Hi all. Got myself a P1P and have been printing with no issues for 3 or 4 weeks. One day I had an issue with one of the parts not adhering correctly so I did a recalibration and cleaned the PEI textured plate with 99% alcohol. It printed the next model without a problem. The other day I set a print running when I was leaving for work and later when I checked the app I had a massive lump of PLA on the tool head. When i got home I found the nozzle covered in plastic and the silicon sock embedded in it.
I have tried to clean it but it’s going to take a while. I’ve ordered a new 0.4 nozzle but in the meantime I tried my 0.2 to see if it prints. I scrubbed the plate in detergent and hot water this time and the ‘test’ strip it prints along the edge of the plate worked perfectly. When it went to the centre to print a basic cube not one bit of PLA stuck to the plate, it all balled up on the nozzle. I cleaned it off, flipped the plate, selected a different PLA (AMS) and cleaned it with alcohol and tried again. This time it did appear to work at first, but then quickly one corner started to peel off (pic 3).
What am I doing wrong? What has changed? What do I need to do to make PLA basic or matte stick to the plate now? It worked fine without having to smear it with glue up until this week. Any advice?
Once a plate develops a major adhesion issue, it can take a bit to get it to working condition again.
Dishwashing liquid and hot water are usually sufficient when using glue stick (+ water fir an even thin film). However, for deeply ingrained contamination you need to go really deep with a clean dishwashing brush. Don’t be too gentle either.
In some very rare cases, even this is not enough and you may need to go for a cleaning with steel wool. If that too is insufficient, well, the plates are consumables. They last long, but if not cleaned regularly and subject to major nozzle lumps…
As @EnoTheThracian pointed out, once you lose adhesion, it can snowball the filament clogging the silicone sock simply because once the model becomes unstuck, the model slides around on the plate and the molten filament has nowhere else to go but up.
Consider it part of the learning experience, we’ve all done it.
Nozzle inspection tip.
If I can offer up one tool that has really helped me inspect my nozzle without bending over and aggravating my back, it is this inspection mirror. What sets this apart from the other three I returned to Amazon is that that it has two features that you will come to find are hard to find.
Pivoting LED. I have not found another model that has this and it is crucial for aiming the light.
Batter covers that are accessible through a snap-off door as opposed to all the other Chinese models that require a screw that one is eventually going to lose. It’s amazing because there are dozens of the screw variant on the web and only one of these types with a snap-on battery cover, so click carefully.
As I stated, I purchased four of these before I found this one. It’s about $10 more expensive than the other models but worth the money.
It is one of those tools that is so indispensable that I keep it right next to my P1P. It comes in second only to my plastic bed scraper tool in terms of near everyday use.
The battery cover and note the manual actual switch, no membrane cheapo buttons. Something you can actually feel “click” when you turn it on. These may seem like obsessive details, that is until you don’t have them.
The super large 45x65mm actual “glass” mirror provides so much visibility to make nozzle inspection very easy. Click on the image for a zoomed in view. Note the with and without LED lighting difference. Click to zoom in.
Here’s an example of what I was using prior. It is a magnetized mirror that looks like a dentist tool that snaps onto a mag light. It seemed like a great idea and I’ve been using this one for years but it was always tricky to get the light to focus at the correct angle.
Actually, yes it can hurt. Unless you secure the build plate inside the dish washer, the jet action will cause the plate to rub against the rubber tines on the rack. Do that for an hour and it’s abrasive action will wear a hole through the PEI material rending a void in the surface and exposing the steel to rust.
Initially I gave the plate a going over with a stiff brush, hot water and Fairy detergent. Once that was done I dried it off then gave it a blast with 99% alcohol and a wipe with a microfibre cloth. Initially the print stuck but then began peeling up at a corner as the next few layers above started to dry. So that didn’t work!
I’ll order some glue stick and give the plate a more thorough going over.
I spend a lot of time trying to find an angle zi can see the issue without the light blinding me. I have a severe light blindness issue, Long story how you turn a human nearly nocturnal, but it has it’s moments that make my life suck. Just ordered 2 new mirrors. thank you!
