Rough first layer

Bambu Lab X1 Series Troubleshooting
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Apologies, I’ve no idea what the OT abbreviation means.

I can confirm, I have never used glue of any fashion ever on the Bambu Lab printers I own nor the Creality ones before nor a couple of others I home tested for a month each.

I don’t do anything special, default settings almost always work.

Tiny things occasionally require a brim, but it has to be an extremely small amount of surface area for me to add one, something less than 5mm.

Bigger things can depend on placement on the bed fixed most problems.

I print PLA hand variants), PETG & TPU, each one grips harder than the next, TOU is bar far the hardest to remove.

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I have recently started turning off the fan for parts that have low surface contact and multiple colours on every layer.

Before that, sticking was an issue, afterwards, zero problems.

Just off for the first 5 layers though.

This was using PLA.

The USA member of my Willies collection had this issue and was quickly resolved with the 5 layer thing. It’s in the profile. Zero problems having a perfect first or subsequent layers and no other issues someone CanDo mentioned about smaller prints (the actual surface that touches the plate is tiny).

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Off topic.

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Thanks, now I understand the intro.

I thought I was being called out for something, now I realise it was simply a question.

I’m both old as a person and new (relatively speaking) to forums.

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People use so many abbreviations these days. I often will have to look it up on Google, and sometimes I forget what it means and have to look it up again the next time I see it.

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What issues happen with multiple colors if the fan is on? And for multi color do you only do it for the first 5 layers or for the whole model?

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This problem wasn’t because it was multi-coloured and it wasn’t because it had a very small surface area.

It was because it was both of those things at the same time.

Screenshot 2024-05-03 at 23.18.11
Screenshot 2024-05-03 at 23.18.111441×1148 110 KB

As you can see from this screenshot of the first layer in the slicer, the surface area of white starts and stops with narrow bars having only line lines thickness next to the red that starts and stops which also has narrow bars next to the other whites and the blue which doesn’t print for long before the next layer begins.

I found that curly would occur in the first 3ish layers each time I tried to print and this would cause subsequent layers to impact the nozzle. This caused movement that eventually lifted and then dislodged one or more segments.

If I printed many on the same plate it was extremely easy to replicate.

As I do not know what others might try with my model, I decided to fix it.

Turning off the fan for the first five layers removed the problem entirely.

When I printed the identical model that is available as a single colour there wasn’t any need for any changes to fan settings.

This was the first time I changed any fan settings to achieve a guaranteed outcome for every print.

It is worth noting that this model is 25% larger than the original Willy from the Willies collection, which has a smaller surface area first touching the plate (these are essentially articulated cylinders after all) and had no problems attaching to the bed without any additional means to keep it stuck there, it is a single colour model where it meets the plate though.

It was only because the print head kept starting and stopping, then moving over the model to get to the next portion on the same layer with no layer physically connecting that I think caused the issue.

There was nothing to connect each part to help stop it moving or warping and gaps of time between a hot end with fans moving across the previous section to print the next. As soon as there were sufficient layers (5 or less in this case) there was enough tension across the individual segments to keep everything where it should be.

The models are still nice and stuck on the plate until around 30ºc ish before I can remove them post printing.

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28

Your top surface indicates a calibration problem, most likely a quick automatic calibration will improve this but the full one is better. The AMS humidity while good is not an indication of the Filament moisture content, its probably not the issue here though (always good to start with a good dry at least with a fresh spool).

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29

A glue stick makes a mess. Liquid glue doesn’t. Liquid glue is barely visible when applied or later.
I found that on a textured PEI plate, liquid glue made a significant difference. I haven’t used a glue stick other than on a MakerBot Z18’s plastic build plate.
But for those who can print and detach the prints without glue, that is fantastic!

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I note that @Fireworks hasn’t replied to their OP (= original post @MalcTheOracle) and we never found out what the plate was in the original photo. It looks like a sticker on a plate - does anyone know for sure?

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I’ve been reading all the replies… :grinning:

Guys… I hate to admit, but I thought the glue-stick that came with printer was just a normal glue-stick, so I’ve been using a pritt stick after I lost my bambu stick :rofl:

The glue was THICK on the plate, washing and scraping, the amount of glue build up was crazy.

So thank you for help! All is well again now.

I’ve now ordered a textured plate to stop having to use glue. Also some liquid glue in case I want to use cold plate again.

Thanks again all.

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Pritt and UHU both served their purpose to increase adhesion during printing and as a release agent when the plate/part had cooled afterwards - for years on a MakerBot Z18. But it was lumpy, which is where the liquid stuff is marvellous.

In my experience, the PEI textured plate works significantly better for many, many prints with an evenly applied layer of liquid glue. I had parts detach before using glue, but in retrospect did not wash the plate with hot water and detergent when it was new - perhaps that is the secret to not needing glue at all.

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Hey, come now, I knew that one, it was just the one I asked about.

:smiling_face_with_tear:

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