PEI sheet maintenance
hi community,
now that my printer has often been used since november, meanwhile the PEI sheet of the heatbed shows some marks and scratches which are visible at the first layer of my prints.
sooner or later i will order a replacement PEI sheet... but shipping costs twice as the sheet itself 😮 .
btw.: i asked the shop support if there is a possibility to send replacement sheets via ordinary mail... but they refused to do so.
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so i'm wondering if i could treat the surface somehow, to get rid of the tiny scratches ?
maybe with steel-wool (00 or 000) ?
❓
anybody here with experience in this ?
comments are welcome.
dem inscheniör is' nix zu schwör...
Re: PEI sheet maintenance
No practical experience myself
but i've seen folks claiming success with the green scrubby side of a kitchen sponge in combination with a good aceton wash. (if i recall correctly, the kitchen sponge is also mentioned in the prusa printing guide). Or 1000 / 2000 grit sandpaper as discussed here:
Re: PEI sheet maintenance
scrubbing with Coffee filters and IPA are also mentioned periodically
regards Joan
I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Location Halifax UK
Re: PEI sheet maintenance
ok, no risk no fun 😀
i just tried to smoothen the PEI surface with steel-wool (either 00 or 000, don't know anymore which, bought it a few years ago).
i couldn't get rid of all the scratches, but at least some of them are gone, and the surface is much smoother now (what i was looking for).
after scrubbing a lot with the steel-wool (which was nescessary, because the effect was very tiny... but steady), i dribbled acetone on the surface and let it stay there for about a minute. then i rubbed it in with the rough side of a kitchen sponge and removed it with a paper towel.
afterwards i wiped the surface off with an ipa soaked paper towel.
💡
the test with a real print (the 200µm treefrog in green :mrgreen:) showed that some of the scratches are gone 😛 and some stayed 😕 ... of course, the procedure can't do miracles.
but furthermore: the print now sticks nearly to good at the surface. had to be careful to remove my print from the surface without generating new scratches.
🙄
anyhow: thanks for your replies and ideas !
dem inscheniör is' nix zu schwör...