PLA Filament brim won't adhere to build plate.

[ToeCrusher 0]

The brim layer does not melt together. It just lays on the plate eventually moving, ruining the print. I’ve tried higher plate temperature and bigger brim .

[GregValiant 1,251]

This is a common problem and has a variety of reasons.

What printer do you have?

What type of filament are you using?

What is the top surface of the build plate made of?

What is the approximate age of the build surface?

How may prints have you done on it?

Are you using any adhesion promoter (glue stick, hair spray, etc.)?

 

If you post an image of the problem it would be really helpful.  Without a photo I can keep asking questions but I'm old and my fingers get tired.

[gr5 2,172]

This is a common problem.  Is this problem occurring on your UM3?  Are you using active leveling?  

 

There are about 5 things that can cause this problem.    A photo would help diagnose.

 

1) The most common is that it is printing too far from the glass.  Try pushing up on the glass to see if it squishes the filament better.  You want it like a pancake - much wider than tall.  You want the width of each brim line to be quite a bit wider than it is tall.  Like a pancake.  So as it prints the brim - just push up a little bit on the glass and see if suddenly it works great.  If this improves the brim then you have narrowed the problem - do you use manual or active leveling?

 

2) Oils on glass, bad surface prep.  how old is this printer.  If you get down low and look at the glass almost horizontally do you see lot's of dust?  Clean that all off.  There may be oils from your fingers on there as well.  I recommend cleaning initially with any kind of soap and then final clean with glass cleaner.  I've heard some say that some glass cleaners finish with an oily coating but I don't know what's good and what is bad.

 

3) glues.  There are tons of glue choices that work great.  For example magigoo.  So I'll give you one other suggestion that you can probably try now:  After cleaning the glass (roughly clean it once per month) put down just a little bit of glue stick.  Just do a swirl that takes you 4 seconds.  Then remove most of it: take a tissue or paper towel, wet it, and spread that bit of glue evenly all over (and also removing most of it).  Then heat up the bed (or you can start it heating before you start doing this) and wait for the bed to dry.  I have a video showing this technique and others if you seach youtube for "gr575 warping" but it's a long video.

[ToeCrusher 0]

I use an Ultimaker 3. I’m printing using 2.85 PLA. The build plate is glass and has been used for about 3 or 4 years. I’ve printed on it a couple hundred times and is usually very reliable. Occasionally I use Aqua Net: Extra super hold hairspray if I need it, but I don’t use it much.

 

[GregValiant 1,251]

I downloaded your photo so I could zoom in further.  That top skin looks very under-extruded.  That could be your brim problem as well.

If you have a magnifying glass get it out and take a look.  There are gaps between the top layer extrusions and you can see the lower layers through them.

I've highlighted a couple of areas, but it appears to be wide spread across the entire model.

 

 

[ToeCrusher 0]

Any suggestions? I pretty much tried everything I know on calibrating the printer itself.

[gr5 2,172]

Could you explain what we are seeing in the photo?  It looks like you are doing 2 different colors of PLA?  Or is one color PVA?  How many layers is this?  The black looks like only one layer (maybe 2???).  The lighter color looks to be at least 2 layers?  Is that correct?

 

The black filament looks pretty darn good.  Leveling looks pretty good except maybe at the top edge and top right peninsula.  This makes me think that maybe part of your glass is lower than the rest.  This is kind of common on UM printers where the two rear corners of the glass is lower than the rest.  But I can't tell - it could be that the far right corner in the photo is where you peeled the print off the glass first and it just ripped as you were removing it but it printed just fine.

 

Now the lighter colored filament looks like maybe it's more layers?  And as Greg says it looks underextruded but hard to tell.  Underextruded bottom layers tend to peel off the glass.

 

Maybe you should post the project so I can get a better idea of what I'm supposed to be seeing.  Do menu "file" "save project as" and post the resulting file.  It will include your model so hopefully it's okay to share that.  It will also include all your settings.

 

Also I should say that the lighter colored material has a tinge to it that strongly reminds me of a particular amazon PETG material (which would definitely underextrude if you told Cura it was PLA because it would print too cold).  But if you say it's PLA then it's probably also PLA.  Also color changes due to lighting and camera factors.

 

So:

 

1) Please explain how many layers in photo, color of material, which extruder has which material?

2) Is the "brim issue" happening mostly in the far right corner in the photo?

3) Maybe post the project file so I have a better idea of what I'm seeing here.

4) Maybe move the part closer to the front of the printer in cura before printing it (as close to front edge as Cura allows) - often the rear two corners of the printer have a harder time.  Or rotate the part 90 degrees clockwise on the bed to avoid the rear two corners of the printer.

 

 

[ToeCrusher 0]

I just wanted to print enough of the file to show the brim layers don’t adhere to the plate. This is a 22 hr print and I’m only showing maybe a half hour of printing (couple layers.) Both filaments are PLA. I have noticed, yes, the brim tends to peel up in the back right corner. On a previous print, It was running fine for an hour and the brim peels up. I have tried all of the diagnostics to the level the plate, clean the heads, x y leveling. I am including the gcode of the print.

ramp.gcode

[gr5 2,172]

Okay so you answered #1,#2  above, thanks.  I understand better now.  Please try #4.

 

It's extremely common for the rear corners to be low which causes bad adhesion.

 

It's because it is tempered glass and how they make the glass at the factory.  The glass tends to be higher in the center and lower on the four corners.  However the 3 leveling positions are over the 3 screws.  Only 3 point leveling (ultimaker S5 and S3 do MUCH more than just 3 points).  So those 3 points are level but that means the center is high.  Because you level at the front 2 corners, those 2 points tend to be fine (the front 2 corners) but because in the back you only level in the center, it tends to be extra low in the rear 2 corners.

 

You can measure how bad it is with a straight edge placed on the glass in the printer.  Note that the metal under the glass also contributes (or can contribute) easily 0.2mm of flexure.  So I guess you could but a few sheets of paper in the rear 2 corners between the glass and the metal.

 

If the glass has enough bow to it you can request a new glass free of charge.  If the glass is better than some tolerance, they will charge you for another glass which might also be equally warped.

 

I recommend you do #4 above - position the part away from the rear corners.

[gr5 2,172]

I just looked at your gcode on a um3 and it looks like you can EASILY rotate the ramp 90 degrees.  Put the low end of the ramp to the right and the high end to the left and pull it close to the front of the print bed.

 

Also use that hairspray.  Any print over 4 hours deserves hairspray. 🙂

 

OH!  And move that prime tower.  Position it at the rear center.  of the bed.  You don't want that tower falling over either.  In cura settings use the search box and enter "tower".  Set the X value to... 100 I guess?

[GregValiant 1,251]

@gr5 you know I'm not an Ultimaker guy so I need to ask...can the glass of the bed be shimmed?  A couple pieces of aluminum foil under the glass at that right rear corner?

[gr5 2,172]

I don't know the answer.  I never tried it.  There are 4 clips that hold the glass in place - they go on top of the glass.  Two in the back and two in the front.  So you might be fighting one or more of those clips.

 

I think it might work.

 

Keep in mind that with just a few ounces of pressure the glass will move up 1mm or so.  And similarly the metal will go down.  I'm not sure which is stiffer (glass or metal heated bed).  We think of glass as very stiff but it takes surprisingly little force to move the edge of the glass up just 1mm.

 

I think a washer in the corner, under the glass might work perfectly.  Assuming the metal is similarly as stiff as the glass.