Trouble with Ultimaker2 PLA that comes loose from the plate

[Idemaxel 0]

Hi,

Could somebody give me a tip concerning PLA material that does not stick anymore on the heated printbed ?

I printed a lot of things this month, but since yesterday each time the material comes loose from the printbed after a few time.

I calibrated again, I returned also to the factory settings.

The troubles began when the PLA filament got trapped and the printer printed all night without material...

Is my printhead damaged by overheating ?

Thanks in advance !

Idemaxel

[yellowshark 153]

Ok Idemaxel, assuming you are getting a good flow of filament from the nozzle there are only a few things which affect bed adhesion. So the first thing you should do is be sure the filament flow is OK. Can you manually extrude say 30mm of filament, does it have the right width and look, without any gaps or bubbles.

If so in theory we re looking then at what you have changed between it being OK and failing.

Are you always using the SAME...

print bed temp. what is it?

first layer height what is it?

first layer speed what is it?

fan settings what are they?

adhesive are you using adhesive? if so what type? when did you last apply it?

print door position is it open?

ambient temp. Is it the same or does it vary

nozzle to bed distance

And are you sure that your nozzle to bed distance is correct?

Are you printing on a glass plate or something else, or on the print bed.

From what you have said I think it is unlikely your print head is damaged. What is likely is that you have PLA stuck inside the nozzle which is causing a blockage. Alternatively your white coupler could be damaged.

Try the Atomic Method to clean the nozzle - https://ultimaker.com/en/manuals/149-atomic-method

[Nasimovy 1]

adding to above message

is your printbed clean (no fingerprints) -->clean it

[Idemaxel 0]

Thanks for you reaction Yellowshark,

I use an Ultimaker2 without door. Ambient temperature is around 15°

All settings are the same as before, I even restored the factory settings to be sure.

I did not change any fan settings.

Now I cleaned the printbed with dry paper, that was already better but still the object moved.

The print bed temperature is 60°

I do not use any adhesive or spray or tape yet since it worked fin without wit PLA on the glass plate.

I calibrated the nozzle distance, that must be OK.

I am going to try the Atomic Method. It is very well possible that carbonised material is left because the day before the printer kept printing all night without material...

Thanks again. I will inform about the result.

Kind regards

Axel

[eldrick 65]

Read the directions from Ultimaker, and use the glue stick that came with the printer. They included some glue stick with the printer because a) it is usually necessary, and b) it works.

[yellowshark 153]

Thanks for the info, most helpful. I have just loaded Cura 15.04.4 and the Basic screen is as I would expect - but yours is not. Your pic is missing several items under speed and temperature; importantly you are missing printing temperature!!!! Are you using the correct Cura - did you download it from the Ultimaker website?

Anyway what is your printing temperature and how did you set it?

Your said "I printed a lot of things this month, but since yesterday each time the material comes loose from the print bed after a few time" Do you mean "....after a few layers", or something else?

Please note that whilst you have calibrated your printer that does not mean it is right. Often it needs some practice to get it right. What did you use, was it a sheet of paper or an Ultimater card? If paper did you measure it to be sure it measures 0.1mm?

Does your 1st layer stick to the bed? Is it flat and smooth?  Or does it have lines and or bumps? A picture would be helpful.

Great that you are doing the Atomic test. You need to do it several times. It may help you to use a different colour PLA so you can better see and dislodged bits of PLA. You need to do the pull several  times not just once. If you see no material I would do it at least another two or three times. If you see material and then that disappears I would also do it another two or three times in case there is still some more in the extruder.

Edited February 21, 2016 by Guest

[avogra 68]

About cleaning the glass plate: grease from your fingers is the worst enemy for bed adhesion. Usually I swipe it with a cloth with some acetone. If I have the feeling, this isn't enough, I put the glas in a dishwasher. That often works wonders.

[Nasimovy 1]

About cleaning the glass plate: grease from your fingers is the worst enemy for bed adhesion. Usually I swipe it with a cloth with some acetone. If I have the feeling, this isn't enough, I put the glas in a dishwasher. That often works wonders.

 

glassex (window cleaner) works just great for me

[ultiarjan 1,223]

When it's real dirty (in the rare occasion I used glue) I take it out and was in warm water with some soap, just rinse of the soap real good.

In between prints I sometimes clean in the printer with a paper towel with some alcohol.

[neotko 1,417]

This it's what I do with my oldest umo+ glass before each print. Cold glass, or hot, I don't care.

Hairspray it's the cheapest one in the market, window cleaner also. Works like a charm for me.

 

Prints sticks like glue. At 35C the print starts to unstick. At 30C or less it comes out easy.

Edited February 21, 2016 by Guest

[cloakfiend 996]

Also the glue that comes with the printer is not the best glue out there and will lose its stick very quickly compared with others glues. I don't use it at all anymore, not even if i run out of mine, its no good for tiny stuff too as if the head knocks it it will most likely knock it off especially support material.

[gr5 2,235]

The one thing that changed for sure is you ran the leveling procedure. That was probably a bad idea. Don't fix it if it isn't broken. I use the leveling procedure once to get it close but then level every time while printing the bottom layer - I suspect that's your issue is #6 below. But if you follow all the steps below you will be able to pick up the printer with your print before it cools down. Even if it is as small as a UM robot.

==========================================

lifting corners, curling corners, part sticking to glass

1) Make sure the glass is clean if you haven't cleaned it for a few weeks. You want a very thin coat of PVA glue which is found in hairspray, glue stick, wood glue. If you use glue stick or wood glue you need to dilute it with water - about 5 to 10 parts water to 1 part glue. So for example if you use glue stick, apply only to the outer edge of your model outline then add a tablespoon of water and spread with a tissue such that you thin it so much you can't see it anymore. wood glue is better. hairspray doesn't need to be diluted. When it dries it should be invisible. This glue works well for most plastics.

2) Heat the bed. This helps the plastic fill in completely (no air pockets) so you have better contact with the glass. For PLA any temp above 40C is safe. I often print at 60C bed.

3) heat the bed (didn't I already say that?). Keeping the bottom layers above the glass temp of the material makes it so the bottom layers can flex a bit (very very tiny amount) and relieve the tension/stress. For PLA 60C is better than 50C. 70C is even better but then you get other "warping" like issues at the corners where they move inward but if you are desperate it's worth it. For ABS you want 110C (100C is good enough).

4) rounded corners - having square corners puts all the lifting force on a tiny spot. Rounding the corner spreads the force out more. This is optional if you use brim.

5) Brim - this is the most important of all. Turn on the brim feature in cura and do 10 passes of brim. This is awesome.

6) Squish - make sure the bottom layer is squishing onto the glass with no gaps in the brim. The first trace going down should be flat like a pancake, not rounded like string. don't run the leveling procedure if it is off, just turn the 3 screws the same amount while it is printing the skirt or brim. Counter clockwise from below gets the bed closer to the nozzle. Don't panic, take a breath, think about which way to move the glass, think about how the screw works, then twist. This may take 30 seconds but it's worth it to not rush it. You can always restart the print.

If you do all this you will then ask me "how the hell do I get my part off the glass?". Well first let it cool completely. Or even put it in the freezer. Then use a sharp putty knife under a corner and it should pop off.

[Idemaxel 0]

Thank you Yellowshark, The atomic test solved the problem !

Now it works fine again. Because of running all night without material the printerhead was dirty..

I am playing with filaflex now: very difficult but after a while it went more or less acceptable.

The same for PET..

[yellowshark 153]

Good to hear you are up and running again and now have more experience