Hiya. Pretty new to 3d printing so very much still learning. Have just started printing BL PETG-HF. My first time printing anything other than PLA. I used the default settings in Bambu Studio. The first print has what I would call a “stripe” where it looks like part of the first layer didn’t print (see photo). What would cause this?
I washed the plate (your textured PEI plate) with soap and water and tried again. The print went fine yet there is a “haze” on part of the print. I’m guessing this might point to me not getting all the soap off (Dawn dishwashing liquid) but thought I’d check that too. I’ve attached a photo of this as well. Thank you!
Sometimes there can be some areas of the first layer that appear duller than the rest; very rapidly passing a torch flame over the surface will fuse the plastic and give a consistent appearance.
Thanks for posting clear pictures. This definitely points to a plate contamination issue as you suspected. Did you by chance print a Matte PLA on that surface perviously?
Here’ both a remedy and a diagnostic step. Print a first layer test. If you’re not familiar with that, simply right-click on the build plate, select cube primitive and then resize it to 240x240x.028mm. Right-click on the model and select Center. This will give you a single layer of filament approximately the size of the build plate.
Two things will be shown with this diagnostic.
Any contamination on your plate will show up as almost a map of plate contamination. You can focus your cleaning there.
The act of printing a first layer test will also help to pull up any contaminants. I say that because in this photo it looks like the talc or corn starch that is indicative of Matte filament.
If you repeat the first layer test a few times, note whether or not the contamination is fading, if it is, continue to repeat until all the contamination is pulled away.
In this photo, it’s clear that you are getting almost no adhesion in this stripe. It’s not even showing the imprint of the textured PEI build plate whereas neighboring that area, it is.
I also noticed that at least one section of the build plate in this photo shows the tell-tale signs of the Gold PEI plate which is notorious for voids in the surface. Are you using a gold or black plate or both? Bambu used to ship a quality Black build plate that I still use with my P1P.
I mistakenly thought that my plate was wearing out when I got a gold plate and noticed a huge negative difference in quality to the original black plate. Most people who didn’t have each plate side by side wouldn’t notice it. I found an exact replacement for the original Bambu plate on Amazon
You can see the difference in texture. It’s been my textured go-to plate ever since.
Thank you for the detailed response! I had been printing Sunlu PETG before these prints. The whitish haze doesn’t seem to wipe off and IPA didn’t do anything to remove it. After the first print, I gave the plate a wash so I’m in agreement, I have contamination. I am away until next week but will try the first layer print as you suggested. As for the plate, yes, it’s the gold plate. Was working great until now but honestly, I haven’t printed a ton until just recently. I’ll give your plate recommendation a go!
