Hi,
I printed a Spool with PAHT CF in hex design and it left raised edges or an imprint on the engineering plate. I used the standard settings. Is this a known problem? Anything to worry about?
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Did you use glue as recommended? I print a lot of ABS using the engineering plate and I have never had that. I haven’t printed with PAHT CF though.
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Yes, the plate was fully covered with glue (stick).
I’ve also had this from printing pure PA, and from a few experiments gluing printer paper to the bed with gluestick where this would then cause an imprint wherever the printed part above was (printed on top of the paper).
Curiously some of these imprints have also disappeared over time (following more high temperature prints).
I don’t think it’s fundamentally an issue, but if you’re forever wanting glass smooth bottoms to your future prints it can be problematic.
same here, I don’t think it’ll be a problem
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I have also melted a pattern in an engineering plate while printing PA. The engineering plate powder coating or paint or whatever it is is a bit rubbish and I do think seeing patterns from previous prints on the bottom of new ones is a problem.
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Thanks guys. I will keep an eye on it. Just have to be very careful using the scraper, as it catches on the raised areas (see the two rings in the picture!)
I’ve made 3 prints with PAHT-CF yesterday evening and I’m also experiencing this. The first print was a calibration cube and that left a clearly visible mark. Oddly that cube mark nearly disappeared after printing the second object and it didn’t show on the bottom of the second print either. So it seems that the coating of the engineering plate turns a bit soft when you print very high temp filaments on it and when you remove the object it leaves a mark on the plate. But when the plate is heated again, the mark disappears.
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You have to remember that the various build plates are a consumable item. They will eventually wear out. Leaving shadows or ghosts on the build plate is normal. If you don’t use enough glue or other bod breaker then it could possibly remove some of the actual build plate.
I have a PEI sheet that has a permanent blue ASA line on it. Something I did, not sure what, but one of the purge lines did not come off and the best I can do is have it scrapped down to the texture high points.
This is exactly my experience.
The coating goes soft and more sticky when hot, which helps with material adhesion, but also means you can end up with surface marks.
Heating and cooling cycles then cause the coating to relax and again become almost perfectly flat.
If it’s a huge problem then it may well be worth you getting a bare steel plate (or stripping the coating off one you have) and then using some kind of adhesive when printing PA to ensure it stays stuck. Bambu were always going to have to make some compromises, and I think the ease at which some materials stick to the engineering plate is worth some marks for most people.
Alternatively you could pre-heat your plate for a little while to get the marks to disappear, before printing again if the bottom surface finish is extra-critical.
I have over a thousand hours on my X1C and purchased a second engineering plate with high temp sticker on the other side as a spare when I don’t want to clean I can just swap. Day 1 first print with ABS over glue stick on the high temp side: huge bubbles pulled away. Sticker is toast after 1 print. Flip it overand print ABS on the new textured engineering surface, prints are fine. Next day print PA-CF (older filament that came with my printer, properly dried right before use). Print comes out perfectly, pops off easily (used glue stick of course). Permanent raised marks from the print. Tried printing PETG and the raised marks cause the parts to pull loose during printing. Can we just get the original engineering plate? I use it for 99% of my prints, I have a P1P for PLA which works fine with textured PEI. I just want this printer to be as rock solid as it is with the original eng plate.
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