Bed Adhesion - Brim/Raft

[hotnozzle 0]

Hello, I have a general question regarding bed adhesion. I'm using an Ender 3 S1 Pro. I am printing text for a sign (Merry Christmas, using dual-color filament) diagonally across the bed, 3/8" high. Cura slicer shows that it fits on the bed. The only way I am able to print it seems to be with a Raft; the Raft itself takes over 2 hours to print! I've tried doing a Brim (it also fits on the slicer bed), but that just fails and doesn't stick to the bed. Printing a Raft seems like a huge waste of filament. Any suggestions on what could help simple text stick to the bed without a Raft? Nozzle is at 210 degrees, bed is 65 degrees. Have had the same issue with other filaments, not just the current dual-color, Thanks

[GregValiant 1,260]

Wash the build surface with dish detergent, rinse well, dry it without getting fingerprints on it, and put it back in place.  Wipe the surface down with 90% Isopropyl Alcohol.

Depending on the material you might need to use an adhesion promoter.  I like Aquanet Super Hold hair spray and some people like things like Magi-Goo.  Most PLA's will print without adhesion promoter but I've found that PETG absolutely requires it.

 

Stiction is all about the surface area.  Your letters are only 3/8 tall, but how wide are the legs of the letters like the "h".  If the legs are less than 2mm wide you will probably want something to help them stick.  After printing, if you stick the build plate into the refrigerator for 5 minutes the letters may loosen by themselves.

 

If you use a brim you can set a "Brim Distance".  Setting that to around 0.10mm can make the brim easier to break away when the time comes.  Those letters are pretty small and I would go with an adhesion promoter rather that taking a chance of breaking a letter while trying to get the brim off.

 

Bed leveling also comes into play as the Initial Layer Height is totally dependent on it.  I level with a piece of parchment paper and I run the Initial Layer Flow at 105% to compensate for any inconsistency in my leveling.

[hotnozzle 0]

I will give it a try! Thanks for the reply.