Build plate life expectancy?  

RE: Build plate life expectancy?

which  Build plate are you using?  smooth sheets are a bit fragile...
I use a Satin Powder coated steel sheet, and it is a couple of years old, still working...

https://www.prusa3d.com/product/satin-powder-coated-steel-sheet/

regards Joan

RE:

I never heard of satin/textured plates with large chunks of the layer peeling off, so I’m guessing it’s a smooth plate. To be fair, Prusa clearly warns about printing PETG (and other filaments ), directly on this plate. You need to apply a separating layer, specially for large parts. You can use stick glue (which I don’t like),  hairspray. Magigoo or similar products.   See at the bottom of the following link ‘tips for successful printing’

https://help.prusa3d.com/article/petg_2059

RE: Build plate life expectancy?

As Artur5 says, with PETG its not a great idea to print direct,  as adhesion might be too good and then you get damage as you have.  Perhaps you were rushing it as well, so it was not fully cooled and therefore shrunk to ease removal?

You can buy just the PE sheet to stick on the plate, the old will peel off.

For years on my Mk3 after an early mistake such as yours, I replaced the film, but then immediately covered it with blue masking tape/sheet.  I adjusted the height to be correct since the plate was now thicker.  So, PLA etc on the film side, and PETG on the tape side just by flipping the plate over.  Yes, sometimes the tape fails on part removal, but its easy and quick to replace. Another old school way was to use Pritt Stick or similar wiped over the build area of the plate over the PE  film layer as a dried release layer.

RE: Build plate life expectancy?

Yes.  as other posters have said, you should invest in a Textured, or even better, Satin sheet for use with PETG.  I am still using the original plate that came with my MK3 in 2017 without issue.  Admittedly, there are multiple sheets I cycle through, but no ill effects.  Even have a couple of knock off THEEKINGG sheets I bought when OEM sheets were unobtainable and they still are rocking without any ill effects.

Keep the smooth sheets for PLA and the like and Textured/Satin for PETG and other high adhesion materials and they will last a long time if cared for properly.

RE: Build plate life expectancy?

Apologies, but i thought of something else since I made the last post.  I see you said you printed 11 of the same item and on the last time is when it removed a part of your PEI sheet.

When printing multiples of the same print, I always create a few different Gcodes of the same item with the only change being the location of the item on the build plate so it is not printing in the same spot.  I do a 1,2,3  and if it is centered in the first Gcode, then the 2nd and third are off-center and one to the back and one to the front and to a side, trying not to print in the same spot the other versions are located at.  I honestly do not know if it matters if you have multiple sheets, but in your case it could not hurt.  I also flip the sheet between prints so it is a different side.

Again, buying multiple sheets, (most of mine are factory seconds with only minor imperceptible cosmetic issues) would be advisable so that you can let the sheet cool naturally between prints.  Most PETG prints pop off the textured and satin sheets on their own if allowed to cool down naturally.