Printer has been fine from what I can tell but I’d only been printing smaller parts. I decided to print a two part piece that had quite a large surface area. First part printed okay but the next day when I tried to print the second half, the were two areas of the first layer that weren’t sticking properly.
I cancelled and tried again and the same thing happened…in the same places.
I did a full re-setup of the printer (I always do a bed level and flow for each print anyway) and manged to get it to print but I could see that in the same places as last time, I could see through the first layer a bit. It suggests a bed level problem but the fact it’s patchy in two specific places suggests otherwise.
I clean it before every print AND in this instance I actually flipped the plate to the other side and it still failed in the same two places. It would be impossible for a dirty area to be in the exact same place on both sides.
Just to add, I’ve never seen a bed not level in patches like this so I’m unsure. Normally a bed is bent in more sweeping ways. This is true in this case for one quarter, but the other patch is like a small oval area so it’s just weird.
The areas that are a problem are not allowing the filament to adhere properly which is making me think those two patches are not heated properly? Is that a thing?
Day in and day out people post first layer problems almost identical to yours and the vast majority of the times the problem stems from contamination on the bed surface and is fixed by cleaning the bed with hot water and dish soap.
Try cleaning the bed again. Really give it a good scrub, rinse with hot water and pat dry with a new paper towel.
If this still doesn’t work for you, a light scuff with fine steel wool can rejuvenate a PEI bed surface. Also try a power cycle and factory reset. That often fixes the oddest of problems.
I will try this for sure, but again, at least follow the logic that I’ve tried both sides of my double sided PEI plate and the two areas that aren’t sticking are in exactly the same places.
Couple this with the fact I clean the plate with non-solvent degreaser every time I print, and I expect to be coming back looking for other possible causes.
The bed not being level in those patches is very low probability, we won’t start there. Uneven heating patches in the bed is also low probability.
Having greasy finger prints on the corners of the plate and not properly cleaning is a super high probability for this scenario. I only say this because it is possible: are you putting your greasy paws on the plate?
Hehe…my greasy paws never touch the plate as I never remove it. I either wait for the item to cool and lift or pry off with the provided tool. I will 100% give it a proper clean again, but I as I said above, I flipped the plate (and cleaned it) and used the other side and the same thing happened…in the same place.
I don’t want to to tram the bed, especially as it’s been working fine for months, so I appreciate the alternative solutions, but I’m just not sure about the cleaning based on what I’ve said.
What about the hotend screws? In searching, I’ve heard that they can be loose sometimes? Would they cause this? Probably not in the exact same places each time.
Exactly, it would be random locations. It’s good that you don’t touch it but from my experience I have a BIG problem cleaning the plate while it is on the bed: The Z axis threads are near, they are stuffed with grease, my rag hits it and I’m ultra-f’d.
Just throwing that out there. But yes, every day once at least I take it to the sink with hot water and anti-grease dish soap. If I forget to do this stuff starts gong wrong, then I do it and all is right again.
Also, you’re probably watching this print closely so as not to waste filament but you can always throw a cube primitive on the plate, fill the plate and set it to 0.2mm high and run a first layer test.
Hey all. I’m really sorry but this is very frustrating as people are missing a very clear point I’ve made time and time again…
I have a double-sided PEI plate.
I print on one side of the PEI plate and I get two patches that don’t adhere.
I tried again and the same patches appear in the same place.
I then used the OTHER SIDE of the PEI plate, and the patches appear in EXACTLY THE SAME PLACE.
If this was grease or dirt or something, why would I have grease or dirt in EXACTLY the same two spots as on the other side of the plate??? What would the chances of that be?
Especially when I’ve never used the other side of the plate until I tried to solve this problem. Apologies, I’m very happy for the help, be the responses have to at least address this point.
“Exactly, it would be random locations.”
It’s not random locations. It’s the same locations, multiple times, on different sides of the plate.
“Far too often, clean when you get a problem.”
I’ve never used the other side of the plate and therefore only cleaned it once, before trying to print on it to solve this problem. The patches appeared in the same place as my regular plate side.
Or there is a patch of oil/grease on the surface where the bottom of the bed plate contacts that is contaminating that side. When you flip the bed over it contaminates the same spot on the other side.
Yes I would like to know this too. What do you use exactly and how? You say you never take the plate off the bed, well this may be your issue!
You need to remove it completely and wash it with really hot water and dish soap.
I know you think this isn’t the issue and you seem to be becoming a bit frustrated but please try this, it literally takes 2 minutes.
Once you have done that then at least we can rule that out of the equation.
We are not “missing a very clear point” we are just trying to a eliminate a probable cause and come to a satisfactory conclusion.
So, I thought if I’m going to do a proper A-B test I will use a first layer test print instead of my model. Set off a print (before doing a soapy water clean) and the bloody thing printed perfect!
I then realised that on my failed prints the filament was set to Bambu PLA Basic whereas previously I’m sure I had it set to eSun (which is what I’m using). This time I set it to eSun. I doubt that has made the difference as apart from a few Advanced settings, they’re the same. Nevertheless, it’s worked great.
I’ve also now cleaned the plate with hot soapy water as everyone has suggested (and will continue to do so) and then following test layer also printed great!
Thank you all for your patience and apologies if I came across frustrated. I wasted sooooo many hours with my old printers having to constant play around to get good first layers, that when this happped I got triggered
I currently use a non-solvent based kitchen cleaner/degreaser and paper towels.
