Have a problem hope you can help. I have actually printed this mini before. Tried to print it again but for some reason the base is not printing and mucking up as per below:
This is a classic example of a first layer adhesion problems associated with a dirty build plate. The simplest and most effective way to clean it is to wash it in your kitchen sink. Use dishwashing detergent and smear it on your build plate. Any detergent that is fragrance and moisturizer free will work. Dawn(fairy liquid in the EU) and Palmolive dish soap are perfect. Run the hottest water on the plate, take a generous amount of detergent and coat the plate. Then using the the sprayer at your kitchen sink, blast off all the soap. Repeat this twice and dry with a paper towel.
But before you do that. To provide you with a visual test. Perform a first layer test so that you can visible see where the plate adhesion is failing. Don’t bother with downloading first layer test models, those are a waste of download bandwidth. Here’s how to do it in your slicer.
Using the size tool, scale the cube to a larger area, 150x150 is large enough to cover the center and will print quickly. Make the height 0.28mm so that only one layer prints. So when your model is complete it should look like this.
This test is a perfect way to reveal where the contaminants are on any build surface and is quick and easy to print. If you want to test your entire plate, the largest the slicer will generally accommodate on a P1 or X1 is 240x200mm and you’ll have to center it.
Alternate Test
You can also simply move your model to another less-used part of the plate which likely will have less contaminant. If it sticks there, you have your smoking gun.
Alternate problem.
You filament may be wet. Even PLA can absorb moisture. Scan this forum for filament drying techniques.
Hey mate thanks for the reply. I’m not sure it is the build plate or the filament though for the following reasons:
I did print several other items today in the same spot - no issues
I also printed the same model with another filament - same issue
I also did print the model on another part of the build plate - same issue.
As you can see from the plate the only issue that is not sticking is the 60% or so of the main circular base. You can see that the slicer has essentially split the base into 2 (the blue and the purple) and for whatever reason the purple part prints fine (and also the support circles print fine) but then the blue part of the base just goes haywire.
I looked at some other of my minis and when I sliced it there was only one colour as you can see below:
So this leaves you with the next diagnostic step. Try either a different location on the plate, a different filament or a different plate.
What kind of filament is used in your example above? What temps are you running it at and did you recently try calibrating the filament? I ask because this photo here is classic plate adhesion problem and if you ruled out a dirty plate, improper filament calibration is the next place I’d look.
It looks like the area of separation appears to coincide with this segment of your model. This suggest that perhaps there’s a misplacement of the model on the print bed and there might be just enough of a gap that is causing the layer adhesion issue.
One thing you might try is using the move command and lower the model just enough so that the base appears below the build plate. This will create a shear surface for the model to better grip the plate. Just move the model lower enough until you see the outline turn into a complete unbroken object.
There is one other thing I overlooked. What’s your build plate temp? Have you tried boosting it? Don’t be shy, if you have it at 50, boost to 60 or even 70 and beyond.
This image shows your model base is not sitting flat. If the preview shows interrupted lines on the first layer, the second layer will try to print in the air. The slicer is probably already giving you a warning about this issue.
I lowered the model in the slicer and that seemed to do the trick.
The weird thing is that the base and the body/mini are actually separate and I had to combined them in the slicer. However, whenever I import a base into the program, it comes out upright and then I have to rotate it to go flat. Obviously did go flat enough.
