Has anyone successfully print PTEG with a MINI?  

RE: Has anyone successfully print PTEG with a MINI?

The only things I can't print on my Mini at the moment are flexibles and filled materials, because of the 0.25mm nozzle I use. Otherwise, it works beautifully with everything I throw at it.

You need to do deep clean a new steel sheet before you can really use it. For that, there are a lot of guides here in the forum. You might find one if you look for "not sticking".

RE: Has anyone successfully print PTEG with a MINI?

I'm printing Prusament PPE Orange petg without any problems (say for some minor stringning).

I use default printing profiles and the textured sheet.

Be sure to dial the first layer correctly.

Pictures of problem prints help alot.

RE: Has anyone successfully print PTEG with a MINI?

I have successfully  printed PETG with my new mini.  I got the full assembly kit, (not the one you see in the YouTube unboxing videos) and it printed the nut and bolt immediately.  That said ... im having trouble printing anything right now.  That is the subject of a different thread

RE: Has anyone successfully print PTEG with a MINI?

No major issues for me, but I am using the textured sheet, so that could be a factor...

RE: Has anyone successfully print PTEG with a MINI?

I had some issues with PETG but once I found my sweet spot for the first layer height on the textured sheet it's been a breeze. Provide a picture / more info and we can try to help you out. For reference by smooth PEI sheet has a z offset of -0.675 and my textured sheet is -0.975 which I recently pushed up to just under -1.0 for better adhesion. I also slow down my first layer of PETG by 10mm/s to help it get good stick and definition for smaller details.

RE: Has anyone successfully print PTEG with a MINI?

Prints fine for me also.  Consider drying it if you have adhesion or stringing issues.  

RE: Has anyone successfully print PTEG with a MINI?

Most of my prints is done in PETG and that works great on Mini+ and MK3S+. Best and easiest sheet for PETG is the Textured and Satin sheet, the smooth sheet needs a separator like glue-stick or Windows cleaner before each print to avoid damaging the PEI layer.

Make sure the sheet is clean (no finger grease) before printing. I use warm water and dish-wash soap with a soft brush to clean the sheets. Quick drying is needed to avoid rust forming.

Bed level has to be right, follow the great guides found on the net...

RE: Has anyone successfully print PTEG with a MINI?

I have a Mini and had been using MatterHackers PLA.  The service temperature on the PLA is not high enough so I decided to switch to PETG (MatterHackers).  I had lots of first-layer adhesion problems initially.  In the end, I did the following to solve the adhesion problems:

1. I ordered a textured bedplate from Prusa.
2. I use the PrusaMint PETG filament setting in Prusa Slicer.
3. I washed the textured bedplate twice with strong dish detergent.
4. I clean with IPA before each use.
5. I aggressively adjusted my first layer Z.  What helped me here is that I had been keeping a log of my settings.  What I've ended up with is a Z height lower than any I had used before.  I had been adjusting my setting in increments of 25.  

Now that I'm printing successfully I'll be lowering the print head further in increments of 5 until I feel that I've got the absolute best first layer adhesion.

Hope this info helps someone.

ps: I love PETG.

-Jim Coffee-

RE: Has anyone successfully print PTEG with a MINI?

Posted by: @focus-research

I've yet to successfully print PTEG  with  my Mini.  Nozzle and Bed temperatures look to be in the right range.  I'm using genuine Prusa filament.  First layer doesn't  stick  I'm using the stock steel sheet.

I have successfully printed loads of PETG prints, with both Prusament (orange) and Eono (white, amazon, cheap) filament, but my first 5 or so attempts also resulted in first layer failures. 
Here are my findings so far: 

• The textured steel sheet is the correct sheet for PETG. I have not tried the PEI sheet, but I imagine you will need to use glue stick or you will trash that sheet. 
• When performing first layer calibration I needed to bring the nozzle very close to the bed, as opposed to some guides I had seen suggesting that the head could be further from the bed. For example, my current Z offset is -1.65mm, which ends results in the profile of the filament being as the second from left in the 3D printing handbook page 19. You must still achieve the correct results with respect to the diagrams on pages 20 and 21.
• The prusament PETG stock settings lead to some acceptable results, but I have sometimes needed to increase the first layer bed temperature to match the subsequent layers, at 90 degrees.
• The Generic PETG profile is 10 degrees too hot on the hot end and 5 degrees too hot on the print bed for the Eono filament to not end up making a stringy mess, and sometimes the extra spooging out of the nozzle results in the first layer being dragged across the bed with a failure of the first layer. Some manipulation of the temperatures helped solve this, but it was important to dry the filament.
• You should clean the print bed surface with 99% Isopropyl Alcohol before each new print, though I would not bother between first layer test attempts if you can keep your finger prints off the bed.
• If you are having particular trouble with all the above, you should make sure the first 4 layers are printed ideally at 80% speed.
• For some prints it might be good to try and increase retraction and Zlift to avoid nasty stringing and parts being lifted.

I am not sure if it took some tries to 'scuff up' the textured sheet, but after maybe 5 attempts at getting the first layer test to print correctly, I then started to see good first layer adhesion, even with very similar Zoffset.

I have found that, especially the white Eono PETG was quite bad for hydrolysis at first, so 3 hours in a 60degree oven helped improve this. But I still get nasty burnt residue appear in the print some times. However, I get less popping, crackling, and obvious spots where water bubbles have popped. 

Here is an example of the plastic spare parts I have printed for the mini using the above findings, with the two filaments.

I hope this helps you