Magenta PLA not sticking to the bed and warping

[swansboy74 0]

Hi All,

New to the forums and a pretty rookie printer at this point I am using an U3 extended.

I am trying to print a shower head attachment using magenta pla and the print keeps warping. I am kind of assuming this is because it not adhering to the print bed properly and I have tried both with and without adhesive (glue stick).

I then read through this forum (https://ultimaker.com/en/community/6153-pla-not-sticking-to-the-bed-and-warping) to see if it had any tips and I tried the following:

- Increased the print bed temp: tried both 65 and 70 (70 was too hot and caused the initial layer to melt in some areas)

- Also tried adjusting the initial layer height to 0.2

- Tried increasing the print temp to (I think) 235

- I drastically decreased the speed of the first layer to 20mm/s and even so far as 15mm/s

- Also tried to print using a brim

- Tried increasing the width of the initial layer as well.

My planned settings for next print test:

- Print bed at 70 (might increase this halfway through the print)

- Increased layer width

- Slow the initial print layer

- Decreased initial layer speed and overall print speed

- Print using raft

- Extrusion at 235

Anyone have any other suggestions? I've attached some pics for reference.

Looking forward to hearing from you

[gr5 2,173]

Well the bottom layer is clearly not getting squished enough. The lines aren't even touching in the photo. That's usually the most important factor for how well the part sticks to the glass. So turn off auto leveling and simply rotate the 3 screws a little counter clockwise to move the bed up a bit. A half rotation should be enough.

When the printer is starting the bottom layer - look at how thick the lines are going down. You want them squished flat like a pancake - not ropy.

[MFettinger 1]

I went through all of these problems too and I've come to some conclusions based solely on my experience. PLA manufacturer and filament color matter, Hatchbox technical support actually said their filament is not compatible with the Ultimaker line. I've had the same brand of filament act differently, black was very viscous and sticky, printed wonderfully and stuck to the bed, then red wouldn't. I tried glue, no glue, tape, and weights on the brim all to get it to stick.

Different brands and colors leave behind variable amounts of residue after a print. So when I have a fail like your describing the first thing I do is remove the glass build plate and wash it with dawn. Try not to touch the glass with your fingers, reinstall the built plate and level it. Try your print again with a slower initial layer, I sometimes slow down to 20 or 30% speed until that first layer is on the glass then crank it back up to 100%.  And Gr5 is right too the lines should be smushed together more. Hope this helps.

Edited October 23, 2017 by Guest

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

Well the bottom layer is clearly not getting squished enough.  The lines aren't even touching in the photo.  That's usually the most important factor for how well the part sticks to the glass.  So turn off auto leveling and simply rotate the 3 screws a little counter clockwise to move the bed up a bit.  A half rotation should be enough.  

In case the OP is a pro user and does not want to use a tinker method like the one suggested by @gr5, a good point of making sure the active levelling is working properly is to clean both nozzles and the glass before performing the active levelling.

[geert_2 557]

Also, keep in mind that (if this is normal PLA) this thing is probably going to deform and maybe melt when you take a hot shower!

You should not subject standard PLA to temperatures above 40 à 50°C. Also don't leave them in your car in the sun (in Australia probably even not in winter).