not take it off, Nylon was the same. Never had any adhesion issues.
Oddly I feel like I don’t wanna coat the bed as it costs so damn much to replace. May end up getting a piece of sheet steel and try an alternative coating onto that. As sheet steel costs pennies.
Again, the school glue washes off with water and paper towels, so there should not be any worries about replacing the bed.
deep-jadeOP•16mo ago
Yeah, it’s just PVA (same as water soluble support material). I’ll give it a go when I next have the ASA loaded in.
stormy-gold•16mo ago
I have had good results on the textured side with a bed temp of 110* on my RatRig. I print loads of ASA on a few Prusa I3 printers with their smooth PEI beds just cleaned with IPA and again heated to 110*. ASA also warps quite a bit so on my 500mm VC3 I have it enclosed, without it the ASA unsticks everytime.
I am printing with various materials and various printers, always on PEI. If I have first layer issues, I start with cleaning the PEI (smooth or powdercoated) with Alcohol. Sometimes I need to go thorough and clean it with water and dishwashing liquid (to get any oils and finger grease of). Let properly dry and possiblu clean again with alcohol (or acetone...?). Second thing I would do is re-tune z-offset wih the specific material. So tune with ASA and see if that works.
I have 410x410x1.5 G10 sheet. Simply use binder clips. I will remove most prints without moving the sheet just by pulling it off, most of the times before the bed has cooled down. I almost never use the textured PEI sheet, only when I want the texture.
PLA, ABS, PET, PA. I think I used pei for TPU but I am not sure. I use 3DLAC in very rare circumstances with ABS or ASA when the print has unfavourable bottom layer and is prone to lifting up.
I have enclosure.