New S7, having a terrible time getting first layers to adhere (video included) [RESOLVED]

[MBoffin 7]

I have a relatively new S7 and I'm having a terrible time getting first layers to adhere to the bed at all. (The build plate is one of those flex plates that magnetically snaps to the bed.)

 

Doesn't seem to be specific to material, as it happens with both PLA and PVA, and doesn't seem specific to material source either, as it happens with both Ultimaker and 3rd party materials. It just seems to be luck if the first layer actually sticks to the bed.

 

I've had an Ultimaker 3 for years (with a glass plate) and never had issues with it adhering to the bed. (Occasionally there was a leveling issue that created rough first layers, but adhering was always fine.) I never had to use any special things like glue or anything like that. It just worked. For years. With the S7 it seems to be random luck if it adheres well. It worked well for the first month or so, but now it's probably 1 out of 5 print jobs that actually adheres correctly. The rest I have to abort even before the first layer is done.

 

It just doesn't seem to stick to the build plate material very well. It seems extremely easy to pull off. You can see in the video how easily it peels up just from the print head passing by it.

 

I've attached a video of a particularly bad example I just had happen. This time it barely stuck at all and started building up on the print core instead of printing on the build plate.

 

I've tried cleaning it extremely well (with 99% IPA). I've had it run the leveling diagnostics. I've tried tweaking various first-layer settings in Cura. Nothing seems to help.

 

Any suggestions or help would be hugely appreciated.

 

Here's the video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oAU8He2N2TS7MG3Y9TNsxEu2IZobgMA1/view?usp=sharing

 

Printer: Ultimaker S7 (w/ Material Station)

Printer Firmware: Latest 8.2.0

Cura: 5.3.1

Edited June 2, 2023 by MBoffin

[Dustin 129]

your bed is dirty.

The flexplate is considerably more sensitive to skin oils and such than the glass beds are, it needs to be cleaned.

Guide for cleaning here: https://support.makerbot.com/s/article/000002864
Additional resources for the flexplate here: https://support.makerbot.com/s/article/000002862

[MBoffin 7]

Unfortunately that doesn't seem to change things. I cleaned it extremely well just now, exactly following the linked instructions using 99% IPA.

 

This is a video of the result of the next print (it failed):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oBw5W9ojY2z0aN6p9wKgErChLI7vWAjw/view?usp=share_link

 

Just to make sure it wasn't my PLA, I opened a brand new package of Ultimaker magenta PLA and tried with that, also with the same result. (Actually it was worse, because it dragged the prime blob over to the middle, since even the prime blob wasn't adhering well to the plate.) I have a video, but accidentally hit the slo-mo button right before hitting record, so the recording is like 7 minutes long and in slow motion (and at half-resolution). I'm happy to upload it as well, though, if needed.

 

Also, prior to my post here on the forum, I had tried using the other side of the build plate as well, just in case. Just as a note, since purchasing the S7 a couple months ago, the build plate has only ever been cleaned using 99% IPA and only with a microfiber cloth. (I even bought brand new microfiber cloths, just to make sure.) I've used no adhesives or anything other than printing directly on the build plate. (Never used paper towels, water, or anything like that.)

[MBoffin 7]

I did another test, this time with the same Ultimaker magenta filament that failed last time, but this time moved to Extruder 1, just in case maybe it was the extruder, not the material or build plate. But it failed as well. Here's the link to the video of it failing:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oDEzGFgPr7fzEPA7ALKqaia5aI8weOfw/view?usp=share_link

 

In between this failed print and the last one, I also did all the 1- and 3-month maintenance actions, just to make sure it wasn't anything like that either.

[Dustin 129]

I would recommend reaching out to UltiMaker Support directly to get help on it.
Unfortunately, UltiMaker does not provide dedicated support via the community.

Contact here: https://support.makerbot.com/s/contactsupport

[MBoffin 7]

Thanks! I actually opened a ticket yesterday and am in contact with them and we're trying to debug it. I will post back here with whatever gets figured out in case it can help anyone else with a similar issue.

[Joel_Denis 0]

Any luck with figuring out what the issue was?

[BrettSneider1 0]

I would clean those print cores with a cold pull. Clean the plate greatly again with 90% or greater isopropal aclohol. Change your first layer to brim. You dont need glue for the plate for almost all material on the S7 but adhesion issues arrise if everything else isnt fine tuned. Brims in Cura 5.3.1 come right off and barely even need post processing so use them to your advantage

[MBoffin 7]

Just an update on this. I worked with Ultimaker Support and we went through a bunch of different troubleshooting on all sorts of things. While we worked through what might be creating the problem, they also helped me figure out things that would, in the meantime, at least let me print anything at all and have it adhere to the plate. However, we did eventually get it down to just replacing the flexible build plate. They sent me a new build plate and the difference was night and day.

 

Attached is a picture of the exact same model, printed hours apart, same printer, same spool of material. On the left is with all the tweaks and tricks needed to get it to adhere at all to the build plate (slower initial layer, lower build volume temp, brim, and so on), and on the right is on the replacement build plate with just straight up default 0.15mm Cura profile with no overrides on anything.

 

 

Some of the problems on the left are curled up corners, rough first layer, etc.

 

For now, I'm considering the issue solved. The only reason I say "for now" is that this is the quality that the printer was printing when I bought it a couple months ago, and it slowly got to the point where I needed to contact support. So I'm hoping it was just a one-off dud built plate and this one just stays fine from now on. I don't think it was caused by anything I was doing to the build plate, as I've been extremely extra-careful with it since I got it (only cleaning with 99% IPA, new clean microfiber cloths, rarely ever actually touching it with fingers, not scraping it, not actually touching it really with anything other than PLA, etc.). So, we'll see! But as I said, not it's resolved.

 

I will put in a good word for Ultimaker Support. They were super helpful, very responsive, actually understood what I was running into, and I never felt like I was just being walked through a support script.

[mfransch 0]

I have had endless crap with the flexplate on my S7. I was told the cleaning is critical, well I've cleaned the plate dozens of times with .with 99.9% Isopropyl Alchol but to no great effect. Over the last month I have more scarp than I've done over the last 3 years using S3 and S5 printers with glass build plates. So I've resorted to using S5 glass build plate with great success.