Prints won’t stick to the bed in my new H2D. Tried several spools of PLA and PETG, new from Bambu. Tried both sides of the PEI-sheet. Tried different temp settings. Tried both downgrading SW and upgrading to Beta. Same problem.
Filed a ticket with Bambu since the problem occured with a brand new printer.
Bambu says it could be a problem with the PEI sheet, and are sending me a new one.
Any one else had faulty PEI-sheets on delivery, where a replacement solved the problem?
You don’t mention cleaning it. Have you scrubbed the plate with dawn and a scrubbing brush (not just wiping it or using IPA)? That’s essential for good adhesion
Yes, also washed with soap and hot water, a couple of times. IPA as well of course.
This is why I don’t like textured PEI that is included by default. It is claimed to be as “be all and end-all”, while in reality textured plate is good-enough to PLA, and decent for the rest. Miss the day where BL were providing textured, smooth and engineering plates.
As others mentioned, cleaning textured plate is an utmost importance. Regular dish soap usually contains additives and not recommended. In the US - the best one is Dawn, in other markets see what’s available locally.
IPA doesn’t really do anything to the textured plate, since oils and residue are lodged inside the pores of the texture. So … aggressive soap and scrub it off like you mean it.
If that doesn’t help - sandpaper or anything fine grit to rough it up. No worries, textured plates loves BDSM and they are OK with you sanding them down a tiny bit. Sanding down allows to promote adhesion to the plate.
And yes, defective plates are a thing, yet personally I only experienced it once with Bambu printers (not others).
Never had a problem with a textured PEI plate, but I must say… these types of issues are almost always plates that have been touched after the user has touched their face. I did a test on a freshly washed plate and saw a single touch of my face and then a single touch of the plate caused the purge line to completely not stick.
After seeing how sensitive a PEI plate is to a simple touch (without even seeing the fingerprint), I always suggest the OP be super honest with themselves. Only you know, what is possible. Was it touched since the wash or not? If not, some plates could have some manufacturing contaminants, so the idea of using an ultra fine steel wool with a good wash aren’t too bad. But I tend to not suggest that until the OP has tried everything.
I have done many many prints on my previous printers which all had glass plates or glass plates with chemical layer. Never had any issues, except the first ones back in the day when I tried printing PETG directly on glass, and the PETG chipped pieces of glass out of the plate. And I’ve printed a few different materials, PLA, PETG, PP, PA, Amphora, ABS, TPU and others.
With this BL PEI plate it’s more or less the opposite, nothing sticks to it.
scrubbed it with soap and hot water, whiped it with IPA, several times. Same on both sides. Next step will be to sand it, once I get the replacement from BL. Don’t want to do any “irreversible operation” on it before then.
Are you referring to the smooth PEI plate?
Just a heads-up: there’s a thin protective film on both sides that you’ll need to peel off.
@Magixians 3D Tech is right… what PEI sheet are you talking about?
The one that come in the box with my new H2D (of course), double sided textured Bambu Lab H2D PEI-sheet.
We ask because the smooth PEI plate for the H2D, doesn’t have great adhesion (smooth PEI sheets like glue stick). It works OK, but isn’t strong (without glue).
Huh? Smooth PEI isn’t strong for PLA or PETG? HUH?
What are you talking about lol.
Yeah not sure about that one either. For me I have way better adhesion (well, or at least equally as good) using the Smooth plate compared to the Textured one.
What?? Smooth sheets like glue as a release agent, not for adhesion. Smooth plate typically has much stronger adhesion than textured, which is the exact reason you need glue, unless you want to rip the coating off when you pull off the print
I speak from experience… the smooth PEI is not, in ANYWAY, as strong as the textured PEI without glue. If you buy one… your opinion may yet change.
doesn’t IPA help to remove a bit of top weared PEI as well?
smooth pei works pretty bad with PLA, but works very well with some other materials and probably too well for sticky ones
Good point, I’m referencing PLA. Haven’t tried anything else on it (besides ABS with glue).
Not sure if you were replying to me but I’ve been using the smooth plate almost exclusively since my H2D came in. Printing ABS, ABS-CF, PETG, PETG-CF, and PLA so far
If you are saying that it is a strong gripping plate, I guess we have a different understanding of a strong gripping plate, or I’ve got a dud. However, I would be surprised if mine is a dud, because its similar in performance to the smooth PEI X1/P1 plate I had.
I am saying that it grips so strongly in my experience that I fear that if I don’t flex it from multiple angles a few times to crack it free I will literally rip the coating off otherwise (if I didn’t use glue and let it cool). I literally fought with it for 10 minutes yesterday trying to get like 10 layers of support base off (it was flexing with the plate, not popping off). I honestly see it as a bit of a detriment but it has removed the worry of prints losing adhesion and I like the smooth surface it leaves behind.
The ONLY time I have lost adhesion was when I was manhandling it and had fingerprints all over the print area, 100% my fault and it failed in under 5 layers so I caught it quick