Printing ABS on PEI Plate Best Practices

Bambu Lab X1 Series Bambu Lab X1C
1

What are some best practices for printing ABS on PEI plates without it lifting at the corners? I have had mixed results and I have read the following…

Enclosure (X1C check)
Bed temp should be higher than 90c. Move it up to 110c ?
I’ve heard the parts fan can also play a role, should this be off during print?
Lastly, drying the filament. I’m guilty of not doing this. Too impatient to wait. I do, however, keep all my filaments at a 10% humidity level.

Any other suggestions?

Of course, there’s glue, which I use without issues, but the PEI plate is so convenient if I had more consistent results, I would use it more.

2

This is what works for me.

Ideally you want the chamber temp as warm as possible. This is how I “preheat” the chamber.

  • Turn the bed on full (100-120c depending on your supply voltage)
  • Home the machine (to bring the bed to the top)
  • Turn on the aux fan so it will blow across the top of the hot bed.

This will get you a chamber temp or 45-50ish in about 10-15 minutes.

Keep the build plate as clean as possible. Oils from your hands cause adhesion issues so be very careful when you handle the plate and remove parts from it. If you start to have adhesion issues. Wash the plate with hot water and dish soap.

If you have a part that really wants to warp (high wall cout can cause this) adding a brim with 0 “object - brim gap” will help.

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3

0 brim gap was one thing that helped the most in my experience. One thing that does get overlooked is both model design (weird chamfers/fillets etc) and slicer settings like excessive bottom layers and bulk infill that exacerbate the lift as it cools. Some things are unavoidable and adding some sacrificial meat to the bottom layer can help with post print sanding to flatten the base.

I really like printing with ABS, it is slowly pushing out PLA/PETG stock when I do my monthly order. I still have PLA/PETG for “public” prints as its more forgiving with models and I over-engineer designs to make printing easy for all skill levels.

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4

Another thing to remember is that “Elephants foot compensation” is still applied in the default settings so there is still some space between the brim and the edge of the part. If you’re still struggling with parts peeling up from the brim you can zero this out too.

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5

Thanks ! I will try all those suggestions.

6

Thanks for the tips. I love ABS also, and now that I added the Bento Filter I feel more comfortable printing more with it.

7

Thanks. Added to the anti lift arsenal.

8

We print alot of ABS at work and always use the gyroid infill to reduce the shinking stress of linear infill patterns. Other than keeping the plates clean and covered with a thin layer of glue stick and a brim of 5mm width we seem to get pretty good results

9

Will try the infill suggestion. I’ve never had an issue when using glue, but I want to continue using the PEI plate without glue for its quick swaps. This, along with the bed temperature and elimination of the brim gap has to do the trick.

Thanks.

10

One thing I would recommend is rotating locations where you’re printing, its a good practice in general as the plate wears the grip fades.

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