low adhesion of the print to the surface can’t solve
Dear forum,
ordered mini printer for my son as a Christmas present, he installed and calibrated. Since then trying to print, but almost every time the print moves on the surface by the thread and we have to abort. We are beyond frustrated, we clean the surface, we changed the Z-axe position. Is there exact instruction how to solve this problem?
RE: low adhesion of the print to the surface can’t solve
What kind of print material is it?
Was it stored in a dry box when not being used?
How did you clean the bed?
What does your Z calibration look like (need picture).
Tom
The two common causes of poor adhesion are dirty/greasy print-sheets and a poorly calibrated first layer 'Z' offset:
First: clean the sheet with dishwashing detergent (Dawn/Fairy) and plenty of HOT water, rinse well and dry with a fresh paper towel. Handle by the edges only.
Then run a first layer 'Z' calibration.
At the end of the calibration you are aiming to print a single layer *sheet*. It should be possible to peel it off in one and fold it without the threads seperating. If it breaks into lines it is too high, not squished enough. If it is a single sheet but with wavy lines or drag marks on it you are too low.
If you are uncertain show us a picture of the resulting print *on the print-sheet*
Cheerio,
RE: low adhesion of the print to the surface can’t solve
Hello Tom,
the device is new, we cleaned the heting bed with provided wipe, the filament was unpacked as delivered, the material is PLA. sorry, not successful to insert image from the phone, will try from the computer next time.
What kind of print material is it?
Was it stored in a dry box when not being used?
How did you clean the bed?
What does your Z calibration look like (need picture).
Tom
RE: low adhesion of the print to the surface can’t solve
Hello Diem,
thanks for answering. We made cleaning, first layer calibration already dozens of times. I attached the picture below. Couple prints (like Prusa plaque) were successful, but most of the time (like 95%) it is struggle with filament dragging the print. We do something wrong, but I cannot understand what. Probably the vertical position is not correct, but there is no way I can understand how to make it precisely to the correct position as the first layer calibration is as recommended, no smooth corners.
Best
The two common causes of poor adhesion are dirty/greasy print-sheets and a poorly calibrated first layer 'Z' offset:
First: clean the sheet with dishwashing detergent (Dawn/Fairy) and plenty of HOT water, rinse well and dry with a fresh paper towel. Handle by the edges only.
Then run a first layer 'Z' calibration.
At the end of the calibration you are aiming to print a single layer *sheet*. It should be possible to peel it off in one and fold it without the threads seperating. If it breaks into lines it is too high, not squished enough. If it is a single sheet but with wavy lines or drag marks on it you are too low.
If you are uncertain show us a picture of the resulting print *on the print-sheet*
Cheerio,
RE: low adhesion of the print to the surface can’t solve
You didn't include the pictures.. take a good closeup of the first layer.. It sounds like your Z is too high. You can modify the Z during the calibration .. not sure how on a mini.. but changing it while doing the Z layer calibration can help. For the first few months, I was always too high with my Z even though I thought I was adjusting properly.
RE: low adhesion of the print to the surface can’t solve
Hi,
Thanks a lot for your reply. I will try to go as low as possible, maybe we are too afraid to do it. To be honest it is difficult to understand even with explanations for the calibration how low one should go.
You didn't include the pictures.. take a good closeup of the first layer.. It sounds like your Z is too high. You can modify the Z during the calibration .. not sure how on a mini.. but changing it while doing the Z layer calibration can help. For the first few months, I was always too high with my Z even though I thought I was adjusting properly.
RE: low adhesion of the print to the surface can’t solve
yeah thats way too high still. Printing a 1 layer thick square or similar gives you a much better chance to adjust while its printing and when its done you can bend the square and see if the strands separate .
RE: low adhesion of the print to the surface can’t solve
@ET.. grin.. yes.. it is the single biggest learning hurdle to overcome when you start out. You are scared to drive the nozzle into the PEI sheet.. but part of learning is going *too far*, so you know that end of the spectrum too.. You will scratch the PEI sheet a bit at times.. but part of the learning.. The filament on that first layer actually looks pretty flat, not round at all.. When you look at the underside of the square, it almost should not show any ‘lines’ at all.. Each pass should be squished enough they flow together into a solid. When you are too low, you’ll notice the nozzle bury a bit into filament and you’ll get a valley in the middle with the sides being pushed up.. Like a tiller in a garden.
That first layer is not low enough.
At the end of the calibration you are aiming to print a single layer *sheet*. It should be possible to peel it off in one and fold it without the threads seperating. If it breaks into lines it is too high, not squished enough. If it is a single sheet but with wavy lines or drag marks on it you are too low.
Cheerio,