PETG not sticking to textured PEI plate
I can't find the solution to this anywhere.
I have an MK4 that I use to print PETG on the textured PEI plate. In the past, it seemed to work very well, but lately, whe PETG simply won't stick. I have tried cleaning the plate with dish soap and IPA, but nothing seems to help. PETG sticks like crazy to the smooth PEI plate and is really difficult to remove..
Do I need a new textured PEI plate, or is there a way to recover this one?
Thanks in advance,
Steve
Senior Life member of IEEE.
RE: PETG not sticking to textured PEI plate
Prusa textured plates are tough and not easy to destroy. That is, unless you clean them many times with solvents like acetone, but you just used IPA and soap, right ?.
If the plate needs cleaning greasy residues, please try again with very hot water, dish soap ( free from scents/additives) a scourer and patience. Maybe you’ll end up scorching your fingers a bit with hot water, but you should be able to get that plate in perfect shape again.
BTW. If you print PETG on the smooth plate, please apply always a separating layer of adhesive (stick glue, hairspray, etc.) to avoid damaging the PEI layer when you remove the print
RE: PETG not sticking to textured PEI plate
I haven't seen a plate go "bad" in years. Dish washing soap should do the job.
However....
With my Mk4s's I found that the load cell is everything but perfect with textured sheets. With PETG I usually adjust live z manually by -0.02 or -0.03. Worth a try
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- until all hell broke loose with the forum software...
RE: PETG not sticking to textured PEI plate
I had similar problem, so i did what guys here advised, and reduced the first layer print speed to 40-60% to normal speed. Now it works like charm 🙂
RE: PETG not sticking to textured PEI plate
If your textured sheet is pretty new, I found that on mine, I had to scrub a bit with a plastic dish sponge to get some of the manufacturing residue off. I only use soap/water. IPA will help between prints. Good Z is critical and also bed temp.. I use 85 deg on my MK3S+ for PETG. Even though you have auto-Z, I have found experience in knowing what a great first layer looks like really is critical in getting good results. Maybe include a high-res image of a failed first layer on a model..
RE: PETG not sticking to textured PEI plate
Thanks for the info. I guess I will have to scrub the plate a bit harder. I was afraid of damaging it. I think it just accumulated too much oils and quit working. It was working fine up until a few days ago. I typically clean the plate with IPA between prints, but I guess it got too dirty.
I use the settings for generic PETG, but I guess I should increase the bed temp to 85 instead of 80.
I typically use the Matterhackers MHBuild PETG.
Steve
Senior Life member of IEEE.
RE: PETG not sticking to textured PEI plate
I used a lot of IPA early in my printing experience, but if you use PLA and PETG on the same plate, I really find hot water and dish-soap to be the best overall cleaner. Sometimes if a model has a small footprint and I don't want to use a brim, I'll also use some glue stick.. which will last for up to 10 prints then needs to be cleaned well. I've scrubbed mine with the green side of those sponges with mild to moderate force.. don't go crazy.. I do use IPA between prints (no glue stick) at times.
RE: PETG not sticking to textured PEI plate
One more thing that happened to me is that some worst (with higher moisture levels?) PETG does not wont to stick to TXT plate at all.
RE: PETG not sticking to textured PEI plate
I had the same problem, but a different fix worked for me. Try raising the bed temp. PETG sticks better at higher bed tempratures. Raise it like 2 degrees at a time until it starts to stick (or you get to the high bed temp for your filiament). I went from 70 degrees to 75 degrees and the difference was night and day.
RE: PETG not sticking to textured PEI plate
I had the same problem, but a different fix worked for me. Try raising the bed temp. PETG sticks better at higher bed tempratures. Raise it like 2 degrees at a time until it starts to stick (or you get to the high bed temp for your filiament). I went from 70 degrees to 75 degrees and the difference was night and day.
In your description of temperatures, you write nonsense! PETG has a basic bed temperature of 85°C for the 1st layer, and then the temperature increases to 90°C for the additional layers. And when the print doesn't stick well even on a cleaned sheet, I've found it useful to lightly spray it with 3DLac, but really spray it only lightly like a mist. The sheet is then washed with IPA if necessary. And let it cool down thoroughly before removing the printout.