trouble with sticking - tried everything?
Hi all -
(See photo). I have been having consistent problems with objects not sticking to the bed. I haven't changed any slic3r settings. I've gotten my first layer test to work just fine (had to adjust to about -.777), ran a calibration, did a factory reset, cleaned the bed with high quality alcohol, feel like I have tried everything. This has been an ongoing issue for a while. If I try very flat objects with solid bottom layers I can usually get it to work eventually, but now I am trying objects that have more detail on the first layer and am going nuts trying to get it to work. Any ideas?
I feel like my Prusa MK2S worked perfectly for the first 6 months or so, but now I'm having lots of first layer issues. I wonder if something needs adjusting that I don't know about...?
Also, I'm using slic3r Prusa Edition and recently upgraded to the newer version. I have tried slicing with the old version and new version, just in case and that doesn't seem to make a difference.
Any suggestions are welcome. THANKS!
-Jeannette
Re: trouble with sticking - tried everything?
Wash your bed with dish soap and warm water. Alcohol doesn't always remove fingerprints and oils from your skin or any hand creams you might use.
If that fails, you may need to clean the bed with acetone once as described in the user manual.
Re: trouble with sticking - tried everything?
Wow - I really didn't think that would make a difference since I had been practically bathing the bed in alcohol all day, but it really did help and the first layer stuck perfectly! Thanks so much for the suggestion, vintagepc!
Since you've been so helpful, I'll ask another question. See photo - everything is sticking great, but it is still quite stringy. Ideas on how to improve that? Thanks, in advance!
Jeannette
Re: trouble with sticking - tried everything?
I would suggest printing a "temparature tower" for your filament, and make a custom filament profile. This will let you dial in the print temperature you print at in order to reduce stringing. You want to select the lowest temperature that bridges well and offers minimal stringing. But keep an eye on it as too low a temperature will result in under-extrusion when doing faster print regions like internal infill; if that happens up the temp by ~5 degree steps until it stops.
If this is PETG, however, it is simply very stringy by nature. A temperature tower will still help some, but won't be perfect.
Also, you can try increasing the speed of any travel moves - this both means there is less time for the nozzle to ooze and string, and the faster motion may help "snap" the string rather than drag it out as the nozzle moves.
Lastly, retraction settings can be played with but the above items are usually lower-hanging fruit and easier to try to help.
Re: trouble with sticking - tried everything?
Wonderful! Thanks for the suggestions. I was wondering if temperature might be the thing to tweak. I'll look into printing a tower.
Thanks again,
Jeannette
Re: trouble with sticking - tried everything?
Retraction settings (Length and Lift Z) are the first things I go for re strings. Be careful with temp changes, you can end up with clogs, FDM printings worst nightmare.