Prusament PLA wont stick to Pei-Sheet  

RE: Prusament PLA wont stick to Pei-Sheet

"PEI sheet" does not identify which sheet you are using. Both smooth and textured are PEI.

Bottom line - scrub your sheet with an unscented detergent like Dawn and copious amounts of water.

Dry it with a fresh paper towel. Finish drying on the heat bed. Never touch the print surface.

RE: Prusament PLA wont stick to Pei-Sheet

I second the "My prints don't stick!" suggestion to "Use soap and water to clean the sheet."

But after washing in soap and water, do NOT use alcohol after the wash.  Soap and water works best as the last step in the cleaning process.  And using fresh new paper towels as the scrubber and for drying then handling by the edges is mandatory.  Short cuts will just cause you more grief.

These days, keeping the bed clean is the most difficult part of my printing.  

RE: Prusament PLA wont stick to Pei-Sheet

I have found lack of adhesion to be a general problem with Prusament filaments, both PLA and PETG. I have just tried yet again to use Prusament, this time with a Prusa Satin Powder Sheet - this type of sheet has its own adhesion problems and the combination is simply impossible. Switch to another brand of PLA and normal reliability is restored. Joseph - your Prusa i3 MK3S is wonderful, but Prusament, despite the hype, really sucks - I won't be buying any more.

Advice not sought - I really have tried all the first layer adhesion remedies that have been recommended. Prusament refuses to cooperate (unlike other brands).   

RE: Prusament PLA wont stick to Pei-Sheet

In the U.S.,

1) Dawn liquid soap and hot tap water works best for cleaning Pei sheets every 5 or six prints.

2) Between every print, it is best to clean a room temperature Pei sheet with plenty of 97% alcohol wiped for at least 30 to 60 seconds with a microfiber cloth.

3) If you don't have a micro fiber cloth, then between every print, clean a room temperature Pei sheet with plenty of 97% alcohol wiped for at least 30 to 60 seconds with a clean paper towel. 

Note: Paper towels leave some paper dust or residue on the Pei sheet that micro fiber towels don't. Buy a stack of micro fiber towels from Amazon. They are inexpensive. Use each microfiber cloth from 1 to 10 times to clean a Pei sheet and then just throw them in the washer and dryer with a load of laundry. They last a long time. So easy. 

Also, if the micro fiber and 97% alcohol is not working, you need to either rub a little harder or longer... or lower your live-Z down closer to the print bed to get a bit more squish to make your first layer stick better.

I switched to microfiber clothes and have not gone back to paper towels for two months now.  I run my both of my Prusa printers (Mini+ and MK3S+) at least 10 to 20 hours every day. I use the same print bed cleaning technique on my smooth, satin and textured Pei sheets. 

Your hands should be washed with soap and water and only let your bare finger tips touch the edges of your Pei sheets.

RE: Prusament PLA wont stick to Pei-Sheet - new solution: hob-cleaner

Thanks for the tips - I had tried all of that excepting substituting microfibre cloth for paper towel - I will use that henceforth.

But since posting I have discovered that "polishing" the PEI sheet with hob-cleaner produces an ideal surface to print to.  There is very little difference to the appearance of the sheet afterwards, but I suppose microscopic abrasions must help. Why hob-cleaner? I was cleaning my ceramic cooking hob when the idea occurred to me to try it. I expect any other polish with a fine abrasive - metal, glass, or just a fine abrasive such as jewelers rouge in water might work just as well. I have done quite a few prints without intermediate cleaning, all successful, even small, tallish items with small bases. Finished prints separate from the sheet easily, so no problem there. 

RE: Prusament PLA wont stick to Pei-Sheet

adjust the Live-Z for more squish and hotter print bed. I've found to get consistent adhesion, I print at 65C and bring Live-Z as low as possible while still maintaining a smooth first layer.

I had inconsistent adhesion problems on the stock Prusa smooth PEI sheet until I did all of the above. Prusa's build plates seem to err on the side of too little adhesion.