First Layer Degraded After a Couple Years
Slightly losing my mind and hoping this is a quick fix. After a couple years of fantastic prints that caused no worry I'm getting significant first layer issues as you can see. Even this calibration print needed to be run at 70% speed otherwise it wouldn't even get past the first perimeter. For prints with a larger footprint on the bed, this warping is leading to the print losing adhesion and failing. Things I've tried so far:
- Cleaned the build plate (both sides) with 90%+ IPA
- Cleaned the build plate with warm water and dish soap
- Switched from a 3x3 auto mesh leveling to 7x7
- Replaced & rewired the entire hot end with an official Prusa replacement
- This included cleaning out years of plastic dust out from inside the extruder assembly
- Tightened every bolt that may have loosened over the years
- Upgraded to the most recent firmware and most recent version of Prusa Slicer
- Firmware update required a recalibration of the printer and that's been done multiple times including live Z offset calibration
- Z-Offset on the old nozzle was about -1.8 ish
- Z-Offset for new hot end / nozzle is currently set to -1.997
- This seems a big higher than what I've seen posted and may be due to bad PINDA placement when I assembled this from the kit. It never seemed to be an issue in the past though so I haven't felt like it was necessary to adjust.
- Filament does appear to be squished bit on the first layer but I can't even get a first layer otherwise.
- Ensured that the printer was secure against the pads inside the Prusa Enclosure
- Verified that the belts have the proper tension
- Removed inital debris from the enclosure and vacuumed everything out while the printer was removed
- Bought a brass brush, heated the hot end to max temp, turned off the printer and brushed to remove any excess material (even on the brand new nozzle)
- Tried old but dried PETG
- Tried brand new off brand PETG
- Tried brand new Prusa Brand PETG
- Tried old Prusa PLA
- Tried new Prusa PLA
- Printed at 0.3 layer height
- Printed at 0.2 layer height
- When attempting to print the object that started this obsession, move the object to different locations
Things I've been reluctant to try:
- Using an adhesive like glue stick or hair spray
- Haven't ever needed to use this with the printer and I'm reluctant to add yet another consumable, potentially give off toxic fumes, and muck up the bed using things like that.
Other observations:
- Humidity is a bit higher overall in this location compared to the location where I was getting significantly better prints in the past. I attempt to mitigate this with desiccant packets in the enclosure and ensuring the material is properly dried between prints.
- There seems to be a lot more leakage from the hot end than in the past (applicable to both the per-replacement hot end as well as the new one)
- Any waste material from failed prints appears to be more clingy than in the past, possibly more static electricity?
- The old building where I got fantastic prints was newer construction and the current location is 100+ years old but all power is being delivered to the printer through a UPS which is ensuring a clean power source to the printer.
At this point I'm starting to wonder if I messed something up inside the extruder when I was replacing the hot end and any tips of what to look for in there or other ways that I might be able to fix this would be appreciated! Thanks for reading my wall of text.
RE:
Try HOT water and Dawn dish soap. Scrub the bed with a NEW scotch bright scrub. That surface looks pretty new. I don't use glue stick on the textured surface, I find that's a double edged sword that can make things worse. I also find PETG works better with the textured surface and PLA better with the smooth surface.
Cheers
-Bob
Prusa I3 Mk2 kit upgraded to Mk2.5s, Ender3 with many mods, Prusa Mini kit with Bondtech heat break, Prusa I3 Mk3s+ kit
Go one step further and try a drastic clean. Rub neat detergent into the surface of the sheet. Wait ten minutes then wash clean with *HOT* water, pat dry with a fresh paper towel and finish drying by relacing on the bed and heating it; don't allow it to rest wet or you will have a rust problem.
Cheerio,
RE: First Layer Degraded After a Couple Years
After posting this message I bit the bullet and ran my print sloooow. First layer at 12 mm/sec and it worked well enough. Today we're back with really bad prints and it's been raining here and I'm chalking it up to too much humidity. I've got the printer in the prusa enclosure, some big dessicant packets in there as well. Even running the bed heater at 115 for an hour, I can't get the humidity sensor in the enclosure to read less than 30% humidity (it was getting down to 13% the other day while running a long print). Feels like I should seal the enclosure because it's getting too drafty. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, gotta solve an environment problem I guess.