After cleaning a plate

How long should you leave a plate to dry after washing/cleaning it?

If I don’t leave it several hours then filament (PLA) won’t stick to it.

what i do personally is after i cleaned it i pad it dry with paper towels and then leave it for another like 2-4 Hours to dry

works like a charm for me

After rinsing the plate I use paper towels and use it directly. No wait time.

If that doesn’t work for you and you are in a hurry, place the plate on the bed and preheat it at 55-60ºC for 5 minutes.

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I never wait, wipe it off and go.

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Hi Allan, I wipe them dry with an absorbent lint-free cloth. Microfiber or similar (there are also some disposable thick blue towels out there which are spectacular, clean enough for applying wood finishes). W/out touching the surface of course (or wear gloves I guess). All the plates I’ve washed are at least somewhat hydrophobic already so it doesn’t take much to dry 'em. (Can’t remember which plate type(s) now, but I’ve seen it recommended to wash them until the water beads off the plate, instead of spreading along it.)

Cheers,
-Max

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Dry it with paper towel and print immediately. The heated bed is going to force any residual moisture to immediately evaporate during print prep.

Anyone saying you need to air dry them is just wasting their own time - and yours.

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I wash with soap and water, wipe with some clean paper towels, and immediately print. As @CarbonForge mentioned, bed heating should evaporate any residual water.

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What about water trapped between the plate and the bed? I guess it’s not an issue if you guys are doing that regularly, but that is the main reason I dry 'em.

-Max

PS. evaporating water may also leave some mineral residues, depending on the source.

I watch for that, I kinda figure if I cant see it it probably isn’t enough to be a problem.

I don’t have any problems with water under the plate. Also, I’m not sure if mineral residue is too bad, because I have not managed to get a single adhesion issue on my P1S with textured PEI or smooth PEI. (I do have to admit, this P1S only has ≈500 hours on it.)