You can always drink the moonshine if it doesn’t work as intended.lol
Brake cleaners are mixed bag of nuts since each manufacturer has their own sauce, plus Toluene and xylene may be included and are very aggressive solvents
Are you talking about the textured PEI or smooth?
I have a P1P textured and have printed over 40 rolls of filament with no problem on the same side of the plate. (All PLA variants)
I had a similar experience with the cold plate. I cleaned the plate with IPA after every print. Then one day it was like I flipped a switch, bed adhesion was gone. Long story short, I replaced the sticker (surprisingly easy) and stopped using IPA, instead using soapy water about every ten prints. All good since then. And oh yeah, I never use glue stick.
I have had 2 P1Ps for 12 months and print the PEI every day, I clean 99% ipa and they still hold up with ABS, PETG, PETG-CF and ASA
Oh wow, I used for the first time just the antiseptic hand spray, which as I examined the chemical contents was detailed to have a mix of ethyl and IPA totaling together to about 72% of the content, the rest should have been the diluted water and also a little amount of some other as I guess scent and other additives. Surprisingly, this worked fine for me for about 50+ hours of printing until now. With this antiseptic I was able to easily dissolve grease from my fingerprints on the plate, although I was aware I should not touch the center of it much and held it only at the edges where the print-head does not print. So I had 0 problems with adhesion, besides minor edge warping, but no significant disconnections preventing the finishing prints, separating them from the print-bed mid-process etc. Nevertheless, now that I read all the comments, I understand it’s definitively not worth the potential hassle and the cost of failed prints to cheap out on not buying the 99 IPA as necessary to clean the printed. BTW have not used the PET on PEI Bambu sheet, it doesn’t say PET compatible, so I’m hesitant to try to push those limits.
Now I noticed my misprint. I am using PETG, not PET.
Also I used detergent cleaning my PEI plate. It seems adhesion returned )
I use 91% IPA with good results, but a couple of months ago I got something on the plate (can’t recall what–maybe lube grease) and no way would the IPA fix it. I just washed it in warm water and dish soap, and good adhesion returned; so I’m back to 91% IPA.
I’m not sure why this discussion has gone on this long already. IPA for a light regular clean, water and dish soap if you notice any regions not adhering well, or you’ve used glue and want to get it off.
Stop trying to find clever alternatives. The BL recommendation is boring but it works.
Hi, I had all sorts of adhesion issues. But I solved them once and for all by using 3DLAC. After every print I simply spray the areas where the print and calibration prints where and away I go! After say 20 prints I wash the build plate in hot soapy water and when dry I re-apply 3DLAC. I find I don’t even need support skirts/brims. The prints easily break of the plate ready to use.
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I have seen Bambu Support on Reddit say not to use Iso Alcohol for cleaning the Textured PEI plate. They say to use warm water and dish soap. Supposedly alcohol will ruin the build plate, I cleaned my textured build plate with iso alcohol and it lost adhesion
I use 99% IPA to clean all of my build sheets. No problems with any of them.
Have the gold PEI plate that came with my P1S. I use a microfiber towel to wipe it off in between prints, and soapy water every so often. This printer has ben running about 4 days a week doing 2-3 prints per day since July 21st. Have used PLA and ABS on it. So far, no issues with adhesion or release. Looks as good as brand new. So I’ll stick with soapy water.
Besides, it’s a lot cheaper than 99% IPA. Don’t understand why people seem reluctant to wash the plate instead of using IPA. At the most, I’d add a little simple green to the soapy water to cut any residue. Still cheaper than IPA 99.
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Some brake clean products use chlorinated solvents. Chlorinated solvents can almost instantly destroy some plastics. Polycarbonate being one of the most sensitive to solvents. So hopefully PEI is immune. I’ve been a mechanic for over 40 years and used many different solvents.
All I can say is, test any solvent on a sample that you’re not worried about damaging. I’ve destroyed plastic parts having them literally crumble in my hands by using the wrong solvent to clean them.
On a note about IPA, I purchase it in drug stores as rubbing alcohol 90 percent IPA alcohol 10 percent water.
At least where I live its very inexpensive. Have to agree though that a drop of dish washing detergent and water is still cheaper.
I agree that soapy water is the best, but IPA (99%) is handy for small things, as you don’t need to remove the plate, and it is ready to go in seconds.
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If your gold textured PEI plate has lost adhesion:
Get some fine wet/dry sandpaper of 400 grit.
Give the plate a wet scrub, don’t be too aggressive but don’t be too gentle either.
When you’re done, go over it a second time.
Dry gently with paper towel.
Turn your bed heater on to 70.
Put your plate gold side down (on the hotbed)
Set a timer for 5 minutes.
When the timer goes off, flip it over
Set your timer for another 5 minutes.
Print something.
Your welcome
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Use windex in the US or Glassex in the EU.
Works wonders and no more first layer issues!
+1, but I do this with 1000 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper and it works just as well. I’ve been printing on one form of PEI or another for almost a decade, and wet sanding is the way to rejuvenate a plate that has lost adhesion.
The reason for this is that you still get a very thin layer of all types of plastic on the surface despite frequent washing or IPA applications. You cannot remove this chemically, so you need a mechanical process - wet sanding. I have found that you can delay the need for this by using a “blue” non-scratch scrubbing sponge when washing the plate. It won’t eliminate the need for wet sanding but it does postpone it. PEI is pretty tough - you are not going to remove it by sanding, but it is a thin layer so less is more.
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For the skeptics, this is essentially the same method as WhamBam says to use on their PEX plates altho they say to use 000 steel wool and alcohol.
For most build sheets, 95% IPA is my regular cleaner. For smooth PEI, I’ll use acetone if it gets particularly nasty. IPA won’t hurt any of the build materials used by hobby 3d printers… PEI, PEX, G10, whatever.
Just don’t use acetone on materials if you haven’t checked their data sheets about acetone compatibility, first.
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