I recently got a bambu P1S with textured PEI plate and hardened steel hotend. It worked great for about 3 weeks - no issues with any prints with either PLA or PETG (both either regular or high speed).
The past week however, I seem to suddenly have trouble getting any prints all the way through. If I’m printing 5 objects on a plate, 1 or 2 would suddenly become unstuck from the plate, usually after the 3rd or 4th layer, while others remained stuck.
I’ve cleaned the PEI plate, ran the calibration tool, and always select bed leveling when doing each print. Ive also tried switching to spools I know provided previously good prints.
The only change that’s happened in between the different results, is I added extra desiccant cartridges in the AMI and have a 10% humidity level, compared to 30% before. But dryer is supposed to be better, right?
Your photo doesn’t show enough detail in the failure zone thus the “big picture” is missing thus the general basic reply of really make sure that your build plate is really clean comes to mind.
If I had a dollar for every time someone posted… “I cleaned the plate”
A simple test to verify that your filament calibration, slicer settings and filament desiccation is up to snuff is a simple first layer test. This test is unforgiving and will reveal any problems.
Don’t waste your time with downloadable version. This can be easily done right in your slicer.
Step 1 - Create a cube primitive by right clicking.
Step 2 - Resize the primitive to a height of 0.20. You can make the width and length anything you want but 200mm will generally cover enough of the plate to reveal where the problems are.
Don’t be surprised if the results showed that there was more contaminant than you realized. We’ve all done it.
If your plate is truly clean, then try increasing the build plate temps to something extreme like 10-20c higher than the default setting simply to see if it has an affect.
Simple fix if nothing wants to stick properly or the first layer lifts in bubbles:
Fill the kitchen sink with warm, not boiling hot water and add some dishwashing liquid - like you would for the dishes…
Use a soft sponge, not those scrubbing pads after letting the plate soak for about a minute to clean the surface.
Prefer to wear gloves, even latex ones will do fine here to prevent fingerprints from the handling.
Run the tap water over it to see whether or not it runs off evenly.
If you see spots where it does not repeat the sponge treatment on those areas.
Still not perfect or looking perfect? Move on:
Use a paper towel that won’t loose fibres to dry the plate - don’t scrub it dry, wipe it dry.
Now grab that window cleaner, preferably a brand that still has Ammonia listed on the ingredients - NOT a must have but it provides the best feedback.
Spray on the plate = spray not soak the plate…
Wipe with a paper towel until dry, spray again and use the same paper towel to dry.
This time it will take a tiny bit longer to get the plate fully dry and this helps to remove the residues soap struggles with.
Finally do one last spray and wipe dray using a microfibre cloth.
If this won’t fix your adhesion problems than residue in the plate is not the cause.
Yes but some folks just feel that nobody else can possibly be as smart as they are so they only listen to themselves and skip over what was posted before.
I don’t recall saying I didn’t like it. I simply was pointing out that in the time that one could download such a tool, it could easily be created using the slicer’s internal settings. Sometimes simple works just as well.
Here’s the result. The left edge looks a little sketchy, but the rest of it looks great. Yet those great areas are where pieces are unsticking from the PEI…
Believe it or not, this would be considered a successful test because you were able to print and verify that there is a difference in stiction. Now the true troubleshooting can begin because you have a successful test case. To save filament and time, you can make the model smaller just to test the areas with problems.
I can see that the area towards the back of the plate looks different. However, since I’m not physically present, you’ll have to tell us if the model peels off differently in those areas. What I mean by that is, does the model peel off easily towards the back compared to the front, or is there no difference at all?
Here’s what I would try next:
Print on the other side of the plate and see if the model deformities exist in the same location. If they do, then suspect that you need to do a new bed leveling calibration. Consider doing a factory reset just to perform all tests, although that may be overkill. Use your judgment.
After you run the reverse side test, clean only one small section with Dawn dishwashing detergent (Sold under Fairy Liquid brand in the EU). You want to clean only a small section. Why? To validate that print plate contamination was the issue. Why dishwashing soap? Because it’s the least abrasive and safest degreasing material one can use on PEI.
One more request. Could you kindly show us the other side of the print model so we can see the texture.
FYI: If you have other filament, use anything other than red or white filament for photography purposes. Red filament photographs very poorly, dark grey and black with correct lighting is better.
thus the general basic reply of really make sure that your build plate is really clean comes to mind.
