Revo and PLA

[thebigone2087]

Throwing some feelers out there to see if I am the only one having this issue. I CANNOT for the life of me get PLA to print reliably with my REVO. I can’t get it to stick to the bed, I can’t get a first layer down, I cannot get any type of calibration prints going with PLA, but I switch over to ABS, and it’s damn near perfect. I’ve run the bed a 50, 60, and 70C, hotend up to 220, EM from 95-100, adjusted my Z-offset and cleaned my bed multiple times. Tried smooth and textured PEI. I am about to give up on PLA printing on my Trident.

 

[120decibell]

That's unusual to me. I realize you said you ran through a range of bed and hot end temperatures. What cooling settings?

 

[bythorsthunder]

Throwing some feelers out there to see if I am the only one having this issue. I CANNOT for the life of me get PLA to print reliably with my REVO. I can’t get it to stick to the bed, I can’t get a first layer down, I cannot get any type of calibration prints going with PLA, but I switch over to ABS, and it’s damn near perfect. I’ve run the bed a 50, 60, and 70C, hotend up to 220, EM from 95-100, adjusted my Z-offset and cleaned my bed multiple times. Tried smooth and textured PEI. I am about to give up on PLA printing on my Trident.

I haven't had the best luck with PLA in pei myself but I know it's popular for others. How are you cleaning the pei? What's your first layer print speed? Have you tried scuffing the smooth pei a bit? Is there no adhesion at all? As in it's just balling up on nozzle or similar?

 

[Ellis]

Well, let's get a bit more specific here
Start with first layer
Do you have any photos?
What do you mean "you can't get any calibration prints going"? How? Or are you still referring to first layer?

 

[Oberon]

Were you ever able to make PLA stick to that specific bed ? I can't actually back this up with hard evidence, but still worth trying : PLA doesn't stick very well to PEI, and while the powder coated / texture PEI bed help (more surface area) I think cleaning the bed is very important for proper PLA adhesion. I feel like some PEI beds come with either some oil/grease or product from the production process and cleaning it really well with a detergent, clear water and then IPA helps.

 

[thebigone2087]

That's unusual to me. I realize you said you ran through a range of bed and hot end temperatures. What cooling settings?

I was using a stealthburner set at 100%. I run my ABS between 40-60% with the same setup. The front doors are also open.

I haven't had the best luck with PLA in pei myself but I know it's popular for others. How are you cleaning the pei? What's your first layer print speed? Have you tried scuffing the smooth pei a bit? Is there no adhesion at all? As in it's just balling up on nozzle or similar?

Using some dish soap and warm water first, then IPA to clear off that. First layer speed was around 80mm/s. I did scuff the smooth PEI with 0000 Steel wool. I would get SOME adhesion, but it would pop off really quick. Usually by layer 2 or 3. A lot of the times it would just ball up.

Well, let's get a bit more specific here
Start with first layer
Do you have any photos?
What do you mean "you can't get any calibration prints going"? How? Or are you still referring to first layer?

Sadly, I have no photos since my last attempt was a number of weeks ago. I am still really referencing the first layer. Trying temp towers, or your flow cubes I MIGHT get part of the first layer down before it just popped up. I followed your guide and used a small squirt bottle fulled with water and a few drops of dish soap followed by IPA.

I'd LOVE to print PLA at times with this guy, and I have no doubt I am simply missing a setting or something that is screwing everything up.

 

[Yeri]

What pei are you using? I’ve found some are pretty poor and no matter what I did I could not get things to stick reliably to them. Better quality pei didn’t have that issue.

 

[thebigone2087]

What pei are you using? I’ve found some are pretty poor and no matter what I did I could not get things to stick reliably to them. Better quality pei didn’t have that issue.

Totally possible. I am using the Fysetc double sided PEI sheet.

 

[strayr]

I found I had to hit PEI sheets with a scuff pad every now and again when printing PLA, particulalry if I've been printing anything else. I use a maroon mirka pad, I think that's the same colour code as 3m/scotchbrite and 00/000 steel wool equivalent maybe?

I'm running really low accelerations on my first layer though, 500 i think. Really spindly calibration prints aren't amazing though. That said VS373 is my PLA machine and it's usually running a revo.

 

[claudermilk]

When I initially bought my PEI sheets I had the worst time getting anything to stick. I ultimately scuffed them with 600 grit sandpaper, then the full cleaning process (dish soap, scrubby sponge, then IPA). Now they work fine.

 

[Oberon]

When I initially bought my PEI sheets I had the worst time getting anything to stick. I ultimately scuffed them with 600 grit sandpaper, then the full cleaning process (dish soap, scrubby sponge, then IPA). Now they work fine.

This is not the first time I read stuff like this, it kind of supports that theory that some sort of coating/hard residue is left on the bed during the process. Or is it just that the powder coating process creates a surface that is rugged at the macro level but very smooth at the micro level, and scuffing helps ?

 

[claudermilk]

I was thinking the scuffing gave it a bit of tooth like primer does for paint. But, it could also be removing some kind of surface film. It frustrated the heck out of me because I hadn't run into the issue with my Prusa Mini and the stock plate. But I guess that's part of why Prusa's flex plates have the reputation they do.