Im very new to 3d printing and this is my first time using anything other than pla. So far all of my prints are lifting off the bed at the corners. They start off looking beautiful. No stringing, great adhesion, etc. But after a few layers, they start to come off. Especially on larger prints.
Heres my setup:
- Ender 3 pro with skr mini e3 v2
- Creality Ender 3 glass bed upgrade
- Bed temp: 90C
- Extruder temp: 240C
- Nozzle diameter: .4
- Layer height: .2
- First layer: .45
- Speed: 60mm/s
- Slicer: Silc3r
I realize that asking this question is like asking WebMD to dianose my sniffles, cause it can literally be anything, but Im hoping someone with more experience can give me some pointers on what works for them. Thanks yall!
Update: First of all, thank you all so much for the kick ass suggestions! I really appreciate all of your replies. Since pretty much everyone recommended it, I went ahead and got a textured spring steel PEI plate and holy shit, it didn’t disappoint. Adhesion has been fantastic. I also ended up lowering my bed temp down to 75 from 90 and pushing my hotend temp to 245 for the first layer, then back to 240. I got an enclosure to help keep the plate clean but I also stocked up on some blue dawn dish soap. I still have a little more trial and error with print speed and cooling but I’m literally getting the best prints I’ve ever gotten thanks to all of your suggestions. Yall are awesome and I’m really glad I posted here.
I pretty much only use petg and abs. Petg really likes to ooze, I put a retract of 10-15mm at print end, I’d recommend bringing up to print temp only when you need to (heatup bed and set the nozzle to 150, do your bed level, then heat to print temp, my voron does that and has way less ooze). It also, at least for me, loves to cling to the nozzle so nozzle cleanliness is key, I use a sock that covers all but the very tip of the nozzle which made a world of difference. First layer height is really important with that as well, too high and it just sticks to itself and makes a mess.
Check your filament as well, I personally like to go as hot as possible with petg as it seems to flow better, the one I have right now is 230-250 with a bed of 70-90, 245 and 80 works well for that. Bridging and overhangs can be not great, had better luck with faster bridge speeds and high fan speeds.
Keep your surface clean, light brushing with warm soapy water is good periodic maintenance, I wipe down with 99 ipa to keep my sheet clean, ipa isn’t the best degreaser but it’s good to keep it maintained. Windex and then a wipe down with ipa has worked for me too.
I don’t recommend printing directly on PEI, at least the prusa PEI sheet, it adheres extremely well to the point of tearing off PEI chunks, gluestick works well as a release agent. Textured sheets are nice and they self release when cold.
Key take aways though, keep everything super clean as bad adhesion is a bad time. I have had better luck with running things on the hotter end and turn up the cooling as I print in an enclosure. Get a dry box, I have a few desicant filled boxes as it really likes moisture.
Qucik edit: Prusa has some solid material guides for recommendations and things to know about different materials. Petg will adhere to surfaces strongly, I just saw you use a glass sheet and I’ve read some annedotal stories of people literally pulling chunks of glass off with a petg print, definitely use a gluestick or some other material for bed release, make your life easier.