Recently I’ve been getting some odd hazing on my prints. I’ve seen this on yellow surfaces but it seems most notable after printing a yellow surface on the following non-yellow print. I typically use the textured look from my PEI plate for the surface finish and print my models face down. I have been wiping with IPA for a few days and that seems to help, until it didn’t and the prints looked horrible instead of bad. I upped the ante by washing the PEI plate with dish soap and water and after drying flipped it upside down (nearly 1k hours between two printers, except for trying a smooth plate, have always printed on the same side of the stock PEI plate so the undersides were virgin prior to this afternoon) and I have even worse results. I’m finally gaining some traction and naturally I start having a new problem haha. Does anyone have any ideas? Did I miss some soap residue? Is my bed not level so the filament isn’t pressing firmly into the PEI texture? Could this be a heat related issue? Black matte Bambu OEM filament. Open to any ideas/suggestions/educational ridicule/etc. Didn’t realize when taking the pic that my desk mat is underneath it. That is the background in the pic, not a second part comparison or anything.
For sake of argument let’s say that is the problem. That would be a build plate temp root cause right? Are there any typical causes of a cold build plate?
As soon as I saw the photo and before I read your paragraph I said "This is definitely a Matte filament problem.
@BambuBanker is spot on as far as the remedy is concerned. A useful tool to keep in one’s toolbox is a “wind resistant butane lighter” because of it’s directed flame and instant on control. They are very cheap.
Overall, both silk and matte filaments exhibit this issue, and it has nothing to do with the build plate. However, using glue may help with post-print cleaning of the plate.
This may sound counterintuitive, but a thin layer of glue not only acts as a bonding agent but also behaves like a release liner. After your print is complete, you’ll find that glue washes away much more easily than filament residue. However, do not use this on a 3d or holographic plate if you’re looking to transfer textures, as the glue will clog and potentially ruin the microscopic ridges.
Great information. I was getting ready to follow up more and saw your reply.
Using a Bic lighter and several passes at maybe 1/4” I did see the issue improve but maybe not to perfect. Viewing at an angle it looks like the first layer isn’t being ‘smooshed’ into the plate’s texture effectively; before your response my next step was to prove the issue is machine exclusive by printing one on my second unit and seeing if issue persists (most other TS I can think of is done such as swapping the plates between the two) and then see if there is some type of way the auto bed leveling system can come out of whack and try to dial that back in. Speaking as a novice at 3DP, that is what it looks to me to be the problem visually. Almost like I can see the passes of the extruder at an angle rather than a unified piece of plastic leading me to believe there is too much distance between the plate and the nozzle, if that makes sense.
I’m maybe 10 rolls of black matte filament into my 3DP journey (rough estimate) and haven’t seen this issue yet. Don’t prefer the basic’s look but will explore that if these issues go away. In fact, that exact same model has printed several times without issue in the past with BL Matte Black. I think it is worth noting, this is a new spool. I dried it for poops and giggles but lost less than a gram of weight and issue persisted.
I will certainly give the glue stick method a shot, but as these are being made by the dozens, torching every one of them might not be a desirable solution. I’m not entirely sure how long it will take a torch rather than a lighter to correct the problem so I will give it a shot and I need one for my epoxy adventures as well.
Will glue stick methods help keep imprinting of prior prints on the plate as well? I’ve really enjoyed the hassle free nature of the BL PEI plate for the year it lasted haha.
I mean that sometimes (most often yellow) I will see residue on the build plate that looks like what just came off of it. The subsequent print may have some of that pattern visible as an artifact. I’m thinking that the soap and water treatment may be a thing I need to start doing. Maybe because the plates were new, maybe color choice, but this is a recent thing I’ve noticed and haven’t had to do much plate maintenance until now.
Yes it is true that new PEI plates have an amazing surface that degrades with use, after all, everything eventually wears out. However, if you’re seeing transfer of filament matter, that could be remedied by soap and water cleaning but you might find a fine glue layer to be necessary.
Here’s a trick. If you just use white paste glue, the kind they use in primary school. That $2-$3 stick of glue is identical to $4-$6 3d printing glue stick. They even come in the same package but the 3D printer labeled one has a different label for the suckers who don’t read labels. Otherwise it is the same stuff from the same factory. If you want to put it to the taste test, go ahead and taste it. I’m serious, the glue stick for elementary school kids are made to be non-toxic because little kids put everything in their mouths. Taste that and the Bambu white glue sticks and don’t be surprised if they taste identical, because they are.
That paste glue is water soluble. So a small amount on the build plate can be smeared evenly with generously moist paper towel or sponge. The paste will turn into a slurry, the more water the finer the slurry. The goal is to get as thin a layer as possible. You may not even see it on the build plate but its there. Then when you wash it in the sink with hot water and soap, it comes off with almost no scrubbing.
That answer depends on several variables, including the surface area covered by the printed models, the filament used, and the thickness of the glue layers. For example, about a year ago, I applied Kapton film to my engineering plate, mainly as an experiment in smoothness. It turned out to be one of the most effective plates I use for printing smooth surfaces with hotter filaments. I never use glue on it, and now, nearly two years later, the plate is still in great shape, with the Kapton film lasting about a year. While some areas of the tape need replacing, I don’t use it for larger prints, so it’s not an issue.
In contrast, my original black Bambu PEI plate has taken a real beating. I often need to use glue when printing something like PC, which prefers bed temperatures of 90–100°C. Then there are my PEO plates, where I apply a hairspray solvent using a swab applicator. The combinations are endless. In fact, I still have half a bottle of Bambu’s overpriced green liquid glue, which turned out to be a complete waste of money because of its very uneven surface flow and the fact that it just isn’t that good at the job it was designed for.
The point is, you have to figure out what works best for your specific use case.
Updates for future readers as well as a few further questions:
I purchsed a little $15 dollar torch from Amazon and what I thought were a dozen+ failed prints (the ones that started this whole conversation) were saved with maybe 90 seconds of work aside from getting the torch set up, finding a reasonable flame length, etc. Highly recommend that tool/solution for that problem.
I washed both of my plates per your recommendation and did see an increase in most respects aside from print/plate release, though on non-black colors there aren’t any visible stress marks. The slightest outline of the item I’ve been making by the dozens lately was still visible on the plate after washing but the overall quality of my prints were pleasing after scrubbing with dawn, warm water, and a scrub daddy. As I’ve continued to print, the marking on the plate has gotten more significant. This isn’t surprising, and before I started to get visible defects again I washed both plates again.
However, I had picked up a gluestick in the mean time as recommended. I suspect I put too much on for my first try and that is what it is; no big deal. When I text my wife while I was at work to have her pull our items and start another batch her exact response was ‘what kind of black magic did you do to make these come off so easy?’. Great, I thought. Good sign. Second batch, not only didn’t release easily like the first time, but all four items (I print these 4 per batch) had a major visual defect (hard to explain so pics are included) but one of them also had two of the colors not lay the outline beads down next to one another leaving a gap about 1/16". My first thought is under-extrusion, but I’m mid spool, no changes to the .3mf file, etc. Just load and print another set where the set before it (the one with the glue) was absolutely perfect, both visually and in terms of release. Could this really be because it didn’t have glue?
I would think no, even though that is apparently the only major change between the two runs. My primary argument is that my other machine I had not used glue because I wanted to do some split testing since I had that at my disposal. What my other machine produced was the harder release that we’ve become used to but a similar defect appeared in a part of one piece. Only one, and only part of one, and it did not have glue on it prior. Same exact file sent to two machines, possibly the same batch of material because I ordered several spools of these colors at once. I understand lot numbers and manufacturing processes enough to know this is not a given, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. Included a picture of the surface finish we’re used to prior to trying the glue but after washing. What wisdom do you have for me this time?
