Hi all,
I’ve had a Wanhao Duplicator i3 Plus for about 3 weeks now, and apart from a few issues, I am pleased with it and have produced many good items. Recently though, nothing seems to want to stick to the bed. If I print something in the region of 60x60x60mm then usually it’s ok. If I tried to print something 100x100x100mm, then the brim will start peeling away quite quickly. The passing nozzle, seems to pull each line of the brim until soon I’m left with a mass of melted plastic around the nozzle. It seems to be that the bed has hot / cold spots, although to the touch it seems hot all over. I also think it peels off around the same areas of the bed. Although not in a sealed unit, the printer is in a room with a pretty constant temp.
What I’ve tried
1) Different bed temps 50,60,70 degrees - no difference.
2) Cleaning the bed with alcohol based cleaner - no difference.
3) Re-levelling the bed constantly - no difference
What I’ve heard about
1) Placing the entire printer in an enclosed environment.
2) Spraying the bed with hair spray prior to printing - really??
3) 3M Blue Tape
I need to print some larger items very soon, but am worried I’ll just be producing rubbish.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks.
1 Like
cobnut
2
Hi @Draygor I believe it’s a pretty common problem - one that Prusa looked to solve with their i3 Mk2 - beds can have varying temperature across the surface and do seem to have problems near the edge - I know my FF Pro gets more curly the closer I am to the edge…
I had decent results with the right blue tape (3M) and have a PEI surface arriving tomorrow that (apparently) is even better, so check your tape type and maybe consider PEI.
There are lots of other causes (and some solutions) to warping; too many to list here, so have a search for “warping” on here and you may get some improvement in results.
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I’ve just taken some photos - this is what happens with anything larger than 60x60x60mm.
The brim at the front of the bed seems ok, but towards the back it pulls off and gets messed up.
1 Like
cobnut
4
Hmm, that doesn’t look like warping, as such, more like a problem with adhesion from the first layer… Is the bed calibrated correctly? Calibration problems are also shown up by change in performance depending upon the point on the build plate. What temperature are you using for the filament?
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Hi Cobnut, I have calibrated the table as per instruction book - all 4 corners then the middle. I have checked the height on both sides of the z axis. The first layer always seems to peel at the back of the print.
I am using what Cura suggests which is 210 for PLA.
I have just made a makeshift ‘unit’ to enclose the printer - I’ll give that a try and see what happens.
cobnut
6
To be honest, enclosures are usually only required for ABS or other materials prone to warping, AND the problems an enclosure solves appear much later in a print, not on the first layer. Are you using any adhesive at all? It’s odd because the location specific issue really does suggest a difference somewhere. Heat or z-distance are really it, unless you’re using adhesive that’s uneven. I’d check the calibration again, do it when the bed is warm, and perhaps make it “tighter”. It could be that the front only just works so we’re talking about fractions of a mm…
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I’m not using any form of adhesive Cobnut, just the heated bed.
I’ll re-calibrate again.
Thanks
You were right cobnut, an enclosure made no difference, I’ll check calibration again.
Perry_1
9
Yep, hairspray is the answer. Aquanet super hold, which contains PVA (I think its PVA)…
Now what would be great, would be if you had a glass bed. This would distribute the heat evenly, and would be know to be level.
SO.
#1. You need to get your bed more level, and squish that first layer more.
#2. Glass would be great.
#3. Aquanet super hold. Nice and thick. Heat the bed, it will self level and become almost transparent.
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How fast is your first layer speed? May need to slow it down to 20mm/sec. Also, the nozzle to me looks like it is printing a bit high and not quite squishing down the filament. You can also try purchasing something like Buildtak which works nicely, sometimes too well. If you are using ABS, PVA glue like Elmers and glass are a well proven combination.
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