Anyone tried the Ultimaker S5 flexplates?

[LePaul 321]

Hello

 

My workplace recently purchased two Ultimaker S5's and we are noticing that it's quite tough to get prints off the glass bed.  (Kudos to the active leveling!)

 

I noticed PrintedSolid sells the magnetic flexplate system for the S5.  I recently bought one for my 2+ but been too busy to even unbox it!

 

Has anyone used it on the S5?  Thoughts?

 

https://www.printedsolid.com/products/flexplate-system-for-ultimaker-s5

 

[Carla_Birch 116]

Going by what filament you use, just let the glass to cool down and the prints just pop off, compressed air cans can help speed this up also.

 

Not used the flexplates, but i have seen a few places have started to sell them now, hopefully they don't make active leveling to start to have a problem and they stay flat if printing a big print. Personally i just take a print out and put another glass in to start printing why the other print cools.

[LePaul 321]

Using Ultimaker Tough PLA, we let them cool for a few hours and they are stuck on there super good.  

 

On my home printers, I don't print as close to the glass as the S5 does (7 printers at home)

 

[Smithy 1,144]

ToughPLA can be hard to remove, I already chipped 2 glass plates. Only a thick layer of glue helped a little bit or the UM adhesion sheets - not for adhesion, just to protect the glass.

 

I haven't tried a flex plate personally on the S5, but on the UM3 and it is ok. I use the system from Filafarm and they also offer a plate for the S5, so maybe I will buy it for the S5 too.

 

https://www.filafarm.de/collections/wechselsysteme/products/switch?variant=12254570217583

[Smithy 1,144]

Or try the Z offset plugin to adjust the distance.

[BiMNrd 11]

Tell me us more about this plugin @Smithy.

This thread came at a good time. I usually let my prints cool off and they pop off even when I use magigoo. However I completely damaged one of my glass plates last night printing ABS.  Does not matter the size of the part the glass was chipped and missing large chunks. 

 

I did let the part and glass cool down overnight. Apparently that is a no no with ABS. But honestly at times I am not around when the printer is doing its work and sometimes it finishes early in the morning while I am still sleeping.

 

With all this said I was to also experiment with a flex plate or some sort. too bad they (ultimaker) decided to not make the alum, plate. Maybe I can make one and just mill it flat.

 

has anyone tired garolite? 

 

 

[neute 16]

How do adhesives like Magigoo work on a steel sheet instead of a glass plate?

Or, to put it the other way round, how do you account for the fact that the Ultimaker sinks the heated up nozzle into the surface of the printbed when active levelling?

I've come to the conclusion that polymer surfaces like standard Buildtak are not compatible to the S3 and the S5 because of this. The nozzle sinks into the surface - on the right side of the print bed, not on the left, because it has cooled off by then - which can only lead to a skewed and untrue leveling result IMO. No such problem with glue or magigoo of course.

 

any thoughts?

PS on an UM3 Buildtak works because the active bed leveling can be deactivated :P 

[ahoeben 1,948]

You can also put the plate and parts in the freezer (after it cools a little; don't put an 80 degree Celsius plate of glass in the freezer).

[Smithy 1,144]

The Filafarm switch plate works also with active leveling on my UM3, so it should work also on the S5. The set contains a new glass plate which is thinner, to keep the overall thickness.

 

@BiMNrd Regarding the plugin, there is nothing special to say, you can adjust the Z distance, so you are able to "correct" a active leveling if you think it is too close to the bed. Personally I haven't tried it, I think you have to do some tests, to find a perfect value between good adhesion and not too good 🙂 

[LePaul 321]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm going to order the spring steel/flexplate from PS and give that a go

 

I've tried the glass in the freezer bit in the past.  Fun for hobby use, not entirely practical for the amount of printing these machines will do in a laboratory. 

[BiMNrd 11]

I agree w the plate in the freezer, takes too long. 

 

I was able to make tweaks to the UM ABS profile and air manager to:

 

Make easier to remove

Get rid of the elephant's foot i was seeing (more of that)

 

Thanks, please post a link to the plate ypu are getting. 

[LePaul 321]

31 minutes ago, BiMNrd said:

I agree w the plate in the freezer, takes too long. 

 

I was able to make tweaks to the UM ABS profile and air manager to:

 

Make easier to remove

Get rid of the elephant's foot i was seeing (more of that)

 

Thanks, please post a link to the plate ypu are getting. 

 

I did in the first post  🙂

[BiMNrd 11]

oh wow, europe... =(

[Smithy 1,144]

8 minutes ago, BiMNrd said:

oh wow, europe... =(

 

 

Should be no problem 🙂 

[uncle_bob 21]

Hi

 

Hair spray on glass has worked for a *long* time on the UM3. The same thing seems to be doing fine on the S5. That's with PLA and with tough PLA (also with non-UM tough PLA versions)

 

Bob

[Josh_gpi 5]

On 2/7/2020 at 11:34 AM, LePaul said:

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm going to order the spring steel/flexplate from PS and give that a go

 

I've tried the glass in the freezer bit in the past.  Fun for hobby use, not entirely practical for the amount of printing these machines will do in a laboratory. 

 

Hey LePaul, 

 

How did the spring steel/flexplate from PS work for you?

 

Thanks!

[LePaul 321]

I’d suggest the Wham Bam Bed System 

 

I just purchase several of those for my work machines. I have 4 Ultimaker S5’s in the printing lab

 

The Buildtak didn’t seem to last long

 

[Smithy 1,144]

Do you put the magnetic part on the glass?

 

What about active leveling? Are there any issues or problems with the installed plate ? 
 

I currently use Filafarm Switch plate and they provided a slightly thinner glass plate to have the same thickness as the normals glass.

[Josh_gpi 5]

 

52 minutes ago, LePaul said:

I’d suggest the Wham Bam Bed System 

 

I just purchase several of those for my work machines. I have 4 Ultimaker S5’s in the printing lab

 

The Buildtak didn’t seem to last long

 

 

Thank you so much for the help! I will purchase one now. (Link for anyone interested)

 

Two quick things:

Have you tried printing Polycarbonate on this PEX surface? 

How was this attached? It seems like this will just go on the glass base plate but wouldn't that interfere with leveling? 

 

Thank you so much!

- Josh

[LePaul 321]

Hi @Smithy and @Josh_gpi,

 

For the lab, I bought several extra glass beds.  For more finicky prints we use the Ultimaker adhesion sheets.  Spares are great to have.

 

Yes, we attached the magnetic sheet on glass and that works great with active leveling.

 

You can also, if you feel it is too close, use the z offset plugin and add some Z + if you feel the active leveling is too close.

 

I know we've done all sorts of stuff on them but I can't recall if we have done PC on it.   On their website they offer some guidance...

 

PEX Build Surface

- Bed temps for PLA 70°C, gap PLA as tight as you can get it with full material flow. The first layer must be squished and flat-topped.

- Bed temps for PETG 70°C, gap PETG moderate.  For PETG set hot end of lower limit to good layer bonding, usually 240-250°C to avoid fusing with surface.

- Do not use part fan until layer 3-4.

- Let parts cool completely before popping off, never pry or force parts off or you can take a chunk of your build surface off.

- Finger oils and dust are prohibitors to adhesion, so keep your beds clean.

- We have had success printing PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU, PP, and glass or carbon fiber filled PC and Nylon on our PEX build surfaces with no adhesives needed for bond. However for pure Nylon and PC its usually necessary to use a glue stick or magigoo to get the part to stay down. You will need an enclosure when printing ABS, Nylon, PC and other high shrinkage materials.

[Smithy 1,144]

Thanks LePaul, sounds good!

[Josh_gpi 5]

You are a saint!

 

I did not see that on their website but that is exactly what I was looking for. 

 

Thank you so so much!!

[Josh_gpi 5]

Just wanted to post an update: see my comment here, but overall just wanted to say the Wham Bam has been working amazingly. It creates a nice smooth finish bottom and has worked with every material I threw at it. 

 

Had to make some small modifications by cutting out bits of the magnetic surface so the clips could still grip the glass better. Also it would be nice if active leveling would happen before heating so that it wouldn't dig into it at all (hopefully to prevent any long term damage) but otherwise been great.

 

Thanks for all the help!

[peterbecz 0]

I've been 3D printing for about 10 years. Played with scores of printers, filaments, build plates, etc.  The best combo  I have found is glass buildplate, Buildtak and a light coat of Elmer's Glue stick. 

Put the finished printed into the fridge for about 30 minutes.  Prints will pop off easily with a putty knife and gentle tab from a small hammer and doesn't make a ness.

Works every time! And I never use brim/raft/skirt for build plate adhesion.  

Works for PLA & ABS and their variants.

 

I am planning the try a flex build plate soon.  My main concern is the 'flatness' of the flex plate over time.

Edited January 19, 2023 by peterbecz

[LePaul 321]

On 1/19/2023 at 11:52 AM, peterbecz said:

I've been 3D printing for about 10 years. Played with scores of printers, filaments, build plates, etc.  The best combo  I have found is glass buildplate, Buildtak and a light coat of Elmer's Glue stick. 

Put the finished printed into the fridge for about 30 minutes.  Prints will pop off easily with a putty knife and gentle tab from a small hammer and doesn't make a ness.

Works every time! And I never use brim/raft/skirt for build plate adhesion.  

Works for PLA & ABS and their variants.

 

I am planning the try a flex build plate soon.  My main concern is the 'flatness' of the flex plate over time.

 

I haven't had issues with flatness.  I do have a textured Wham Bam plate and per their advice, sanded it down a bit since it was a tad tall in spots

 

I've used BuildTak and various PEI from a variety of vendors.  BuildTak seemed harder to keep clean and unforgiving if you leveled too close to the bed.  (We all have bad days!)  PEI eventually failed for me, coming off the bed itself.

 

So far, I haven't killed any of my Wham Bam beds.  I just use the steel wool every few prints to rough it up then 91% IPA to wipe it down with a micro fiber cloth.

 

Glass...well, I have a ColorFabb High Temp CoPolyester print I did that fused to the glass.  That was interesting