Sliced through my pei surface.....now what?
Due to the fact that the adhesion was so great on some builds I began resorting to the use of a metal kitchen spatula...worked great until today.
now I have a 1 cm wide by 1 cm deep flap in the surface.
any suggestions what to do?
and better ways to remove builds?
Re: Sliced through my pei surface.....now what?
The PEI sheet is replaceable. Search this forum for methods. I think we have all done this. My chisel has cut a rip too.
Patients is the best tool for print removal. I find when I am rushing is when I do something stupid, independent of the implement.
I would be interested in hearing if anyone has a great removal tool. I have seen posts of putting IPA at the edges and letting it seep under, a cold spray, and others, but never used them myself.
Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage or loss. If you solve your problem, please post the solution…
Re: Sliced through my pei surface.....now what?
I agree to replace. Just order a few so you have them on hand in the event it happens again. There are instructions from prusa on how to replace it in the wiki I think. Just need a freeze and Turpentine Gum Spirits. Takes maybe 2 hours total with freeze/soak time.
Re: Sliced through my pei surface.....now what?
to avoid the freeze which involved taking the bed off the printer i used lighter fluid (ronsonol lighter fluid)
https://www.amazon.com/Ronson-ounce-Ronsonol-Lighter-Fuel/dp/B0017X1NGO
with everything attached to the machine i lifted the edge of the PEI film and let some lighter fluid leech under it. it slowly released the bond between the glue and the PEI film.
that left the glue.
you need turpentine gum to then slowly dissolve the glue and you will need to carefully and slowly manually scrap the loose gum off layer by layer to get down the Board. work slow and carefully and it will take a few hours also making sure not to get anything on the machine and electronics below.
get it totally clean on the board without damaging the heating traces. clean up with more turpentine gum and then a wash with IPA get it as clean as possible. then follow the instructions for installing the new sheet on the bed.
this was all to avoid having to take the machine apart and put the bed in the freezer. just to detach the PEI from the glue.
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Re: Sliced through my pei surface.....now what?
I just soak paper towels in turpentine and let them soak on the glue for about 40 mins. Using a bigger scrapper for drywall, you can easily remove almost all the glue in one round. I do another 20 min soak to get rid of the last bit, then use alcohol to clean everything.